5 Tips On Writing For The Web

5 Tips On Writing For The Web

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  Hi, this is Jesse from StartCopywriting.com and in this video I\’m going to share with you 5 Tips on Writing for the Web. This video is particularly useful for business owners, online marketers, beginner copywriters and anyone wanting to learn copywriting.

How do people read online?

Jacob Nielsen from the Nielsen Group says this: So what this means is that when we arrive on websites, we skim, scan and scroll. We don’t read the content word-for-word.

Heat Maps

A heat map is some code you can put on your website which will basically show you where people’s eyes are moving or where they’re spending most of their time or attention on your web page. One of the best tools for creating heatmaps is a service I use called HotJar. The bright red spots show where the most attention is. What you’ll notice from a diagram like this is that people aren’t reading left to right like they would a book or like they would offline, they are scanning and scrolling. Their eyes are jumping around and they are looking at different visual elements.

>> Learn more tips in writing for the web by using the AIDA Copywriting Formula <<

Readability Graphs

Here’s a readability graph, also by the Nielsen Group and this is interesting. It is the same information, presented in different ways to different test users.
  • First paragraph with the same information had 27% readability
  • The second is another version of the same information had 124% readability.
Almost 100% improvement in readability. Why? What’s the obvious difference here? The second presentation of the information is in the form of a list with bullet points. It’s easier to skim through, read and scroll especially if we’re quickly scanning the page.

How to write for the web

This is how you write for the internet:
  • Highlight keywords (bolding different words).
  • Meaningful sub-headings (not ‘clever’ or ‘cute’ ones)
  • Bulleted lists
  • One idea per paragraph
  • Half the word count (or less) than conventional, traditional, offline writing
The same principles apply both for content that you write and for copy. The difference between content and copy is that the content is there to inform, educate and inspire. Copy is there to get people to take action. At the end of the day, it’s still people reading information online. Hope you enjoyed this video on 5 Tips on Writing for the Web. Do you have any tips on how to write for the web? If so, I’d love to read them! Feel free to post your tips in the comment section below.

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About Jesse

Hi, I’m Jesse Forrest! As an 18-year freelance writing veteran, I’ve worked with clients in over 153 industries, covering almost every topic imaginable. Passionate about helping others break into freelance writing, I’ve trained over 35,000 people, including teams at Chanel, Disney, and Sony. For the past 6 years, I’ve traveled the world with my trusty laptop, currently residing in Thailand. To kickstart your freelance writing career, download my free guide:

“How to Become a Freelance Writer: A 6-Step Guide for Beginners."

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