In order to write for the web you first need to understand how people read the web.
Contents:
  • How people read the web
  • How to structure text
  • How to write the text
  • How Google rates the content you create
People don't read the web in the same way as they read a book.
  • People have a strong tendency to scan. 
  • Signals are important. Wording of headlines and sub-heads is crucial
  • Short one sentence paragraphs highlight a point well. In contrast, long paragraphs and/or long sentences can be left unread.
  • Lists and bullet points can be easier to read than longer paragraphs making the same points
  • Bold can highlight key points.
  • Simple words are better than long words.
RECOMMENDED: A number of the references on this page are to Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox which is one of the best sources of good advice about designing websites and writing for the web that I know on the internet. Other references include professional and formal advice for people writing for major websites such as the BBC and the UK government website.

What I've tried to do it fillet and organise some of his best posts to provide a sampler of what is on offer - and they points people need to be aware of.

How people read the web

NEVER assume people are going to read everything you have to say.

People scan - they don't read every word. They also scan a page in a particular way - this should influence where your content goes

The trick with writing for the web is all about working out how to get people to read more
  • how to make it reader-friendly 
  • how to say it in fewer words 
  • how to guide them to what they want to read

Position on the Page
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This section is about how people read the web and why position on the page matters. 
  • people often read the headline...
  • ...and then track down the left hand side of the page 
  • content positioned on the right gets less attention 

Reference: I learned a lot about evidence-based writing from Neilsen's useit.com website
  • Writing for the Web | useit.com - Results from several research projects and eyetracking studies about how users read on the Web and how authors should write their websites.
  • F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content (Alertbox) - Eyetracking visualizations show that users often read Web pages in an F-shaped pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe.
  • Reading on the Web (Alertbox) - Users don't read Web pages, they scan. Highlighting and concise writing improved measured usability 47-58%. Users detested "marketese"; the promotional writing style with boastful subjective claims ("hottest ever")

Straplines and Taglines
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This is the hook to keep people reading when they scan a site.
a short, easily remembered phrase used by an organization so that people will recognize it or its products
Cambridge Business English Dictionary
A Strapline or tagline is memorable. It explains what you are marketing in a few words. It sums up how you want to be remembered as an artist. You usually find it on the landing page or first major page.

For example - I have a website about botanical art. The strapline is "Resources About Botanical Art and For Botanical Artists" - click the link to see how it is used and positioned on the page. The italics are important.
  • Tagline Blues: What's the Site About? (Alertbox July 2001) This article is about companies - but you can transpose the messages into a test for an artist's website. It focuses on the tagline used for a website - which should identify what an artist does and what makes this artist unique when compared to others.
Tagline, tag line, and tag are American terms. In the U.K. they are called end lines, endlines, or straplines. In Belgium they are called baselines. In France they are signatures. In Germany they are claims. In the Netherlands and Italy, they are pay offs or pay-offs.
Wikipedia

How to structure text
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Titles and headlines make the difference between a site or page getting traffic or not.

Titles and Headlines
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“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.”

“Unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money…”

"The purpose of a title is to get potential readers to read the first line of your content."

David Ogilvy

​Reference:
  • Microcontent: Headlines and Subject Lines | Alertbox - Online headlines must be absolutely clear when taken out of context. They should be written in plain language (no puns or clever headlines). 5 additional guidelines + examples of bad microcontent.

Narrative and paragraphs

  • Break Grammar Rules on Websites for Clarity | Alertbox - The fact people scan text on web pages means web writing should be different from print writing. Some grammar rules are worth breaking if they improve fast comprehension

Font size and legibility
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People sometimes forget that in order for people to able to read your text fast it had to be legible.

Things to think about:
  • Is the font size big enough? Can you read text easily on a mobile device if you leave the zoom function untouched? 
  • Does the font make it easier or more difficult to read text? People like the design aspects of some fonts and completely forget about the functionality ie can people read the font quickly and easily.
  • Is there good contrast between the font colour and the background colour? For people whose eyesight is less than perfect this can be a key factor in whether or not they try to read your sight. (Personally I refuse to try and read anything which is white text on a black background unless the font is large and lines are well space)
  • Is the line spacing give the text room to breathe? Lines of text which are too close together make it much more difficult to read text

Colour for titles and links

Colour can be used constructively to help people scan a page. It's a lot easier to scan the pages on this website because the headings and sub-headings are picked out using colour.

How to write the text
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Vocabulary
Reference: 
  • Writing for the Web |usability.gov - How to Write User-Friendly Content. Use the words your users use. Chunk your content. Front-load the important information. Use pronouns. Use active voice. Use short sentences and paragraphs. Use bullets and numbered lists. Use clear headlines and subheads.
  • Writing for the web | BBC Journalism Academy - When writing for the web, tell the story upfront. For it to work across all possible platforms and devices, it needs to be told in essence in the first four paragraphs
  • Writing for gov.uk - all about writing for government and your audience - but the basic lessons and principles are the same for everybody.