Writing for the Web

Course review:

An interactive one-day course designed to help you learn the priorities and practicalities of web writing. We focus on the essential differences of writing for the web as opposed to the printed page, the importance of tuning into readers’ needs, and how to improve your site’s usability. Web sites are an increasingly important source of information, advice, networking and sales. But the Internet is a rapidly changing medium, and web browsers do not use and read computer screens as they do the printed page. For web sites to be worth their investment and to fulfil their role, they must adapt to these and other challenges. During the course we provide advice on the challenges of web writing, and how to overcome them; guidance on writing style and web page structure; ways to help error-proof your work; and tips to improve your site’s ranking and increase the number of repeat visitors. The course is suitable for anyone new to web writing, and those looking to sharpen their web copy or increase repeat visits to their web site: press and communications officers, technical writers and information officers, web technologists, and others from the public, private, voluntary and charitable sectors.

Key Training Areas:

The differences of online and offline consumption of text ; Tuning in to your readers needs ; Essential techniques for web writing, including: inverted pyramids, chunking down copy, evergreening copy, non-linear formats; Re-purposing or webifying your copy ; Importance of metadata such as page descriptions, headings and key words ; Eye-catching web and page structures: Developing style guides: rules for paragraph and sentence length, punctuation and style: Ten tips for online proofreading: Improving your ranking on web browsers:

Practical exercises throughout.