Posts Tagged ‘Writing’

Aaron Wall made a great point about the difference between articles and blog posts. Also some interesting discussion in the comments. (Especially the link to an article about the same subject by Jakob Nielsen, which I read at the time and then promptly did not apply to my situation.)

I’m sure that there are some industries that still need new blogs. But I currently sit in an industry with too many. Internet Marketing is probably one of the wortst industries to be a blogger in because there is so much noise and so many echoes about the same topics.

I don’t fancy myself as a top blogger, but I do enjoy it. I also feel that I have important stuff to say, so I’m going to treat that stuff differently than a blog post. This blog should be for bite-sized ideas, not lengthy articles.

For those of you who have been following along, that means that my mini-series about running an AdWords campaign is not going to be a series of blog entries, but rather a series of articles. Something didn’t feel right about the idea of the mini-series. I’m glad that I could figure it out.

Technorati Tags: aaron wall, alertbox, Blogging, internet, internet marketing, jakob nielsen, marketing, seo book, usability, Writing

SEO Black Hat came up with a great tip about writing effective headlines: mimic tabloid headlines.

Think about it: tabloid headlines must grab your attention immediately to get you to make that impulse buy. Sound anything like internet marketing? Hmm… Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: adwords, Blogging, digg, email marketing, internet marketing, ppc, Search Marketing, technorati, web writing, Writing

I’ve always wondered how some bloggers do it. How do they consistently release stories? For me, inspiration has always come in spurts. When I write one good post, I more than likely can write 10 more quality posts in the same sitting.

If you’re anything like me, then it’s a good idea to write your posts when you have time and inspiration. Before publishing, set your blog to release your new entry in the future. And set the schedule so that your posts are being published at even intervals. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Blogging, internet, web, Writing

I recently came across a widget for creating filler copy. Its purpose is for designers to have some fake text to use as filler in their designs. (It’s not a designer’s job to write the content, right?)

Here’s what the widget would look like if you installed it on your Mac:

The joke is that some people really do write this way. Do you? Maybe it’s time to trim out some unnecessary words on your website.

Technorati Tags: copy, copywriting, Design, marketing, web, web writing, Writing

Most web designers and web developers ignore accessibility. Now that Target is being sued for not having an accessible web site, the bar is going to be raised for your own site as well. Yes, this is yet another thing to worry about. And no, you should not half-ass it.

If you cater to those with visual impairments, then you will also reap benefits from the world’s most famous blind user: Google. I kid you not.

HTML, the document format of web pages, was designed to be consumed by those with vision impairments, not just by those of us with good eyesight. Once again, everyone has gotten lazy and hasn’t learned how to truly use HTML for this purpose. I’m going to point out a few things that should be done to help improve your site’s accessibility. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: accessibility, best practices, compliance, design, google, html, jaws, screen readers, section 508, seo, shockwave, target, w3c, wai, web, web accessibility, web writing, Writing

You don’t actually work on Friday, do you? Yeah, I didn’t think so! Every Friday, I’ll post links to interesting articles I’ve run across on the Web.

This week, let’s focus on writing for your customer.

• We We Calculator: Enter the URL for a page on your site, and see how often you talk about yourself. How often do you address your customers’ needs? (Hint: You want more of the latter!)
• Advice for CMS Users: This article does a great job of telling you how to write for your audience on the web.
• Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet: A useful resource by Future Now that links to great articles about writing copy for the web. (They’ve also written a second part.)

I am a blog junkie, so I’m hoping to help you find new ideas every week. Be sure to leave a comment and let me know about the gems you’ve found.

Technorati Tags: communications, copywriting, customer-centric, pr, web, Writing