Tips For Writing Website Content

Goal & purpose - What do I seek to accomplish? What action do I want as a result of someone reading it? Do I want to report information alone, or do I want to persuade the reader to buy something? How can I best meet my readers' needs and interests?

My audience - Who will I be writing to and what do they want, or need from me? What is the degree of knowledge and experience my readers' have on this subject?

The subject - Is the topic of a technical nature? Is it complex? Is it controversial or sensitive? Should I include supportive documentation, or images? How can I make my subject easy to follow and understand?

Delivering the message - What's the best way to get my point across effectively to my readers? How should it be presented ...in what manner?


Organize Your Thoughts
Zero in - Determine exactly what needs to be said and the main point you want to convey to your readers. As you consider the subject and who will be reading it, jot down your ideas and how the content should be ordered.

Start to finish - Your article will have a beginning (an introduction), a middle and a conclusion. If it's a product, you would provide a description, benefits, supportive facts and how to purchase. Keep in mind always the purpose of the content and what you want the reader to do as a result of reading it.

Gather some thoughts - Assemble an outlined list of ideas, points and facts; a method that works well is to write thoughts and ideas down each on small single sheets of paper. You can organize and re-order them as necessary to arrive at an ordered fashion. The main idea is to brainstorm what you want to say, about what and to whom.

The order of your message - Organize your notes so that the article will reveal it's message in a logical sense of progression -- with a beginning, a middle and an end, with the DESIRED ACTION you want to elicit from the reader.


Writing Your Article
Create a first draft - Once you've mapped out your article with what needs to be said and who its intended audience is, follow these simple guidelines to first write the initial transcript, then edit the content afterwards.

 --- put your notes in front of you and write using your own words and thoughts

 --- whenever a sentence allows, use concise, brief, simple words that get right to the point

 --- speak directly to the reader, rather than as a third-party observer or reporter

 --- avoid technical jargon whenever possible

 --- strive for a steady progression, with a beginning, a middle and a conclusion

 --- focus more on getting the initial draft complete first; don't attempt to edit while writing

 --- avoid using overly intellectual words; it only reveals a writer's insecurity & inexperience

 --- according to its order of sequence, write the complete document from beginning to end

 --- the idea is to finish the first draft in whatever way is comfortable for you; there will be plenty of opportunity to refine it later


The Editorial Revision
Time to edit - Editing your document is the last phase before publication where you will proofread the manuscript, correct any misspellings or punctuation, ensure that your information is error free and that the article presents its data in a logical progression. Here are some tips to help accomplish this task:

1) WHO, WHAT & WHY
Make sure the document serves its purpose (according to your goals) and addresses its intended audience.

2) STREAMLINE
Remove unnecessary, extra words so the article will deliver what's important to its readers quickly.

3) ORGANIZE
Experiment with moving paragraphs and sentences around until the document has a logical flow to it.

4) CORRECTIONS
Ensure that punctuation, spelling and grammar, as well as your facts and information are correct.

5) REWRITE
Write the document anew with your revisions.

Rest & regroup - Often, it will benefit the writer to just stop and get away from his work, then come back later with a new perspective and editorial ability. This allows you a fresh objective to see flaws overlooked previously. If possible, after you've rewritten a final copy, have someone else critique your work and offer their feedback too.


Formatting Your Content
Finishing touches - Once you've completed the document, make it easy for your readers to access the information. Separate blocks of text with spaces, bold headings, bullets and images while limiting paragraphs to 3 - 5 lines each. Many readers prefer to scan online documents and will pick out bold headings and text that match their personal interests.

Use your imagination -- there are lots of ways you can break up large blocks of text into more digestible portions. You would only have to visit a few of your favorite sites to get ideas -- the point is to make your content easy to read.


» more: Writers Resources

Ben Hunt: Writing For The Web