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About the Author
Georgina Laidlaw
Georgina is a professional writer based near Melbourne, Australia. She works on all kinds of projects, from marketing collateral, theses and novels, to blog posts, articles and speeches.
Optimize your Web Copy
Do you have trouble getting your message across? Do lengthy sentences and rambling paragraphs reduce your impact? This is the Web, and it’s no place for overly-delicate expression. Get to the point and your readers will thank you. Skirt around its edges and they’ll click away.
Sure, the Web has limitations. But there are a range of techniques you can use to optimize your communication over the Internet.
Web Limitations
The online environment presents a new range of challenges.
- Accessibility
The Web is the medium of the people. These days, when every man and his dog boasts their own Web page, we expect to be well-treated on the Web – like an equal rather than a marketing target. We go online to be entertained, or to find information – and, given that most of us stare at a computer screen from dawn 'til dusk (at least), we expect to be given a break.The answer? Be welcoming to users, and remember: treat them like a friend, not the village idiot.
- Speed and Interactivity
Users want answers, and they want them now. The Web’s interactivity empowers readers to control their own informational destiny. Provide solid, digestible chunks of information, and glue them together with a navigation that clearly shows users where they can go next. If you don't, they'll simply click away.The answer? Make sure all your content is valuable and easily navigable, and don’t waste users' time.
- Comprehension
Your user has taken a few moments out of their day to navigate to your site by the questionable signposts of search engine and link. And they’ve been good enough to turn their tired, bloodshot eyes over your content. Don’t create any more barriers for these weary travellers.The answer? Use stylistic and grammatical aids that allow your visitors to understand your message and take away valuable information as easily as possible.
Given these key characteristics, writing for the Web appears to be a minefield. But it’s no more difficult than any other medium. Readability is achievable -- use these tools to help readers quickly and easily get your point.
Tools for Meaning
Scannability
Those bullets above aid scannability. Other tools that can enhance the scannability of your copy include subheadings, and formatting keywords with bold or colored text (where appropriate).
The technique you use will depend upon the type of copy you're writing, and the audience it attracts. Readers of marketing copy may be sceptical, and wary of getting the 'hard sell', so they’re likely to try to scan your content to find only information that relates specifically to them. They want facts, and won’t bother to wade through reams of unbroken text in an effort to find what they want – they'll simply click off to a competitor's site.
The audience for an article, on the other hand, will usually read the first sentence or scan the first paragraph, and may glance over your subheadings to assess whether your article warrants their time. Formatted text within the body of your article can really turn some readers off – they've come to your article to discover information, not be force-fed opinions. Often, users see keyword highlights as an indication that you’re trying to convince them of something.
Sentence Construction
"Next, our database will need to be populated with content. To do this, we’ll use a text file called content.txt"
The use of passive sentences (like those above) is characteristic to much offline copy. But these sentence forms can reduce the readability of Web text, and the ease with which your readers comprehend it. Rephrase these types of sentences to minimise extraneous punctuation, and better guide your reader. Try:
"Now, let's populate the database with content. Use the text file called content.txt"
or:
"Next, use the text file called content.txt to populate your database with content."
Punctuation
Punctuation enhances readability and helps convey meaning -- it can impact heavily on the pace at which your writing is read. Consider this:
"Note that to save a file with a .php extension in Notepad, you'll need to either select 'All Files' as the file type or surround the filename with quotes."
...and compare it to:
"Note that, to save a file with a .php extension in Notepad, you'll need to either:
- select 'All Files' as the file type, or
- surround the filename with quotes."
Use punctuation with discretion – those bullets will slow users down. They flag to the reader that this is an important point, and can help audience members grasp your meaning. To replace the bullets with commas would achieve the same result, though perhaps to a lesser degree. Make sure that your punctuation doesn't slow your readers down in the wrong place. And, if you find that you often use commas and semi-colons, try to rephrase and shorten your sentences.