‘Thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t work on the web’
An interesting article on the Guardian’s website today. Aida Edemariam looks at the issue of search on the internet and how this influences online writing in contrast to offline articles.
This, of course, links in to how content for the web must be structured differently in general. Unfortunately, she thinks it makes ‘depressing reading’, interpreting it as meaning that ‘long, thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t work [on the web]‘.
‘Write great content’
She quotes Paul Roach, the Guardian’s head of SEO, who says that for successful search results, ‘you just have to write great content’. Good advice. She then refers to the following advice from Jakob Nielsen:
“Stick to simple presentation formats in all ways: a logical progression of the story, mainly active sentences, simple words, short sentences, and a plain, scrolling page. Also, keep people looking down the page by scattering attractive elements throughout the page in the form of subheads and bulleted lists.”
Edemariam concludes that: ‘Short pieces work. Lists work even better. Long, thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t.’
Help your readers, don’t dismiss them
I think this is a misleading opinion. Of course long, thoughtful pieces wouldn’t work online in the same structure as they would in print. But because they need to be presented differently, it doesn’t mean they won’t work at all.
Break the article down into shorter paragraphs and more pages if necessary. Use subheadings to make it easier to navigate and read. It’s hard to read large sections of unbroken text on screen.
It isn’t a bad thing to use simple words where you can. Do you need to use long, difficult words to get your message across, or to justify yourself as a writer? Remember, your article is available to a global audience, many of whom do not have English as a first language. Don’t make it more difficult than it has to be.
Use the web to your advantage
Finally, use the internet’s features to present your argument in a more interactive and interesting way. Provide links to useful resources, for example. Help your readers and reinforce your points!
The web offers new opportunities to illustrate your communications in different ways. It’s not an obstacle to intelligent thinking or writing.
Who are you writing for?
This is the first question all writers (should) ask themselves before putting finger to keyboard.
When you know who you’re writing for, you can create an article that’s relevant and interesting - quality content for your readers.
At the most basic level, online writers usually consider two main audiences - people and computers. Humans and spiders. Your readers and the search engines.
By writing primarily for one audience (your readers) you can also satisfy the other (the search engines).
If you create a targeted article for a specific group of readers, it is likely that it will be keyword-rich fodder for the search engine spiders.
Readers are also more likely to share the article with their peers and link to it - something else the spiders look for when searching out results.
But when you begin to write for the search engines, rather than your readers, your writing becomes less useful.
As Copyblogger says this week, ‘it’s only natural that once your readers realise you are no longer providing quality content and shifting instead to useless keyword-filled articles, they will not be thrilled to stick around.’
So, remember to write for the humans. Your readers will continue to return and the spiders are happy too!
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