Tag Archives: writing for the web

Short & Sweet vs. Long & Detailed

by Catherine L. Tully

Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully
Freelance-Zone Editor, Catherine L. Tully

Which kind of writer are you?

Most of us fall into one of two camps–people like me who can’t seem to add length to a piece to save their lives and…

People like my co-editor, Joe, who have to trim and cut to fit a word count.

Everything I write comes out short. I dread assignments where they want 1,500 words and think to myself, “Do sidebars count?” every time I get one. I have to go into the assignment thinking about how I’m going to stretch it. Now I can do it, but it takes some doing. It’s simply not my natural style.

Other writers (like Joe) are the opposite, penning a lengthy piece and then having to decide what they can leave out in order to fit the word count. I think they have it easier. I’d prefer to cut rather than add…it just seems to flow better.

Funny thing is…traditionally my style of writing works better for the web, and I have written mostly for print in my career. Joe’s style works better for print, and – you guessed it – he’s done more web writing. Funny isn’t it?

Which do you prefer?

(Note: I thought about adding to this post, but it’s really just as long as it needs to be. Right?)

Misspelling On Purpose

Joe Wallace Freelance Social Mediaby Joe Wallace

Some of my non-writer friends and some of my colleagues who write more for print or television try to razz me when they see something apparently poorly worded or otherwise mangled in some of my online content.

And then I have to point out to them that I have not accidentally screwed up the use of a hyphen or suddenly reverted to second grade English. SEO and keyword issues sometimes lead you and your clients down roads that make copy editors shudder. “The client made me do it” is one of my favorite lines.

While I try to warn my clients away from using bad word combinations for SEO’s sake like “jobs freelance” or “musician gear concert PA”, sometimes you do have to bend a little bit. I personally cringe when removing the hyphens in “debt-to-income ratio” but it’s a search term consideration. The finance blogs I write for need that extra edge and it doesn’t read poorly, so I’ll write an informative blog post about applying for a home mortgage using both hyphenated and non-hyphenated variations.

Technically, my headline was a lie–I NEVER mangle the actual spelling of a word for SEO purposes. Anytime people have asked me to do that I gently remind them that the content is for HUMANS to read even when tweaking for Google. Badly spelled words make you look like either an idiot or a very hasty smart person. Neither one is good.

But sometimes you have to give a little, so in some of my copy instead of simply using the phrase “Is whole life a bad investment?” in the context of an informed consumer article, I’ll have to resort to the far clunkier, “Are whole life insurance policies a bad investment?”

Does this offend my inner grammar teacher as much as the idea of “investing” in whole life insurance itself? Yes it does. Is it good for search engine discoverability? When done with the right keyword research, yes it is.

Half the battle for me is finding the balance between making my inner grammar nazi happy and staying in the top Google results. There’s no such thing as Dramamine for fussy writers, sadly. My struggle continues.

Writing For The Web

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Writing for the web is a different animal than writing for print. If you usually pen articles for magazines, you may want to brush up on how to write web copy. More and more these days you will find content online, and if you can write for this market you will increase your chances of making a sale.

Here are a few smart tips to keep in mind when writing for the web:

  • Keep it short and snappy. Web readers tend to tune out if text is too long.
  • Think about formatting. Bulleted lists, bold text and white space are your friends on the web.
  • Use sub-headings and try to stick to one idea per paragraph.

When it comes to writing for the web, think about impacting your reader. If you don’t snag them immediately and keep them interested, another website is just a click away…