Words For The Web - your free, downloadable PDF

Last week I attended a one-day training course in “Writing For The Web”, as part of Nielsen Norman Group’s Usability Week, a six-day event covering all aspects of web usability issues.

As a copywriter with lots of experience writing offline material, I found it extremely worthwhile to find out more about the difference between online and offline copy and what makes words more accessible for an online audience.

Most of us use the web so regularly these days we’re probably aware of the conventions that are now commonplace on the web without consciously learning them. Most people would know where to find the navigation bar or the search field, or a rough word count for a homepage just by using the web every day. We’ve learned what to expect through osmosis.

As the web has developed and grown, these conventions have appeared for a reason. And, although it can be easy to ignore them because many boil down to common sense, you should still acknowledge these conventions to ensure you’re making your user experience as comfortable as possible for your audience.

So if you’re thinking about writing for a website any time soon, you may appreciate this guide, Words For The Web, that I compiled detailing some of the techniques covered on the Writing For The Web course.

Although the day gave a complete overview of usability, including writing for search, accessibility and how to organise content, (as a copywriter!) I’ve focused more on the writing style you should employ to ensure your readers find visiting your site informative - and enjoyable.

Download your free Words For The Web guide.