How to write for web

[johnjameson]

Hello...

I own a publishing online company.
I have a couple of editors writing content for my web sites.
For some times i am struggling to find a decent study on how to write for web...
Anyone knows something?
Thanks a lot!

[zulu_dude]

Does it have to be either/or? Could you not combine the two somehow and have a section for the more popular news feeds and another section for the lesser known feeds?

[zulu_dude]

Sorry, wrong thread!

[Matt Probert]

Hello...
I own a publishing online company.
I have a couple of editors writing content for my web sites.
For some times i am struggling to find a decent study on how to write for web...
Anyone knows something?
Thanks a lot!

1) Write in your own language, or failing that, become proficient in the language of your choice.

2) Writing for the web is no different to writing for a printed journal.

Matt

[jwa55121]

The only difference in writing for online is keywords phrases and related (lsi) words and their placement. I'm just assuming that you are new to seo and you will be trying to get your pages indexed, but if you're not, then there's no difference.

[Marcia]

Some major differences are because of the fact that on the web, people generally tend to scan rather than read.

>Use "headlines" to break up sections of text as necessary and give a good idea what the page is about for those scanning through first.
>Keep the reading width of lines reasonable narrow (some say 65 characters or so).
>Short paragraphs - 3,4,5 sentences at the maximum per paragraph.
>Type size can be a critical issue for usability reasons, especially with some target audiences.
>You have to seriously check for load time so it's as quick as can be.
>Some authorities have said that the first text someone sees on the page can influence whether the rest is read or the back button is hit.
>Some say that the main page headline is critical to arrest attention and keep people on the page, followed closely by the first text.

There are whole books being written and sold specific to writing effectively for the web, many being conversion and/or sales-oriented. You may want to start out by checking Jakob Nielsen's writings as a starter, he's got some good stuff out there.