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Becoming a better writer is not as hard as you imagine. In fact, there are several simple tips and pointers that, if followed, would significantly help almost everyone interested in improving their writing skills. Here’s a brief guide on how to get started.

Big Words Don’t Mean Big Minds

It’s a known fact that most writers have rich, extensive vocabularies. Unfortunately, many new writers often believe that what they write is not superior if it’s not wordy and filled with lengthy sentences - a wholly incorrect assumption. Readers love simplicity; when words flow smoothly and convey the right meaning. Not long, drawn-out sentences, that are stuffed with complex words and convoluted sentences. Write what you mean, not what you think you should be writing.

Get To Your Point Quickly

This is especially true for business writing. You have to learn to be clear, persuasive and focused on your point. Don’t try to impress your readers with highly technical lingo or hard-to-follow language. People want to understand the concept as quickly as they can. Be concise in your writing and try to work with the least number of sentences as possible. It will reach readers faster and they’ll be able to absorb it better too.

Limit One Thought Per Paragraph

If you’re trying to write a fixed amount of words, make sure that your thoughts are conveyed in neat paragraphs throughout the content. Create some unique content by working a single thought or idea into a single paragraph. Don’t clutter your paragraph with a lot of information all at once.

Be Organized

A well-organized and neat article catches the eye and draws more readers in than an article where the paragraphs are all enmeshed or sloppily put together. Distinguish each paragraph with neat indentations and clear eye-catching topics and/or sub-topic. Make your article easy to navigate through, by organizing it well.

Eliminate Excess Words

Using complex words is one thing, but using too many words is a whole different issue. If a fifteen word sentence can be written in ten words, then rewrite it. Stick to active voice over passive voice. “Sheryl threw out the bottle” is easier to grasp than “The bottle was thrown out by Sheryl.” Trim your sentences to get the most meaning from the fewest words.

First Sentences Are Crucial

The opening line of your work should always be the most arresting. Readers should take a look at that first sentence and immediately want to read more. Spend as much time as you need to make that first sentence perfect. Step back and think – if it were you reading the first line of that piece of writing, would you think it was worth a complete read?

These few basic tips are a surefire way to get you on the right track in your efforts to become a better writer. With daily practice and dedication, you’ll find yourself improving in a very short while.

Every writer knows that to really grab your readers' attention, your work should be stimulating, sharp, crisp and succinct. However, writing for the web is a completely different story. Of course, your work should remain just as absorbing and concise as possible but writing for web readers brings many more factors into the equation.

Web readers obviously do not go through content by flipping pages; they scroll through the web pages, scanning for important words, images or keywords. They enter search queries to find keywords within the web content that they're specifically looking for. They like usability, instant access and simplicity.

Keeping this in mind, let's look at a few tips on how to write unique content for the web to draw in the maximum number of readers:

Identify What Words Your Users Search For

Observe your website statistics to see what keywords your users are typing. Searching is one of the main tools web readers use to navigate through web content. Web users enter certain keywords in a search engine's field which allows them access to hundreds of pages containing those words. They are then free to scroll through their options and pick the websites which are most relevant to them. Once inside the website, users also search for sentences within the content in order to find the information they want.

Therefore, it is extremely handy to try to speculate on the keywords that users would possibly be searching for, and to try to incorporate these words into your web content to ensure maximum visits to your page.

Using high-level vocabulary and new, fresh phrases may not be such a good idea, since users usually do not try to search for such words. Instead, use older, well-known words and precise, brief sentences to guarantee that your webpage pops up when a user keys in a search. This technique is also known as SEO or Search Engine Optimization.
Tip: If your competitors use a free web based statistics service like we do, find it and observe what keywords they use.

Do Not Clutter Your Page with Needless Substance

Most web readers access web pages for specific information; not many of them spend hours online reading whole content, word for word. Instead, they mostly scan the text for the information they require, and then they exit the page.

Filling your web pages with images, graphics and endless paragraphs of text only helps in delaying the downloading of your page and increasing the waiting time for your readers. Readers do not want to wait minutes for a web page to load.

Try to keep the page as appealing as possible, but with minimal graphics, neat and factual paragraphs and just a handful of important, relevant images so that the sheer size of your page is not a reason for users to leave.

Follow Standard Guidelines for Good Writing

Although it's been warned against many times before, some writers still have the tendency to lean toward showy, wordy writing in an effort to impress.

Unless it's a literary figure specifically browsing the web for superior samples of writing, chances are your web page will be ignored by most if the paragraphs appear lengthy and verbose. Users like neat packets of information, where each paragraph conveys one main idea, where simple sentences are used and where the text is divided into topics and sub-topics that make sense. In other words, organization is key to a great webpage, and simple and informal writing is best appreciated.

Hyperlinks to other related sites are also a great addition to your webpage as they build credibility of your web content.

Following these very important points in web writing can get you started on compiling a user-friendly, useful website that would guarantee maximum visits.