WEB
Writing for the Web
Strapped firmly on the Internet roller coaster, web consultant and writer Christina Sng ponders the general failure of online content and finds that writing for the web is a vastly different animal altogether
In the last millennium, revolutionaries like Bill Gates predicted that the web would replace print newspapers and magazines in the 21st century. Now that we are here, print media has never been stronger and web content has been severely dwindling, both from lack of funds and the inability to sustain interest.
Since the fall of the mighty web, content providers have been scratching their heads at why their business models failed and lamenting how users fled, without an iota of loyalty, to their competitors a mere mouse-click away.
However, looking at the successful few that have made it, the reason becomes clear: delivery. Their content is broken down into sections; paragraphs are short; their prose is simple, straightforward and to the point.
The Problems with Existing Web Content
Essentially, the web is a totally different medium from print. People scan on the web; they don’t read. They scan for headlines, easily passing over an…