Despite Hanna's Fury, There As a Lot of Web Content Learning Going on at the American Independent Writer's Event Today

Pushing the Electronic Envelope panel was a hit!

As I shared on Friday, I was one of four panelists at the American Independent Writer’s ** Pushing the Electronic Envelope ** event earlier today. Despite Hanna’s fury, winds and buckets of rain, more than 60 freelance writers wanting to learn more about writing for web came to George Mason University to further their knowledge.

As a panelist, I was there to help folks learn about the differences between writing for print and writing for web. I was also supposed to talk about what separates the good online writers from great ones as well as provide tips or ideas for how one can get started with their web writing career. So while folks were there to learn, in part from me, I am happy to report that I — too — also learned from the other three panelists. What I shared with the audience and what I learned from each of my co-panelists is listed below.

What the audience wanted to know…

Primarily, the questions I was to shed some light on were:

• What are key differences between writing for print and writing for the Web? 
• What makes a GREAT Web writer vs a good Web writer?
• What is the best advice you could give someone who wants to break into web writing?

My responses

My responses to each of these questions is listed below (please keep in mind I had 15 minutes to present):

QUESTION #1: What are the key differences between writing for print and writing for the Web?

Before we can talk about specific differences between writing for print and writing for web, we really should take a step back and understand the differences in the two mediums first. And the differences in the two mediums are many; this is a subject we could speak of for quite some time but for today’s purposes … I’ll only touch on just a few of the fundamental differences that really have a great impact on your writing.

Print medium

• The print medium is one where the reader, generally speaking, allows you as the author to lead the narrative
  The reader will obey your chronological order, such as a table of contents, chapters, sequential page numbers and so on. Think about it … most folks (unless they are desperate to peek at a story’s ending) read from Chapter 1 to the very end. They don’t start their reading with Chapter 18, then go on to Chapter 3, read only two quick paragraphs and then call it a day.
• Static and permanent
  The words in a printed book, magazine or other printed media … once printed … are there forever.
• Formality and eloquence are welcome
  Readers are more apt to read lengthy descriptions and descriptive paragraphs.

Web medium

• The web medium is one where the reader, generally speaking, does not allow you to control the narrative
  When the reader comes to a web site, he or she is on a mission. They are specifically looking for that one piece of information or data they need. The reader will bypass, ignore and reject anything the site is trying to sell. They will also navigate through any clutter, skipping and clicking sections or pages randomly, following no specific chronological order beyond their own needs and wants. As a result, the reader creates his or her own experience, not the author.
• This is a dynamic medium where everything changes at a fast-pace
  You can be on CNN.com for a few minutes, click to a story, go back to the home page and see new headlines that weren’t there moments ago. This would never happen in a book.
• Interactive components of this medium allow a reader to engage with the site the way they cannot engage with a book
  Online, the reader can fill out a survey, add comments, and forward/share information with others allowing them full control of their online experience

Knowing these basic differences can really help you to understand WHY web writing is different than what you have been accustomed to in print. And so from these differences, there is great impact in writing for the web when compared to writing for print. Here are some contrasts for you to consider:

Writing for print

• Verbosity is acceptable
  You want to pack your writing with all those fancy SAT words you learned back in high school? Well go to town! Writing for print allows you to be Edgar Allan Poe’ish and express yourself in as much length as you’d like
• Formality
  Generally speaking, writing for print can tend to be more formal. Copywriting for some clients or employers may require Associated Press (AP) or other styles or structures to be followed.
• Storytelling
  You get to tell your story in the order that you want and feel fairly confident that the majority of readers will follow your narrative lead.

Writing for web

• Verbosity’s out the window … it’s time to abridge, abridge, abridge!
  Because the reader will be on a web page for literally only SECONDS, less is more when it comes to content. Readers have no time for frufruness. They are searching for the specific data nugget they need and they could care less about all the walls of text you have published.
• Headlines, sub-headlines, bullets, lists and links rule
  Again, readers have *no time* to hang out on your site. They need their information quickly and you are challenged to provide it in an easy-to-read, scannable format. Because, as it turns out … online readers don’t generally “read” … they scan, they skim, they click and they scroll. And in the middle of scanning, skimming, clicking and scrolling, banner ads, instant messages and incoming emails are all competing for your reader’s attention. Therefore, you must write in a fragmented way, where sentences are brief and captions, headlines and lists help the reader’s eye scan easily along the way.
• Redundancy for usability
  A web user’s experience is heightened when a web site is usable. Redundancy in web content is part of creating a good usability experience. Think about this for a moment … when you are reading online, aren’t there many side bar links, secondary links or footer links that kind of repeat the same thing? It’s all about giving the user multiple options to the same destinations. This would never be the case in a book. You would never be reading Chapter 9 and see sidebars along the pages of Chapter 9 reminding you of the information available in Chapters 4,5 and 6.
• Tone and personality
  When writing for the web, think of your partner, your neighbor or your beloved friend. Don’t those relationships that are close to you invoke a casual, warm nature? Sure they do. You’d never be too overly-warm with someone you just met, your senior managers or a high-ranking government official. There is a different rapport and flavor we apply to our writing style and tone when writing for the web. Read most any blog post or web article and you’ll note a casual demeanor, as if the writer has some familiarity with you. This is a very unique aspect to web writing; readers don’t want to hear from Margaret Thatcher, they want to hear from you!

