c. What is plain language writing for the web and in detail and in your own words, why is it important? (4 Marks)
What is plain language writing for the web?
Plain language writing for the web is a style of writing online that helps audiences quickly find information they need, understand it, and act on it. It is structured and formatted in a manner that is clear, direct, and easy to digest. Unlike other forms of writing, plain language writing is appropriate for the medium and is consistent with the way people behave online (Briscoe, W8-A-Plain Language Writing (W25).pdf, Slide 18). Meaning that plain language writing is structured differently in accordance with where the content is on the web. Such as an article, a study, a report, etc. It is consistent with how people act online, tying into the clear notion that people do not have the time to read everything on the web. They skim, so they need plain language writing to help them understand the most relevant and important information for them to successfully use it for their intended purposes and gain value from it.
“People are busy, spending 15 seconds or less deciding on whether to engage with a page or not (Briscoe, W8-Writing Website Copy & Plain Language (W25).pdf, Slide 3).”
With this said, people tend to skim more than they read on the web. The intended audience needs to immediately understand the content to act on it. Plain language writing for the web ensures that audiences can clearly and easily invest in the content and immediately gain value from it. Furthermore, it formats content in an accessible and easily navigable way to increase retention, engagement, and conversion.
Plain language writing for the web includes the use of a structured formatting such as:
- F-patterns to adapt to the natural flow people tend to absorb writing/content
- Bullet points/lists that break up content to avoid confusion, clutter, and uninterest
- Short, simple, and direct language to quickly and immediately convey the most important details without adding unnecessary complexity or jargon
- Using vocabulary that aligns with the audience’s literacy level to be as inclusive to those who may have accessibility issues.
- Clear CTAs for action and conversion.
Why is it important?
Plain language writing for the web is important because it improves accessibility, engagement, conversion, enabling people to find what they need with ease.
- It makes content more accessible to those who have lower literacy levels, disabilities, or visual impairments. It ensures that content is accessible to the specific audience, so that people don’t have to top toe around and try to guess what the content means. Because surely, they will immediately click out because the information is unclear, indirect, and not concise.
- People on the web want what they need immediately, and they do so by skimming information. Plain language writing for the web ensures that the most important and critical information is immediately understandable. This increases user-experience and engagement, ultimately increasing retention and conversion. It’s important because it helps specific audiences find what they need seamlessly.
- It helps build trust and credibility. Plain language writing for the web eliminates unnecessary information, words, or sentences that may confuse people and lead them to believe that the content is misleading. It’s not about dumbing it down, it’s about writing content with the audience’s needs (on the web) in mind.
- The use of this ultimately ensures that audiences can quickly find what they need, clearly understand it, and easily act on it with clear call-to-actions. This is important because it helps boost search engine optimization because it reduces bounce rates, and lets Google know that the content is structured and organized with the user’s purposes in mind. Ultimately attracting more people and ranking higher on search results.
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