How to Improve Web Writing
Whether you're a website owner or simply provide web copy writing services for companies and individuals, your web writing style is essential to the success of whichever site utilizes your content. Since basic items like good grammar, spelling and linguistic conventions underlie successful writing both on and off the web, you will need to keep an additional set of guidelines in mind, including any important "keywords" that you need to use.
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Instructions
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Ask yourself what you want to accomplish with a given article and to whom the article is directed. Read it to make sure it fits the bill. For example, you might write about beaches in Miami to help vacationers choose the best beach for their holiday. If your article veers into comparisons with nearby Ft. Lauderdale or uses unspecific directional language only locals would know, you're not fulfilling your purpose or catering to your intended audience.
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Integrate search engine optimization (SEO) keywords organically, rather than listing them or embedding them in common, stock phrases. Google and other web crawlers rank pages not only on the relevance of their keywords to popular searches, but also for the originality of the content. While it should go without saying that you shouldn't plagiarize, using cliches or overused phrases can have the same result when it comes to search ranking.
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Embed links whenever you need to elaborate, but don't want to disrupt the flow of your text. One advantage online formats offer over print ones is that you can format any word or phrase to link to another article when clicked upon. In addition to keeping your copy smooth, linking to popular, relevant articles within your own can further increase your search ranking.
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Be brief and concise. Although you should explain (either through linking or using words) any terms or ideas that may be confusing, needless elaboration may alienate your readers. As a result of the web's sheer size, users have less time to devote to individual articles and resources, so keeping your copy at a manageable length increases the chance a given reader will benefit from it and link their other friends to it, increasing your traffic.
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Re-read your copy out loud once you've finished writing all of it. If you stumble when reading, chances are that what you've written is overly complex. Keep in mind that users all over the world (and, thus, with different first languages) access English-language content, so try to keep web writing as simple as possible while still conveying the message you need to get across.
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