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Web writing/editing
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Web writing/editing
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Thursday, 18 February 2010
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Written by Leslie
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Well, we had a short team meeting yesterday and when I looked back at my notes this morning, they basically looked like resolutions. But it’s mid-February, so I guess I should call them objectives. In addition to the ones we talked about in the meeting, I’ve added some of my own, more personal objectives. Let me know what you think. Am I being reasonable and realistic?
• Write short(er) blog articles
• Write more frequent articles (should be easier, if they’re shorter!)
• Use Twitter more (to see what stephanghys is up to ;)
• Fine-tune WR Traduction, our new website devoted to translations into English
• Update my training presentation on the WR Formation website for the “Writing in English” workshop for French trainees (before the March session)
• Translate all the slides included in the “Writing for the Web” course
• Buy a new translation tool (like many, I picked Trados due to their massive advertising but I’m seriously thinking about switching to Wordfast – it seems more adapted to our needs)
• Learn more about collaborative translation and crowdsourcing (for the time being, I’m skeptical) and write an article about it ;)
More personal objectives:
• Support blogs I read regularly through comments and links, instead of just smiling idiotically, alone, in front of my screen |
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Read more...
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 February 2010 )
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Web writing/editing
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Friday, 12 February 2010
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Written by Sévy
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"Writing copy for the web" and "writing to be read onscreen": what exactly do these increasingly popular expressions mean?
I've tried to sum up what the job of a web copywriter is all about. Here is what “Writing for the web” means in 10 key points:
1. Write to please an audience (attract readers, make your target audience loyal)
2. Write to get indexed in Google (the principle of natural indexing)
3. Write to gain loyalty (know how to update your content regularly)
4. Make it short and to the point…what I’m concentrating on doing here ;)
5. Write to make people click (the principle of marketing copy)
6. Write to create a network (use netlinking)
7. Add value to your site via content, images and video
8. Stick to an editorial line (the principle of editorial guidelines)
9. Start a community or run a blog
10. Write on a regular basis to stay in touch with your web readers
Are you a web writer? Do you want to develop your web writing skills? Check out the training course taught by Frédéric Panserrieu, a practical course full of examples, anecdotes and real-life cases.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 February 2010 )
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Web writing/editing
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Tuesday, 21 July 2009
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Written by Leslie
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You need help for content. In today’s global marketplace, a company can’t go without communicating and that means having a website, advertising and if possible a blog and newsletter. Creating that written material or “copy” requires time and effort. If you’re cutting budget corners and asking company product managers and/or sales managers to do the writing job, that means people doing a lot of work they weren’t trained for and not leaving enough time to focus on the business aspects they know about. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 February 2010 )
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Web writing/editing
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Friday, 03 October 2008
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Written by Leslie
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Your content may be great but what if your document is full of careless errors that keep your reader from concentrating on what you want to say?
Write, edit then proofread
Whenever you write, you should start with a first draft, then reread that draft to make sure the meaning is clear. If it isn’t, you’ll need to edit. Editing can entail deleting some of the content, changing the order of paragraphs or adjusting the style to your target audience. Proofreading is all about paying attention to the details once you’ve finished editing. It focuses on misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation.
Proofreading do’s & don’ts - Don’t proofread right away
If you’re the one who wrote the text, wait awhile before you proof it. Take a break (have a coffee, read something else) and then look at it again. Ideally, get a different (qualified) person to proof it. If they’re reading what someone else wrote, they’ll obviously look at it differently.
- Don’t check everything at once
Once you’ve edited the content, focus on punctuation, then grammar and finally spelling. If you try to check everything at once, you may lose focus. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 February 2010 )
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Web writing/editing
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Friday, 03 October 2008
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Written by Sévy
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A few tips for writing content adapted to online reading...
Before writing, define your objectives and target audiences
Before you start writing content for a site, work on the messages, target audiences, profile and expectations of your web users. Remember that web users are usually in a hurry, they may be flighty and above all, they're looking for information. They're not interested in advertising and messages focused on the company! Define writing guidelines to help you organize all the information you want to communicate.
Adopt a clear style
Use simple vocabulary that can be easily understood. Opt for short sentences. Highlight information with powerful titles, with no more than ten words. Avoid using jargon, irony or metaphors that may be harder to interpret on the Internet.
Keywords on the Home page!
Thirty percent of web users leave a website without even going past the home page because they don't find the information they want immediately or because page downloading is too slow: highlight keywords so they get easy, direct access to the information they're looking for.
Key information at opening of paragraph
As I said, web users are flighty, in a hurry and read more slowly on screen. Quite often, they only read the beginning of paragraphs. So put the most important info at the beginning. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 February 2010 )
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