For many people writing is not something that seems simple and natural.
Even more when writing depends on positioning in search engines and on attracting and retaining visitors to your website.
However, it is possible to create content in the form of text and that fulfills the role of attracting visitors, producing interest and breaking, positioning well in the main search engines.
For Therefore, we are going to discuss the principles and precautions that you should adopt and some practical tips to create effective texts in relation to our goals.
What is webwriting?
Objectively and if you know anything about English, you should assume that webwriting is writing intended for the Internet.
Those who are still just taking their first steps in this area may be asking: “why should there be writing intended for the web?” or “what differences are there between creating texts for the Internet and other media?”.
Going straight to the point again, because the Web has its particularities, in the same way that books have, television has, newspapers have it, and whatever else you can remember, so does it.
Even a fiction book differs from a textbook or a technical book.
There is a large set of characteristics that greatly differentiate the way words are used in each of the three types of books cited. And they are all books!
Therefore, webwriting involves a set of techniques, principles and reflections with the objective of making the texts produced consumable for the intended audience and, at the same time, for the algorithms of the search engines, that is, Google and Microsoft Bing.
Why is it important to know the principles of webwriting?
To know and, above all, , effectively applying webwriting principles is essential, in addition to producing clear, objective and informative content, it must be persuasive enough and contribute to converting and/or selling.
Keep in mind always and at least minus two dots:
- If your texts are not read, they are useless. For this, they need to appear well positioned in Microsoft Bing and Google;
- If your texts are readable, but are not understood or do not respond to what visitors want, they are also useless.
The way in order to fulfill these two aspects, it is necessary to be aware of and consciously and correctly use the tips that we will present below.
15 writing tips for the Web (webwriting)
Before listing and commenting on each of the tips on how to perform effective writing for web or webwriting, if you prefer, it is important to highlight that the combination of several of them produces a better result than alone.
It is also important to know how to identify what is most appropriate for each type of site. That is, some tips must be adapted according to the purpose of the content, in such a way that the formalism – not exaggerated – of an institutional site of certain segments, can be less rigorous in its blog, for example.
1. Practice makes perfect
The old adage that practice makes perfect applies here as it does for everything in life.
The more we play an instrument, the more we exercise in a sport, the more we write for the web, the better our results tend to be.
In other words, if you’re still just giving the first few steps, does not cover the same results as those who already have years at it.
Over time, practice, applying the following principles, observing and improving what has been done and persistence, your texts tend to improve.
Know how to charge yourself, but also know how to give yourself time to evolve.
2. Know the persona
More than a tip, this is a requirement.
It is not possible to apply any principle that brings efficient results and consistent, if you don’t know who you’re talking to.
The most faithful and detailed portrait of who will consume the content is the persona.
As in spoken word or in the various existing media, what is said and how it is said, varies according to the audience for whom the content is intended.
In addition, detailed knowledge of the persona implies knowing your needs, desires, expectations, doubts and problems. These are the questions that the texts on your website should address.
The importance of knowing your reader well will become clearer, as we comment on the next tips.
3. Language
The language used essentially depends on who reads the content you produce.
It is not appropriate and does not produce any result, write for high school students, as you write for lawyers.
But it’s not just the persona that determines the language, but also the purpose. A software company may use more formal language on its institutional website and a little less on its blog. If you still have a forum, the administrator can be more succinct and at the same time more didactic in his interventions.
That is, the language also needs to be adapted according to the circumstances.
4. Terminology of the area
Terminology is also known as technical jargon or jargon of the area and is nothing more than the set of specific words that are used in each professional area .
Adopting terminology requires care. When your persona is certainly from the same field, it’s ok to use and abuse the technical terms.
But in the case of a site whose visitors are not professionals in the field, the use should be restricted to situations where absolutely necessary, when, for example, there is no synonym or correspondent understandable by lay people. And in these cases, it is appropriate to have a link of the term to a glossary or other content that explains what it is about.
If there is no content that makes this possible, try to briefly explain what the term refers to.
5. Foreignisms
Foreignism is the use of words of foreign origin.
As in the case of the terminology of the area, know how to dose its use .
Some loanwords are popular and therefore can occur naturally. Even so, if your persona is a layman on the subject, it is advisable to proceed as in the case of terminology.
The use of synonyms when possible is the most appropriate, being possible to use both when it is clear which are equivalent.
6. Prioritize scannability
Scannability is the exercise of constructing text in such a way that it is easy to locate specific portions of it or desirable parts of the content by the visitor.
Using a more informal language, it is to distribute and organize the information so that the reader can, at a glance, find and capture the most relevant information.
Make a text that is scannable to the reader, consists of using other tips that we will list below, such as division into subheadings / interheadings, topics, lists, division into paragraphs, bold and even other non-textual content, such as images and infographics, for example.
When you do this, even if you read just a few things, the visitor can easily identify where each piece of information is and direct their attention according to their interests.
7. Titles and subtitles / intertitles
Choosing titles and subtitles – which some also call intertitles – that are good, means showing the visitor what the text excerpt is about follow and thus, it is easy for him to decide whether to read or go elsewhere.
Achieving this involves using the most relevant keyword in the subject addressed.
Dividing the content using subheadings contributes to scanability, as it makes it visually easy to differentiate specific portions of text.
Keyword use is also positive in terms of SEO, because the search engine algorithm identifies that there is relevance associated with the term.
8. Outline / lists
Outline structure and lists, are another feature that favors scanability, since it is easy to identify among the rest of the text, the phrases or sentences that are organized under this type of structure.
The visitor can direct – if desired – their attention and have a more dynamic and fast reading, since most of the time the extension of the content in topics or lists, tends to be smaller.
Search sites also give positive points with a view to ranking for content presented in this way, as it is known that the user’s experience in consuming such content, is positive.
An example of a list, is exactly what you read now, in which we present 15 tips for writing for the Web.
Finally, a list makes the differentiation of each point clearer and more objective than if we use plain text.
9. Size of the paragraphs
One of the great challenges, especially for beginners, is to break with the concepts learned in school and with the established paradigms that a paragraph must end a idea.
Among all the webwriting principles, learning to build smaller paragraphs, just 3 or 4 lines, or even 60 or 70 words maximum, is one of the most difficult.
It implies being more concise, more objective and even finding other ways to put your ideas into words. It’s “talking” more, with less…
The smaller size of paragraphs in writing for the web, compared to books, for example, is due to the profile of many personas that belong to the older generations. new ones, such as Z and Alpha, which are less willing to read large texts, as well as due to the large number of accesses by mobile devices, in which long snippets of text are more tiring to follow.
10. Use of keywords and their synonyms
Making the correct use of keywords and their synonyms is important both for the reader and for the algorithms of the websites of search.
Care must be taken not to exaggerate the number of occurrences, under the risk of being penalized for looking like SPAM to Google or Bing.
Dose when and where using, combined with the scanning resources, makes the visitor find what they are looking for more easily.
The use of synonyms, when possible, favors those who search for terms different from the majority.
11. Communicate effectively
Communicate effectively means understanding what communication is and all its elements and especially what are the factors that constitute noise and, therefore, , get in the way.
Noise is everything that prevents the message from being understood by the interlocutor.
It is the word that he does not know the meaning of. It is also very long explanation. But it can still be the formal definition and that doesn’t use the visitor’s language.
So it’s important to read and reread everything that is written. If possible, submit the content to other people. Ask for opinions, ask questions and have them explain the most difficult concepts, in order to prove that the information has been conveyed clearly.
