A good write-up is always a good one. It makes no difference wherever it is published. But, technically, writing an article for a website and writing one for print varies a lot. A good write-up may fail to draw a crowd due to lack of certain simple technicalities.
Apparently, a website is an open source, but there are reader blocks. There are breakable. To break the blocks, a writer should follow some simple techniques and learn some tech-tricks before writing an article for the web.
Writing for a web is like sketching. Everybody knows, meaningful sentences make a paragraph and meaningful paragraphs usually produce a good write-up.
But web writing? It is more than just the lettering — a pictogram. On web, the sentences should be short and paragraphs should be crispy. Writing for the web is all about visual presentation rather than textual jugglery. While writing for a website, writers need to be very careful about picturisation of the text and very cautious about technological aspects.
Thus, writing for a website demands three Rs — readability, recognisability and reachability. These three make an article pictographic.
On the web, the toughest challenge is keeping a reader engrossed in an article as the readers have limitless options within a single click. If the readers do not find an article an easy-read and easy-recognisable, they will switch to another site in no time. That is way a web article must be crispy, short and choppy to give reader U-loops. Ones may call it breathing space. The readers of print and readers of a website are different in nature. Those who buy a newspaper have no option other than reading it, but online readers have hundreds of options within a click.
Reachability means a lot to a web article. Thus, a web writing must include some technical facets, which, sometimes, are devoid of orthodox presentation of the matter. The writing should have some technical keys which help the contents reach the reader pools online. Theoretically, it is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Maintaining SEO is a must for a write-up online. It makes no difference whoever is the writer may be and whatever the topic is, if one does not follow the technical guides.
This is the era of pictogram. A writer should ensure a representational picture with the article. If possible, one may attach a contextual video and even an info-graph that will help hold on to the readers a bit longer.
A web content writer also follow two more things — leaving some hooks at the beginning of the story and a finishing touch at the end so the readers can have a complete message.
*Toriqul Islam is a journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]