Writing for the web

[lynnzop[$]]

I'm working on some new projects that require me to write extensively for the internet...a broad, broad audience. I tend to have a breezy, open style, which I think is pretty easy to follow and read (and I don't use A LOT of big words. )

However, I find that when I spell check (in word) and run the Flech-Kincaid grade level assessment, my articles consistently are at the high school or higher level. Reading ease is generally around 50%. Passive sentences are usually 10% or lower.

Am I writing at a level that is too high and not friendly to the general public? Does anyone follow any general rules when writing for the internet...shorter, choppier sentences for example?

Lynn

[emeleel]

Lynn, if you're talking about the stuff on your BeadingHelpWeb, I think it's right on the money, but then, I am a member of EA. The only problems I'm seeing are some things that probably have to do with the formatting as you copy over the text - periods and parens and stuff in the wrong places. There are enough of them there that I know it's not something you're doing out of ignorance.

I was catching up with the blog and site last night - it looks great!

[lynnzop[$]]

Thanks Melanie...I'll have to look at the formatting and see if there's something goofy going on.

And yeah, as a member of EA, I'd pretty much EXPECT you to be reading at a higher level. "We got us some pretty smart people here."

For anyone else who writes for the general masses, do you write at your "normal" level, or do you write down a little?

[emeleel]

Now I'm not seeing what I thought I saw, although I did still see this one:

Gift certificates are available (hmmm.any of my faithful readers who would like to thank me for all the wonderful hours of reading delight.there's an idea for you!), as are ready-made, wholesale priced jewelry items.

The periods instead of either commas or ellipses jumped out at me.

[lynnzop[$]]

Ah. That's one that was brought over from eps, and the elipses probably didn't translate. I'll contact tech support.

[Redlass]

Something to keep in mind about Fleish-Kincaid is that it doesn't make allowances for technical language. We run into this all the time at my workplace because we have to use words such as "hospitality" a lot. Fleish-Kincaid will up reading levels if you use too many three syllable words. But we can't get around many of our three-syllable words and they aren't too difficult for our audience.

So I think you're probably fine, that it is some of the names of particular beads, tools, and methods that are going to affect your reading level, but not be a hardship for your readers.

I'll write at a different level when I'm writing high school textbooks than I will for other writing. However, I'm also a little spoiled. People who read theater and book reviews are usually pretty literate--often far more literate than I am.

[phoenixx]

lynnzop said

For anyone else who writes for the general masses, do you write at your "normal" level, or do you write down a little?

For the current how-to ebook series I'm collaborating on, I'm writing to the high school level, age 16+, since they are meant to be instructional manuals that are light reading and easy to follow.

When I write for epinions I try to gauge my potential review audience and change my writing style and level accordingly. I also find that it tends to swing to a median age level of reader so that it appeals to a broader audience.

With technical manuals I'm aiming for engineers or other professionals with an education, so I write at or above college level.

In my other non-fiction writing I find I tend to write to my own peer group's intelligence level (EA, real life writing clubs, college grads, heavy readers, etc.) and reading ability. Part of me figures that one way people learn new things is to let them discover them when reading, and that includes new words or ideas.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

When I write for IT Directors, I write at a college+ level.

When I write for Executive Directors, especially about IT topics, I try to drag it down to 9th grade.

[eris esoteric]

Redlass said

we have to use words such as "hospitality" a lot. Fleish-Kincaid will up reading levels if you use too many three syllable words.

If it helps any, "hostility" has one less syllable.

[CurtisEdmonds]

What are the two main things you should do in writing for the web?

* If appropriate, use the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format; it allows people to skim to the information they think is appropriate.
* Also be sure to use bulleted lists when appropriate.

[bruces]

Lynn, my good friend, partner and renound copywriter, David Garfinkel, says "web content should be at a 6th grade level."

I found a site that gives you comprehensive readability information on any document or web page but I can't give you the address here since I have not posted to this forum 15 times. PM me and I will give you the address so you can post it here. The readout for this thread looks like this:

Readability report for eaforums
readability grades:
Kincaid: 7.5
ARI: 7.8
Coleman-Liau: 9.8
Flesch Index: 72.4
Fog Index: 9.9
Lix: 39.1 = school year 6
SMOG-Grading: 9.2
sentence info:
8393 characters
1931 words, average length 4.35 characters = 1.38 syllables
110 sentences, average length 17.6 words
49% (54) short sentences (at most 13 words)
20% (22) long sentences (at least 28 words)
27 paragraphs, average length 4.1 sentences
5% (6) questions
34% (38) passive sentences
longest sent 122 wds at sent 106; shortest sent 1 wds at sent 20
word usage:
verb types:
to be (49) auxiliary (12)
types as % of total:
conjunctions 3(51) pronouns 8(158) prepositions 8(153)
nominalizations 1(28)
sentence beginnings:
pronoun (13) interrogative pronoun (2) article (4)
subordinating conjunction (2) conjunction (4) preposition (2)

I hope this helps.

Bruce

[lynnzop[$]]

Cool Bruce, thanks! I will PM you to get that link.

[hadassahchana[$]]

CAn I vote as a web consumer? Exactly waht Curtis said. Some websites lose me right away because of the yards of unbroken text. I love bullets, they help my eye sort out important info from other stuff.

Cindy

[bruces]

Yes Cindy,

4 lines of text without paragraph break is ideal -- and short sentences. Bullets are great-- but shouldn't be overdone, otherwise they loose their impact.

Bruce

[lynnzop[$]]

Here's the link that Bruce sent me.

http://www.readability.info/

And I agree with the white space concept....I LOVE bullets and netting things out. In fact, I just had a conversation with one of my writers today about it.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Again, depends on the audience. There are some reviewers on the Mother Site in movies, for instance, whose stuff I think is GREAT on some films but if they reviewed any pop movie the same way as foreign and indie films, it wouldn't be so great. There was one Rent review that I didn't rate because i thought it got WAY too in depth and critique-y for the audience.