Good writing makes our website friendlier and more informative to readers. This page gives you a bundle of ideas for writing well online.
Most people write from their own perspective, rather than that of their readers. This normally results in writing that is only interesting to the people that produced it in the first place. It is important to view the writer as the servant of the reader:
You cannot force anyone to read your web page; you can only interest and inform them for as long as they let you.
If we want to interest and inform a typical Australian web audience, we have to realize that they are:
The issues are information, interest and credibility. Let's look at each of these in turn.
Firstly, web readers are usually looking for information, especially if they come to our site through a search engine.
It's our job to figure what they're looking for and ensure that they can easily find it. For a web page this means putting the most important point first, and working down from there. If you look at our Home Page, you will conclude that we think the most important thing to tell people about our church is who we are, followed by when and where we meet.
Also, as illustrated in the last paragraph, when you mention a topic that is treated elsewhere on your site, add a link so that the reader knows that they can find more information there.
Secondly, web readers are easily bored and distracted. Here are five ways you can hold their interest, and avoid distractions.
(1) Having something to say is the most important thing. If you can't summarise your message in a single sentence, you're probably waffling on. If you can, that summary would probably make a good first paragraph, and a good 'description' tag for search engines. Put it in the second paragrph though if you have a good 'hook' for the first one — a hook is an angle / quote / issue / question that grabs the reader's attention.
(2) If you've got something to say, then say it! Most text is far too long when it is first written. It can usually be rewritten more clearly in half as many words. Don't write a long page when, with a little more effort, you can write a short one. The audience will thank you.
(3) To involve the reader in your writing, you should use the active voice, identify with them where appropriate, and ask them questions.
| Passive voice | Active voice |
|---|---|
| Mistakes were made | We made mistakes |
| Happiness was an issue for her | She was unhappy |
| It was announced… | John Smith today announced… |
The 'active voice' is dynamic, definite and direct. As readers we respect writers for speaking personally and for saying what they mean.
As readers, we also appreciate it when writers identify with us (by writing about 'we' and 'us' where appropriate). This works well for generalisations (like the last sentence) with which most people will agree. It backfires when it is used for manipulation, like saying: Now we all know that…
when people may in fact disagree.
Yet another way to involve the reader is to ask them questions that make them think, and lead to your next point. For example: How can we stop readers getting distracted?
(4) The best way to prevent readers from becoming distracted is to make your text easier to read. Here's some good advice from Ernest Hemmingway:
Use short sentences. Use short paragraphs. Use vigorous English, not forgetting to strive for smoothness. Be positive, not negative.
(5) And what about layout? Fonts? Emphasis? The most important rule is this: Don't try to emphasise everything.
You know what I'm talking about: high-contrast colours; catchy animations; lots of different fonts of many sizes; upper-case, bold lettering and underlines. All of this together makes a page too busy and confusing. A little emphasis can go a long way. Use too much, and you will find the reader tires of being shouted at and moves on.
Fortunately, there's a better way to keep the main thing the main thing
-- simply take your most important point and move it to the top. There's no point saving it for later on; the reader may not get that far. Then take the second most important point, and put it next. And so on.
Still not convinced? Judge for yourself: You've read two-thirds of this page by now, so presumably it has held your attention. How frequently did I use bold and underlined text for emphasis? If I haven't used it much, what did I do instead?
Finally, web readers are suspicious of hype and authority. Everyone from business to government is trying to sell them something; who's to be believed? The news media are most sensitive to their need for credibility; how they deal with this problem is instructive: They focus on facts, not opinions.
Take a statement like This church is awesome!
. Suppose it appears on our website. On its own it's just the hyped-up opinion of some unknown church person. For all the reader knows they've probably been paid to write it. In sum, there are implicit reasons to doubt this statement, and no obvious reasons to believe it. Now read this:
Jennifer Bloggs, 17, said "I've been here for six months and I just love the friends and the clear focus on Jesus— This church is awesome!"
Notice two things here: Firstly, this paragraph is just reporting facts: It is a FACT that X said Y. Secondly, the statement itself is more credible — The person speaking is on the same level as the reader, is volunteering an independent personal opinion, and is in a position to know what she is talking about. Being 17 she gets away with saying 'awesome', and at 22 words, it's even a perfect soundbite!
Most importantly, however, there are obvious reasons to believe her statement, and no implicit reasons to doubt it.
To summarize, we have to give our readers information, keep them interested, and maintain credibility.
When words are our weapons, let's not fire blanks.
This is not rocket surgery, it just means putting ourselves in the shoes of our readers, and thinking how best to comunicate with them. With practice, it comes naturally.
