{"id":6900,"date":"2009-02-21T03:17:13","date_gmt":"2009-02-20T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/seven-expert-tips-for-outstanding-web-writing\/"},"modified":"2016-01-19T18:51:05","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T07:51:05","slug":"seven-expert-tips-for-outstanding-web-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/seven-expert-tips-for-outstanding-web-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Expert Tips For Outstanding Web Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today Ali from Ali Adventures<\/a> (and other blogs<\/span>) shares some tips on writing for the web.<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019re an experienced blogger. You know all the basics: you\u2019ve read all about writing useful and unique content<\/a>, and all your posts use subheadings, thoughtfully bolded text and bullet-pointed lists to be as reader-friendly as possible.<\/p>\n

But could you be doing more? I spent two years working in an IT company, with overall charge of documentation, and these are some of my top tips for outstanding articles that deliver a brilliant experience for your readers.<\/p>\n

In a world of Stumbles, Digging and Tweets, the few seconds after a reader arrives on your blog are vital, and the first post they see must provide a great reading experience.<\/p>\n

1. Set Line Spacing to At Least 130% (1.3em, 16pt)<\/h3>\n

One of the most irritating mistakes on a blog \u2013 and one of the easiest to fix \u2013 is having lines of text that are too cramped up. Small clear text is fine, but scrunched-together lines make your posts look heavy and uninviting.<\/p>\n

Check your blog\u2019s stylesheet and look for a section (probably in \u201cpost\u201d or \u201centry\u201d) which specifies the default line-height in posts on your blog. It should look something like this:<\/p>\n

.entry { font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.65em; }<\/code><\/p>\n

If your lines are too cramped, change the \u201cline-height\u201d to a higher value. It\u2019ll be an em (like mine), a percentage or a pt value (like font size). You can find out more on the W3Schools line-height page<\/span>, or convert between em, percentages, pixels (px) and points (pt) at http:\/\/pxtoem.com\/www.pxtoem.com<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2. Offer a Printer Friendly Version of Posts<\/h3>\n

With longer posts, or a series of post, it\u2019s nice to provide a printer-friendly or downloadable version. One simple way to do this is to compile the post(s) into a pdf, and offer a downloadable link. (You can use software such as pdf995<\/a> to create pdfs for free.)<\/p>\n

Think about which posts readers might want to print: perhaps detailed instructions, or posts which require a lot of concentration when reading.<\/p>\n

Another ways of doing this is to install a plugin such as WP-Print<\/a> that automatically generates a printer friendly version. A lot of big sites (such as newspapers\u2019 websites) offer a \u201cprint this page\u201d button, so it could make your blog seem more \u201cpro\u201d to a reader.<\/p>\n

3. Mix Lists and Paragraphs<\/h3>\n

Bullet-pointed lists are great for getting your message across quickly and clearly. But if your whole article consists of lists, readers are likely to feel as though you\u2019ve just written an outline and presented it as a complete post.<\/p>\n

A lot of lists can also make the text look \u201cchoppy\u201d on the page, as the reader\u2019s eyes will skip from one to the next.<\/p>\n

Try having a few short lists, then a couple of full paragraphs. The variety both in the writing style and in the visual look on the screen will help keep the reader\u2019s attention \u2013 increasing the chances that they\u2019ll read right to the end of your posts.<\/p>\n

4. Use On-Page Anchors<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve written a long post with several subsections, it\u2019s worth putting links at the top so the reader can navigate around the post easily. These are called \u201canchors\u201d, and you can find out full details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To use an anchor in your post, switch to the HTML view, and put the following near the top of the post, where you want the list of links (the \u201cmyanchor\u201d text can be anything you want, but it should be preceded by a hash symbol):<\/p>\n

<a href=\u201d#myanchor\u201d>Jump straight to an anchor<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, wrap these tags around the heading of the relevant section. (Note that this time, \u201cmyanchor\u201d does not have a hash symbol.)<\/p>\n

<a name=\u201dmyanchor\u201d>Section heading<\/a><\/p>\n

Using anchors is particularly important if some of your post might not be relevant to everyone reading; for example, if you\u2019ve written a list of \u201cOnline resources for designers, writers and programmers\u201d, it would make sense to save your readers from wearing out their scroll wheel. You could give links at the top like this:<\/p>\n