Better Internet Writing

One of the downfalls of many Internet writers is the inability to write pithy sentences. I’m not talking about five words or less. I’m talking about sentences that go on forever—one after the other.

While Academia might be impressed with page long sentences, Internet readers are not. It’s just poor writing when this happens. Today, I will share an example of what not to do. And how to correct it.

Our first example is taken out of a sample provided by an “expert” writing service. As you will quickly see, that’s not the case. Whenever you write or hire a writer, you want the final piece to flow. Clumsy sentences trip up your reader and destroy the whole experience. Let’s dive into our first example.

Sample:

“Each hotel is said to be like a vacation all in itself, many of which are equipped with casinos (yes, some resorts house more than one casino!), golf courses, restaurants, wedding chapels, swimming pools, and even spas—anything anyone could possibly imagine, Las Vegas hotels and casinos have it!”

Yes, that’s one entire sentence. Let’s forget about all the grammar errors for a moment and focus on the length. This horrible excuse for writing is almost 50 words in length. Go ahead and count them if you like—I’ll wait. That’s not even the worst part. This sentence is a train wreck—and other sentences in the original document were just as bad.

Could this “sentence” have been saved? You bet. Let’s take a quick stab at making it better for our readers.

Revision:

“Each hotel is a private oasis. Las Vegas resorts feature everything from golf courses to day spas. If you meet that special someone, the famous Las Vegas wedding chapels are the perfect place to tie the knot. A city unlike no other, Las Vegas is only limited by your imagination.”

Isn’t that better? The shorter sentences tend to flow through the mind. Each period is like a mental rest stop. Readers don’t want to run a mental marathon when they digest copy.

The sample could have been rewritten many ways, but you should get the point from the revision. Don’t settle for poor writing that will scare off your valuable visitors.

Writing Poor Content

For my first article on the new Internet Business Entrepreneur blog, I thought it would be great to write about writing.

Poor writing is, in my mind, the number one killer of websites. The more educated the reader, the more poor writing leads to a breakdown. It’s vital that your content flows properly.

Today, I will give you five things that must not appear in your website’s content. Follow these simple items to create content. In the coming days, weeks, months, and years, I’ll be talking more about content writing, layout and other tidbits.

Five Backbreaking Writing Errors

1. Stay away from big words unless necessary. I’d like to point your attention to the newspaper. A general newspaper article is not full of big words. Your goal is to write so that even someone with just a High School education can read your content fluidly.
2. Keep those sentences concise. It’s easy to ramble on, but doing so will anger your reader. Tighten up those sentences.
3. Check your spelling. Yes, it seems like an obvious task, but the Internet is full of spelling errors.
4. Use logical flow. This is one of the main killers for the amateur writer.
5. Make sure the following words are used properly: it, it’s, your, and you’re. Even the best of writers make errors—usually from writing too fast.

As I expand on my writing series, I’ll will revisit these five writing mistakes and expand on them. Point #1 can become moot if you are writing to a specific audience, such as doctors.