Characteristics of Good Internet Writing
What is good Internet writing? As you know, I believe that content is still King when it comes to Internet writing. The key to good content is, ultimately, good writing. But what do we mean when we talk about “good Internet writing?” Good Internet writing, regardless of whether it is blogging, article writing or web content writing, has specific characteristics:
Good Internet writing is clear
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Good Internet writing should not leave the reader confused, guessing at the writer’s meaning or continually rereading phrases or paragraphs. This doesn’t mean that good Internet writing is simple; in fact, quite the opposite is often true. What it does mean is that the Internet writer uses specific tools and strategies, some of which are obvious and some of which are more subtle, to make sure that the reader understands what has been written.
Good Internet writing is coherent
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Good Internet writing is clearly organized, planned and connected. Everything in a good blog post, article or web page is connected with patterns and transitional phrases. Everything in the particular piece of Internet writing helps to develop the writer’s central idea. While some forms of Internet writing, such as blogging, tend to lend themselves to side quests and distractions, good Internet writing always brings it back around to one main point.
Good Internet writing is economical
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Good Internet writing doesn’t waste the reader’s time. Good Internet writing gets rid of excess words, is terse and is uncluttered. Good Internet writing is trimmed of repetitious phrases, extraneous adjectives and anything else that does not enhance the main idea. This is true in all of writing, but is especially true when it comes to Internet writing. Web surfers tend to have short attention spans, and good Internet writing is long enough to cover the topic but short enough to maintain the reader’s interest.
Good Internet writing is grammatically acceptable
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If the Internet has one fault when it comes to writing, is the informality with which most people approach their writing. If you don’t believe me, just look at the last dozen or so e-mails in your inbox. How many of those e-mails use the traditional elements of a letter, such as using a colon instead of a comma after the greeting in a business letter. Still, while the rules may be more lax on the Internet, good Internet writing will still be grammatically accurate enough so as not to distract from the writing itself. While few Internet writers have mastered all the hundreds of rules governing English use, having an acceptable mastery of English language is requisite to effective Internet writing.
Good Internet writing is authentic
Good Internet writing provides the reader with the ability to interact with the writer by way of the writing. Good Internet writing does not appear to be canned or cobbled together by some formula. Good Internet writing has an authentic voice which projects itself as genuine and knowledgeable.
Good Internet writing is significant
Good Internet writing speaks to a felt need. It makes a point or solves a problem. Something in the writing should be engaging, persuasive, enlightening, or surprising. Good Internet writing benefits the reader by providing the reader with information that is useful, and by doing it in a way that the reader can understand. Internet writing has value. That is why blogs make money. That is why article directories pay for performance. That is why webmasters higher Internet writers. Good Internet writing has this value because it contributes to the body of knowledge and to the ongoing discourse on the topic.
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If you look at the top blogs or the top web sites in a given niche, you will find these characteristics. If you look at the highest rated articles on Helium.com or other article directories, you will find these characteristics as well. While good Internet writing alone won’t magically produce web site or blog traffic, bad Internet writing will surely prevent readers from returning.
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3 Responses to “Characteristics of Good Internet Writing”
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Nice article! I agree fully.If you don´t have original and useful content that is of interest to the reader what´s the point of writing? My native language is not English, I may have some grammatical errors here and there but it doesn´t apparently bother my readers.I have had no complaints
Gave you some link love, Bob. Great observations on my site, and I’m thrilled to see you have a site here full of terrific information!
@Tom - Welcome, and thanks! Keep up the good work on your site.
@Lori - I’m honored, seriously. Thank you for the linky love!