A great post over on Brain Traffic by Elizabeth Saloka. Here is an excerpt of her good writing for the web tips:
- Trim fat. Keep your content – sentences, paragraphs, etc. – short and sweet.
- Stay focused. As you’re writing, stop and ask yourself: Is what I’m writing relevant?
- Don’t exceed 60 words per paragraph. Better to break after one or two sentences.
- Honor thy bulleted lists. Three items? You should bullet. Ten items? Definitely bullet. This will help your readers quickly assess, divide, and digest information.
- Avoid fluff and cutting-edge, innovative corporate-speak. Readers can smell it a mile away.
- Speak to the audience as ‘you.’ Make them feel special, like you’re speaking directly to them. Remember, conversational.
- Talk like a human. Make sure you don’t sacrifice clarity for cleverness. Also, don’t get overly grammatical. Sometimes it’s better to break a few grammar rules than to sound stuffy.
- Stay grounded. Don’t fall in love with your writing. You’ll lose perspective. And, you’ll probably be less open to constructive client feedback.
Want to dig deeper? Check out the Brain Traffic blog, more about content strategies, and Kristina Halvorsen’s book recommendations.
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