Professional Web Writers
Web Site Content Writers and What Makes Them Different
Journalists, novelists, freelancers, copywriters, and all the rest. There are more writing disciplines than I can list here. But the new millennium brought us a new one. The Professional Web Writer. What distinguishes him or her? What is it about web content writers that make them different? And above all, can a writer specialize in more than one discipline?
A writer’s real job is presenting thoughts and ideas with written words. A good writer would do well with this no matter what the format, media, or idea. The natural talent is what gives a writer his or her ability. Now when it comes to specialty writers, like web writers, the talent takes a back seat. Writing disciplines (like fighting disciplines) are just the rules that apply to any given media.
“Professional Web Writers Simply Apply the Rules to Their Talent”
So a web writer should have no problem learning to write for newspapers and vice-versa. The real question is whether or not the writer takes the time to learn the rules of a discipline. And there are some definite rules to writing for a web site.
- SEO Optimized – This is more important in some cases than in others. But every web writer should at least understand how to do it and be able to write keyword optimized content. If you can’t read a page without automatically skipping over the keywords, the web writer did a poor job (more likely, the site owner didn’t bother to hire a professional web writer).
- Easy Reading– It’s important for a web writer to deliver easy to read content…more important than other with writing disciplines. Consider this. You pick up a magazine because an article (let’s say about cat food) caught your eye. You’re only reading one article, because it’s the only one about cat food. But when you search for ‘cat food’ on the internet, you suddenly have thousands of articles in front of you.
You’re not going to waste time trying to decipher a veterinarian’s guide when it’s full of technical jargon. Not when a professional web writer put it all in simple terms, and the content flows like water.
- Easy Scanning – Most people surfing the internet would rather scan an article instead of reading the entire thing. A good web content writer makes it easy by using headlines and bulleted points. Further more, web writers should produce content that sucks the reader in. A person might skip to the first headline that catches their eye, but they should feel compelled to keep reading. Web writers understand how to make a person enjoy the content.
- Copy vs Articles – One of the most common mistakes web site owners make is trying to combine two kinds of content. Copy is used to sell the product and nothing else. Sometimes the web writer accomplishes this with content in the same format as an article. But that doesn’t make it an article. A professional web writer knows the difference between the two.
Articles accomplish something else entirely. In most cases, web writers use articles to draw search engine traffic and to make the reader feel comfortable with the business’ knowledge on a subject. There’s nothing wrong with putting a few plugs in for a sale (see mine below), but the web content writer should stay focused on informing the reader…not selling the product.
These are just some of the rules…web writers know and understand all of them. And that’s what distinguishes their discipline. If you’ve reached the end of this article, you understand why I can confidently call myself a great web writer. Did you notice the keyword (professional web writer)? Did you notice the headlines, the bullets, and how easy it was to scan for information? Do you need a professional web writer?
Professional Web Writers |
|
|
|
