All Hail Content! - So What’s Different About Writing Web Content?

Writing content for the web is not like writing fiction. It’s a lot more like writing a newspaper article. That shouldn’t be surprising, since you’re writing for two completely different audiences, even when (as with Amazon’s book sales) they’re the same people. Let me explain.

When you’re writing fiction, you don’t want to tell your readers everything at once. Especially if it’s a novel, they’re in for the long haul. You don’t want to keep them in the dark, of course, but you want to give them only enough to keep them interested in turning the pages.

Web surfers, on the other hand, have short attention spans. You do want to give them everything at once, but you want to give it to them in small, short, easily digestible chunks. Think about almost any newspaper article you’ve read. In the first paragraph or two, it tells you all of the most important points about the story: who, what, where, when, how, and why. If you keep reading, you’ll get more details, of course, but you don’t absolutely need them.

Does this contradict what I’ve said up to this point about bombarding your visitors with content? Not at all. You just need to make sure that the details are in short paragraphs that quickly sum up each idea. Your writing should be easy to read, and free of jargon. Web surfers don’t want to work to get the information they need (remember the short attention spans).

It sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, it is, if you take the time to do it. In return, you’ll see better rankings in the SERPs, and more conversions from your visitors. Good luck!