Effective Writing

If you’re writing for the web, one of the key factors you need to be aware of is how accessible your text is to your user, otherwise known as “accessibility.” Writing should be as straightforward and intuitive as possible for your readers to ensure their continued presence on your website.

One of the worst things people do when linking to a topic is linking the descriptive words to a site without giving the actual html address. People like to know where they’re going, so do them a favor and tell them! 

Instead of: I like Johnny Depp.

Give: I like Johnny Depp (http://www.johnnydepp.com).

But if the url is useless, like http://www.geocities.com/marge/imagesjd2.html,  link the website to a descriptive title, such as:

I like Johnny Depp (Johnny Depp Fan Site on Geocities.com).

This may not seem like a huge difference, but it is. Your users waste time trying to guess where they’re going, so make it easy on them. For more informaiton on accessibility and writing for the web, check out Jakob Nielsen’s usability website.

Improve your writing and editing skills and help other people in the process: write for Wikipedia. Wikipedia is user edited, meaning anyone under the sun can edit or change an article. While this results in some vandalism, Wikipedia is by nature self-correcting. It is an excellent place for both experienced and aspiring writers all over the world to do some community service and hone their craft.

Free information is integral to our progress as people, but there’s no reason it has to be bad. If you’re there and see a mistake, simply edit it and move on. And though you’re encouraged to sign up, you can also submit anonymously http://www.wikipedia.com/

Do the world a favor and edit once in awhile. It doesn’t cost you anything but a small piece of time. And it could win you something-check out Wikinews’ writing contest at the Wiki News Site.

Only the grammophobes out there will actually care about this topic, but it is important to point out that many people evidently lack knowledge of this simple little rule: the period or comma always comes before the quotation mark.

In short: don’t write “something”. Write “something.”

While this sounds nitpicky, it shows a lack of proofreading, the ultimate sign of carelessness in a professional document.

Common mistakes like this imply several things:

a) the writer doesn’t know or can’t remember their grammar.
b) the writer forgot to proofread.
c) the writer doesn’t care.

Whether you’re a writer or not, it is your responsibility to your readers to present clean, error-free material. If you don’t proofread, that implies laziness. And while lazy writing is bad enough, not caring is worse. Now some might say “well, most people aren’t that observant, so it doesn’t matter anyways.” Perhaps. But not caring does suggest a lack of respect for your own work that isn’t lost on your readers. Never underestimate your reader or client. If they’re going to read or buy something from you, they want a product or service that inspires the most confidence.

After all, if you don’t care about your work, why should they?

How to use Copyscape and Google to track duplicate content

Following up on the last article, a great tool that that allows you to check if your content has been scraped off your site and used elsewhere is Copyscape.com.

You can also pick strings of words at random from several sections of your content and type them into Google (make sure you put them in quotes). This is another great way to track your material.

If your content has been taken and you’ve been penalized, or think you might be, write and ask the owners to remove the content. If they don’t, lodge a formal complaint with Google through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. You can use it to threaten legal action and apply pressure to both the website owner and host to take the website down.

This also gives web hosts and Internet service providers a measure of protection from false copyright claims. As long as they outline certain notices and take-down procedures in their terms of service and implement them when there is a problem, they are covered in case they are unfairly accused of copyright infringement.

Originality is integral to good content creation. There are penalties for content that repeats other content, and numerous copyright laws. The easiest way to avoid this is ensure your content is original.

If you do use someone else’s work, even if you have their permission, you may still get penalized because of a duplicate content penalty. A duplicate content penalty is given to websites that Google thinks have copied original content from another source.

Unfortunately, duplicate content penalties don’t distinguish between the original content and the copied content, so be careful about letting other people use your content without changing it at least twenty percent. Google could give you the penalty even though you’re the original producer. This has to do with PageRank, and is too complicated to get into here.

Many believe that the search engines are changing this policy so that the original source is considered the site that published the content first, regardless of anything else. but until this becomes fact, don’t allow anybody to publish your content until after it has been available on your website for at least 2-3 weeks or until it has been spidered and indexed by the search engines.

There are many people who steal content and use it word for word; there’s not much you can do to avoid this, but you can track it with certain tools and take the proper action if you find someone is stealing your content. Also, put a copyright tagline at the bottom of anything you create; it can be an effective deterrent for prospective copyright violators.

A common disease that plagues most writing, “fluff” refers to using many words to say little or nothing at all. It is also referred to as “filler.”

Fluff is found in a lot of writing, and is especially rampant on the internet. Take a minute and read any random article, piece of copy, or content and you’ll probably notice that half the stuff you’re reading doesn’t actually say anything. Kind of like this post. Annoying, huh?

A three hundred word article packed with good information is better than a five hundred word article that pads the information, or lack thereof, in a bunch of useless rubbish. It is about quality over quantity.

Today’s topic centers on the use of overly complicated language. It is directed, of course towards the archaic musings of academic journals and the elitist drivel of snobbish websites.

Using big words and complicated prose is unnecessary and potentially alienating to your readers. In the same vein, grandiose, mellifluous sentences and excess verbiage expounding on the merits of your indelibly unique product and the synergistic experience of using it are damaging to your writing and to your content.

This doesn’t mean you can’t be creative and descriptive. Look at books like Jesus’ Son or marketing geniuses like Seth Godin. Better yet, read the Clue Train Manifesto.

In short, avoid long words that are hard to read and harder to say. They don’t make you sound more intelligent; on the contrary, they make you sound like you’re trying too hard.

To recap: ensure your writing is clear, strong and concise. Writing that appears lofty, hokey, or over your readers’ heads is sure to drive them away.

Bad grammar is yet another pitfall that is common in writing, and the internet happens to be an effective sink hole. Not only is it unpleasant to see, but it can create a feeling of carelessness that isn’t lost on a reader. Bad grammar can dilute your customers’ confidence in your product or service because it shows a lack of professionalism.

Luckily, there is an easy solution to bad grammar: repetitive proofreading. For most people, once is not enough. Lather, rinse and repeat. In addition, have at least two other people proof your work for you.