Write About The Net

By Ward Tipton

Writing is about writing so people say. However, throughout history, people have made many claims and history has shown repeatedly how easy it is for people in general to be misled, misguided and misinformed. In the case of writers, it is often the very ones writing the words that are misinforming those who wish to impart their knowledge with the power of the written word.

Writing on the internet is the same as writing in other places with some very notable exceptions. Writing on the internet is directed at a market that wants instant gratification and very often does not want to spend an excessive amount of time or energy researching or even reading. While this may seem to be a contradiction, it really is not.

Unlike the rapidly declining print media, physical space restrictions are not a problem on the internet or anywhere on the World Wide Web for that matter. While some people make dire predictions of an overpopulated and greatly hindered cyber realm, this phenomenon stands about as much chance of becoming a reality as discovering hidden ice fields within an active volcano. It is not going to happen and that is just a reality.

However, while physical requirements are not a consideration, length and word counts are very important. The actual length of the article or post on a web page can make all of the difference in the world between keeping people on your site, generating return traffic and watching your site die quickly and painfully before your very eyes. If the article is too long, people will not stay around long enough to read the entire piece. If the article is too short, people will not be able to absorb enough information since it is not included in the piece and again, you will lose a reader and possibly a potential customer as well.

Ideally, the articles or posts should be somewhere in the neighborhood of five-hundred words. This is not an exact figure and until the day comes when people begin ordering books by the number of pages or words, it will never become an exact number. Still, statistically at least, this has been shown to be the optimal length for content that will be housed on the World Wide Web. It is long enough to impart the knowledge that people are looking for without overwhelming them with too much knowledge or taking up too much of their time.

Time actually seems to be more of a key when writing on the internet than the actual information. From the time that someone enters your web page you will have roughly seven seconds to get their attention and make their decision as to whether to stay or leave. If you bombard them with nothing but ceaseless and never-ending paragraphs with no breaks and no distractions, they will probably leave. Likewise, if you bombard their senses with nonstop advertisements and very little information, they will still leave just as quickly.

Writing on the internet requires striking a very fine balance between information and distractions. Either one becomes ineffective without the other and too much of either one will destroy the whole page setup. Provide your readers with a soothing mix with enough information and very little extemporaneous information and you will strike the balance that should bring you great success in your online writing career.

Ward Tipton has been writing SEO and SEM materials for over three years now and has recently become involved in providing new and unmatched materials by an actual Work Team comprised of professional writers, technicians, engineers, editors, Internet Marketers and a gathering of talent heretofore unmatched in the world of Internet Marketing.

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