How to Improve the Look and Feel of Your Copy on the Web
Here are some simple tips to improve the look and feel of your web copy:
Cause your reader to dive right into your copy by limiting your opening paragraph to one or two sentences. Your opening is the second most important part of your article. The headline should drive curiosity, and your opening paragraph should fan the flame.
Using subheads is a great way to break up a bulky article. It makes copy easier on the eyes, and allows the reader to quickly skim through the article to determine how thorough it should be read.
It’s easy to start using jargon (or technical language) when talking about a complicated subject. Big words can slow down a reader, and possibly even annoy them. Your job as a writer is to communicate your main points clearly and as simply as possible.
Writing copy on the web is much different than writing a journal article or essay for class. Paragraphs within blog entries or articles should be brief. Dense paragraphs slow down a reader, and might even begin boring the reader. To speed up the reader, and move through your main points, keep your paragraphs short.
There’s an interesting study on the use of fonts on the web—and how the font style can effect how the message is relayed. No matter your opinion on this, you should make sure you’re using a font style and size that can be easily read on a computer screen.
Sometimes a nice image within the blog can help improve the look and feel. Magazines do this all the time. You’ll be reading a block of text and then you’ll see an appropriate picture or an image of a key quote from the article. Using images can help break up the article and make it seem a bit more visually interesting.
The longer your line of text, the slower the reading will be. If you’ve ever taken a speed reading course, you know that they always begin training your eyes to read faster by keeping the length of each line very short. It helps your eyes navigate the page faster. So try to manipulate your blog layout so that you keep your lines short.
