In Brian Clark's article How To Create Compelling Content That Ranks Well In Search Engines, he writes about key lessons that can help an online writer gain more readers and more popularity by raising their search engine rankings. Of course the most important aspect of online writing is to have good content. But what one person might consider to be good content, another person might find really lame or not very helpful. I think a website should figure out who their audience is, whether it's a small group of people with a specific interest or a really diverse audience, in order to figure out how to create their content. So in my opinion, Clark's other lesson of having a reader focused online presence is the next most important lesson. When a website discovers what their niche audience is, they can then focus on creating "cornerstone content."
A blog I like to follow which is an example of good online writing is Bakerella, which is a blog devoted to all sorts of baking recipes. The blog started out with only a handful of followers but has become incredibly popular. The blog posts have clear and direct titles that let the reader know exactly what recipe the post is about. Each post has several photos that detail every step of the baking process. Some of the posts contain links to other trusted websites for more information. The blog owner also asks her readers questions and sometimes holds giveaways so that her readers can comment on the blog posts and there is more interaction going on. She also makes sure to include links to other food and baking blogs on her website and has established friendships with other food bloggers so they help each other out by promoting each other on their websites.
Another blog I really like is HelloGiggles. HelloGiggles is a website geared towards 20-something females of various interests and therefore has several different categories of blog posts. Not only does HelloGiggles have many regular contributors, it also allows readers to submit their own articles to the website. Each article has a headline and a picture related to the post. At the bottom of each post, the writer has a small blurb that tells the readers more about that particular writer and also usually includes links to their personal blogs or twitters or whatever other social media platform they use. Deanna Zandt's article, How You Will Change The World With Social Networking definitely reminded me of HelloGiggles because of how the site gives women a voice and a place to contribute their thoughts, experiences, and values, which is why I really enjoy reading the website's articles and I think it's an example of good online writing.
The first example of bad online writing that came to mind was PerezHilton. While I'm sure the blog ranks very high, the content is just trashy and pure celebrity gossip aimed towards teenage girls. It is completely cluttered by ads that sponsor the site, links to other websites, videos, and hot pink everything (particularly keyword junk). Similarly, any post by the omg! from Yahoo blog, like this post about Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, features pointless stories about celebrities that are filled with keywords and have no actual substance. For me, these are perfect examples of bad online writing.
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