Your high school English teacher might faint, but it’s true. When creating content for the Web, we need to rethink the way we write. Especially when blogging, we need to make our copy succinct and to the point. One rule of thumb is to keep word counts at half of what they would be normally when reporting or telling a story. Readership studies indicate most Web users scan content rather than actually read it word for word
Jakob Nielsen still lauds the use of keywords, bulleted lists and meaningful subheads for writing for the Web. The three most important tactics he mentions are:
- Concise text
- Layouts that can be scanned
- Objective language
These same rules of thumb are even more important when writing corporate blogs. Business audiences are simply selfish – in most cases, these readers want content based upon a specific search request. So deliver it, without marketing-speak and self-promotion – once you start selling your services within your blog, you lose your audience. Readers want value, transparency and just the facts.
Even your high school English teacher would have to agree with that!