Wednesday 1 February 2012

4 Key Tips to be a Good Web Writer

Image via Guidebaba


At All Reviews, we have been receiving emails from our readers asking us for tips on how to write for the web effectively. The emails came from a variety of people, including students, homemakers and other bloggers.

Understanding the correct method of writing will not only help you increase visitorship, it also proves your mark as a writer who is able to write with acceptable standards.

With that said, here are the 4 tips you need to be a good web writer.

1. Writing

Good writing is powerful writing. Even without the usage of “flowery” language, getting your point across to your reader in the simplest and most understandable way will reach them most effectively.

Quoting from Ogilvy PR Australia: “Good writing looks effortless, but it is the product of endless practice and revision. Good writing doesn’t need jargon or endless adjectives; it just needs to get the message across.”


2. Interactivity

Allow for comments to be written on your blog posts. Your readers have something to say, so please allow them the space to do so. After they’ve commented, be sure to reply to them. No one likes talking to a wall.

Writing is a one way activity. You write, you hope that people read it. Occasionally people write something back, which is reassuring, as it means that someone is awake. Very occasionally, something explodes.” – Julian Stodd’s Learning Blog

What Julian Stodd is referring to when he says “something explodes” is the conversations created between your reader and you. This builds up a lasting relationship with your readers, as your readers know that what they say is of value to you and not discarded.


3. Content

In terms of content, it is part of the key to a successful blog as well. Below are some tips in generating good content. 

a) Originality – Every blogger needs to come up with their own blog posts. If the blog post can be read elsewhere, why would they want to read yours? Hence, every post should be original and expressed how you feel towards it. It is the author’s opinion that the readers wants to know about. 

b) Relevance – The content of the blog should be relevant to the reader. Since they are visiting the blog, they would expect the content to be relevant to what the blog is about. For example, a music blog should mainly focus on music unless there is a link between the other topic and music.   

c) Crediting – This is especially important because it can get one into trouble if neglected. Information taken from other websites need to be credited and permission sought from the owners. Nobody likes to have their hard work ripped by others without any acknowledgement.  


4. Layout of blog

Lastly, the layout of your blog needs to be appropriate and user friendly to both the audience and the author. 

a) Suitability – Depending on the nature of the blog, the color and theme used should suit the blog in order to give the relevant feeling to the readers. For example, a fashion and make-up blog can use brighter colors such as pink red as the blog color and theme.  

b) User-friendliness – Buttons and links should be placed at prominent places of the blog to ensure ease of navigation for the readers, a reader feeling lost will definitely leave the page. Blog content should also be placed high to ensure lesser scrolling and given the variety of web browsers, make sure that the blog is viewable in all of them. 

There you have it, the 4 key tips to becoming a good web writer. Feel free to comment or give your opinion about other tips in becoming a good web writer! 

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