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What makes a GREAT Web writer vs. a good Web writer?

Surely, this question can have many answers but in my opinion, what separates the good web writers from exceptional ones is the ability to pack (a) marketing and sales messages, (b) SEO/SEM aspects, (c) creative thinking and (d) unique tone all into one. Because these are the very ingredients that make web writing the unique beast that it is Unless you are writing for non-commercial purposes, most web writing is doing more than informing the user. Typically, web writing is meant to entice, lure, seduce and convert an interested prospect into a paying customer or loyal brand fan. So combining words together in a way that meet each of these requirements is a definite talent that no everyone can do well.

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What is the best advice you could give someone who wants to break into web writing?

My advice for someone breaking into web writing would depend on the kind of web writing they want to get into. But generally speaking … someone who wants to get into web writing for general business purposes — for example, writing white papers, press releases, case studies, email newsletters for web use — I would highly recommend for them to go to www.washingtonjobs.com (or www.asaecenter.org for those interested in writing for non-profits and trade associations) and click on several of the web site addresses for employers posting jobs. Visit their web sites. Read their press releases, their blogs and their product or service descriptions. See how their web content is formatted (or not formatted) to get an idea of what writing trends you can identify and perhaps which ones you feel you can best benchmark.

Another tip I would suggest is that if you are truly just breaking into web writing, you will need to find your unique, down-to-earth voice … the one that engages a web reader and makes them feel comfortable enough to connect with you. This, for me, took me several years to develop. When I first began writing for the web, I wasn’t sure if my tone was too familiar or if perhaps it was not professional enough. It took me a long time, because I tend to be my own worst critic, to feel confident with my online voice. You’ll note if you read my blog posts and other content areas of my site that my tone is very casual and down-to-earth. While you may read the words I write and perhaps not think much of it, the style of my writing took about a good 3-5 years for me to develop. Now, I am not saying that is typical. It may very well be atypical! Still, the point here is that you should work on finding your own unique web voice and personality that suits you best.

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Questions

The above represents the general gist of what I was able to share with the audience in my designated 15 minutes. After each panelist spoke, the audience members were able to ask questions. Two of many of the questions I was asked include:

• Question: Can a web content management system or a blog support ad sales?
  Answer: Yes. There are content management systems (CMS) that do support ad sales. One that comes to mind is NewsPortal. This is a ColdFusion-based application that is typically used for newspaper-style content management. It has, like any CMS, definite limitations in design and functionality. But it does come with an ad-sales module. As a side note, I reference NewsPortal here as an example of a CMS that does offer ad sales support. However, I used to be a NewsPortal customer and whlie I think their application is well-intended, it did not work consistently. There was always some weird bug or technical glitch and customer service was slow to fix. So do I recommend them? Not exactly. But that’s not the point. The point, rather, is that there are CMSs out there that do support the sale of ad space. NewsPortal is one of them. And of course, there are many services that do not. SiteFinity is a CMS that does not support ad sales. SquareSpace.com also does not support ad sales. And when I say support ad sales, I mean the CMS does NOT come with a built-in ad sales module that allows you to upload advertisements, tie a specific ad with a specific advertiser and track their ad click-throughs. Another side note here is that for any advertiser to want to spend ad dollars on your site or blog, you have to have a lot of targeted traffic. And you generate lots of traffic through having lots of content, at least that is a primary factor. Hope this helped to answer the question.
• Question: I heard that a web page should not typically have more than 500 words. So what do I do if my article or piece is longer than 500 words?
  Answer: I definitely understand the need for abridged, succinct web copy. But I disagree with the 500-word limitation *if* the design can support a “page 1/page 2″ or “previous page/next page” scenario. Another approach is to treat the first 500-words as the “Executive Summary” if you will … but have the fully monty be available in a downloadable PDF. And the traditional solution to remedy lengthy web copy is to use anchor links for each specific section within the same page. For example, before you view the lengthy article or written piece, there is a “table of contents” which is really more like a list of links; whereas each link is a headline or caption highlighting one of the main ideas. When the user clicks that anchor link, he or she is taken to that specific point of the copy. Conversely, “back to the top” anchor links bring the user back to the list of caption or headings. So while I do agree that web copy needs to be brief when possible, this is a general rule of thumb that can be bent here and there depending on the nature of the copy in question. In the end, work closely with your web designer as he or she should be able to assist you in designing usability solutions that help to work around excessive copy length.

Whew!!!! That was a lot of information to share!!! I am sure you’ll get some good stuff here, though, so it’s worth it. I will provide the links to the other panelist’s information in a future post, along with a bit of insight as to what I learned from each of them.
Until then … I bid thee good nite!