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* Name changed to protect ostentatious and largiloquent. Good grief. “Verisimilitude”? I had to look it up. I’m sure you all know what it means but in case there’s another ignoramus out there besides me, it means “the quality of appearing to be true or real”. How ironic. “Willfully” attracting customers? And does that last sentence even make sense?

Consider that a shining example of how it’s NOT done (writing for web, that is).

Before we get to *how* to write well for web, a brief pause to consider *why* it’s important to do so at all. The reason is that Internet is an information medium. As a general rule, people are looking for information about something when they come online. You have to supply some of information sought by part of that market (i.e., your target market) if you want your share of traffic to your website. You do that by creating quality content. In order to create quality content, you need to be able to write for web. Is writing for web really all that different from writing generally? Yes. And here’s why.

WHY WRITING FOR THE WEB IS DIFFERENT

The first thing you need to understand is how users read on web. Unlike reading a book, online readers scan, or skim, page, looking for particular keywords relevant to subject about which they are interested. They don’t start at top of page and work their way down, reading every sentence.

Some other things you need to know about your typical site visitor (let’s just call him Sam to make it easier): Sam detests hyperbole. Nothing turns him off faster. So keep marketing hype to a minimum and instead make your content objective and somewhat restrained.

Sam is also an impatient sod. He’s going to quickly scan page (as we've seen) and he’s going to rely on your headings and subheadings to orient himself. And he doesn’t want to have to hunt for your point. Give it to him upfront. Also, because Sam really hates this, avoid lengthy webpages that make him have to scroll to keep reading. And keep whole thing short and to point besides. If you don’t, he’s out of there in five seconds flat.

So, now that we understand a little bit about Sam, what can we do to capture his attention and keep it long enough to give him what he wants?

SCANNABLE TEXT

Most of web readers do not read complete sentences and paragraphs, unless they are reading a white paper or a piece of literature. They generally scan headlines, or words that grab their attention. Web readers tend to scan text online and read text offline. They typically do not read a page from start to finish on computer screen. Instead, they scan a site looking for relevant items and then print pages that contain information they seek. You need to apply a style and method to your Web documents that accommodate this type of reading.

I'm not saying there are hard and fast rules for writing for online audience, but if you take care of following guidelines, you may find yourself on comfortable side of hedge.

==> TRY TO BE CONCISE <==

As I mentioned above, an average web reader doesn't read big text streams. Unlike a printed papyrus, web is humanly limitless when it comes to seeking information. It's all on back of reader's mind that moment he or she begins to feel bored, just a few clicks are required to go somewhere else.

==> CONVERSE WITH YOUR READER <==

Write in a conversational tone whenever possible. Use lots of You 's, I's and Me's. Keep a free flow and keep throwing attention-grabbing expressions at your reader. No, it doesn't mean you create a nuisance or insult sensibilities of your reader, but try to be as formal as your subject allows.

A few months back I used to write technical tutorials for a management portal. The chief editor had hired me as a freelance columnist because of my casual but incisive style. The senior management, sadly, objected to my style and said I should tone down my humor and make tutorials sound serious and bookish. While I was writing in my style, portal was getting great response and readers were loving tutorials. When they curbed my style, popularity declined vertically, and soon, I got bored and stopped writing for them. They closed web site last week because many subscribers asked for refunds.

Lesson learnt: no matter what's field, a typical web reader does not read pedantic stuff. I don't know why, but web makes them funky.

==> WRITE IN A LINEAR FASHION <==

Try not to divide a single topic among various pages. If message is interesting and relevant, your web readers would like to read it on a single page no matter how long and bulky that page is, rather than pressing Backward and Forward buttons.