What a comforting statement – especially for those of us that went to college for four years…at the very least.
But really, when it comes to writing for the web, this statement is a good rule of thumb.

Of course, forgetting everything is an overstatement. Grammar and some writing basics are always important. But, a lot of what we’ve learned, we need to work to overcome each time we write for web.

Writing more – with big words and flowery sentences – does not make you seem smart. It just makes you annoying.
Writing a lot doesn’t make you seem knowledgeable about a topic. It makes you forgettable – because no one is ever going to get to the end of your piece.

With all things web hurtling toward us at the speed of light, it’s clear that the web is the way of the future. Actually, it’s already kind of the way of today.

So, when are we going to stop teaching fluffy writing? When will we have educated people who don’t have to unlearn and who can just get better at doing?

Have we started yet?

If a Google search for “web writing class” is an indication, not really.

The top few listings included:

1. www.sciencesitescom.com
   This site offers a two-day workshop. I couldn’t figure out much more about the organization offering it. The site didn’t work in my browser. (Not saying much for the workshop, teaching web-related skills and all.)
2. www.hwg.org
   The HTML Writers Guild offers a six-week course. It covers a good range of topics, including web reading habits, search engine rankings, effective writing and formatting tips, web design, creativity, and even measuring success with web analytics.
3. www.webwritingthatworks.com
   This course is a two-day in person workshop or a six-week online workshop. Again, for a site teaching web writing, not terribly impressive. Text is broken up with headings, but it’s very long. (I didn’t want to read it, so I may not be describing all this information right.) Inconsistencies in the bullet point writing – also not impressive.

The other listings making up the top ten? All online courses or workshops. While some sites were credible, none were for educational institutions.

Ironically enough, a search for “web writing college” first lists a page on Dartmouth.edu with tips for writing an academic paper. Far from effective web writing tips.

A search for “web writing university” brought up more of the same. Halfway through the page, there was a listing for Oxford. This page was just a guide housed under a section describing the University’s Web Strategy Group.

Maybe educational sites just aren’t optimizing for search?

My research for this post was very brief – by no means conclusive. But I thought maybe schools offered the classes, they just weren’t showing up in search results.

So I went to the source.

Amherst College was among the top liberal arts colleges for 2010. One of the easier college sites to navigate, I reviewed their course offerings in the English department. Among them: Reading and Writing About Nature, Writing Poetry I and II, Screenwriting, Writing Fiction I and II, and The Graphic Novel.

Students studying writing in college are much more likely to end up writing for a website than they are writing poems or graphic novels.

I know there are creative schools out there for advertising or design that offer courses for more specific types of writing.
But the web is more than mainstream today. Shouldn’t creating content for it have the same coverage?

And another thing…

An aside, but to take this just a step further, can the succinct qualities of web writing please conquer all other types of writing? Legal writing, fine print, academic pieces. Of course, there are some reasons these types of writing are the way they are. Really, though, no one wants to spend an hour reading something that they could read in ten minutes.
If the point of content is not to be creative and entertaining, then why should we have to wade through the fluff?

In closing – web writers – please try to conquer the world. Just a small task to ponder.

The variety of experience represented in the audience created an excellent discussion with valid points and even more valid questions (which, in the end, related to big organizations as much as small; internal use as much as external).

Anyone could probably write for pages and pages about each of the points discussed. So, I’m choosing a few points, that together, made me think about larger implications.

(I wish I could credit the people who made these original points, but unfortunately, I’m not sure who they were. If you somehow find this post, and it was you, out yourself and your opinions, please!)

So, back to those points:

• The In Crowd:
  With easy content creation and access to content from anywhere in the world, social media makes it clear – something’s going on out there. And if something’s going on, we want to be a part of it. Nobody wants to be left behind while their friends, coworkers, or entire industry charges ahead without them.
• Addiction:
  We often receive social media content on our mobile phones, which makes us more likely to read it. Even if we wouldn’t read the same content on a website (computer), somehow, on a phone, it’s more appealing. Why is it appealing? Whether it’s novelty or something else, you really can’t argue that most people consider content via mobile convenient and fun. Because it’s so convenient and fun and because we want to be in, it naturally follows that it’s easy to become addicted.
• It’s a Culture Thing:
  If an entire organization, from top management to newest employee, doesn’t buy into social media, it will never work. The culture has to be on board for a complete, genuine, and responsible social media presence. The transparency that comes from such a strategy is rarely, if ever, absent from a successful social media presence.

These first two points are very closely related; we want to be part of what’s going on. So much so, that it becomes an addiction. Of course, these points could be said about anything, not just social media usage. Everyone, at one point or another, wants to be part of the in crowd, whether it’s the popular or trendy crowd at large or fitting in with our own small circles of friends or even our families.

Taken together with the third point – about an organization’s culture – is what made me think:

Is social media usage inherently part of our culture already?
Do we, as a culture, just need to breakdown existing stereotypes, so we can see social media for its purpose – genuine, transparent communication in a convenient, fun way – rather than a new, and for many, intimidating medium?

This advice pretty much goes for any type of marketing today; it’s a fair estimate that no matter who your target audience is, they’re stressed out and over stimulated. The advice is especially useful for – believe it or not – website usability.

When designing a website, it’s a common recommendation to maintain certain conventions:

• A log in box is in the upper right.
• The logo is in the upper left.
• Privacy policies and terms and conditions are in the footer.
• A shopping cart icon takes you to a page where you see the items you’ve decided to buy.
• A magnifying glass denotes site search.

Of course, if everyone maintained every convention, websites would get stale quickly. Other than color changes and imagery, you wouldn’t recognize one site from another.

Some conventions go for anyone – like the shopping cart and search. But sometimes, the conventions for an industry are nothing more than “the way we’ve always done things”. And in most of these cases, this way isn’t a good one.
Just because your audience is accustomed to something doesn’t mean they like it. It just means they don’t have an alternative.

Wouldn’t it be great to be the first alternative? The breath of fresh air for an audience who’s been oppressed by boring, difficult to navigate websites for years?

Of course it would be great. But how do you do it?

Don’t look to your industry – often the people who have been and are doing it wrong. Look to the other places your audience hangs out online.

Your audience doesn’t exist in a vacuum, with interest only in your services.  If you’re a law firm, your clients do more than look for a lawyer. If you’re a family lawyer, you can bet your clients have families. What other kinds of sites do people with families visit? School or educational sites? Sites for kids’ clothing or food?

Find the best sites in industries with which your target audience is involved, and take a cue from them. Borrow these conventions for a site that will delight your visitors.

Earlier this month, GM provided a wonderful real world (versus world wide web) example of borrowing conventions from other industries.

With such a diverse audience, the connection is simple: people who shop for vehicles also shop for other things. And when we shop, most often, we can return what we buy. This no-strings-attached feeling makes the decision to buy much less stressful.

New shoes. Not sure if you want them? Take them home. Walk around in them. Don’t want them anymore? Simply bring them back, and they’re out of your life forever.

So, GM decided to offer the same thing for their vehicles: returns.
Their “May the Best Car Win” campaign offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on all new vehicles. (There are a few requirements. Read more about the campaign here.)

Only time will tell if this tactic will pull GM out of the dire situations they’ve found themselves in over the past few months. But one thing’s for sure – it’s gotten them some attention.  Just after its launch, news shows featured the campaign. A Google news search for “GM 60 day money back guarantee” brings up over 1,000 results, all of which seem to accurately reference the campaign.

GM may not have made all the right decisions, but I think this campaign is a great reminder for marketing anywhere. An age old convention for one industry is a revolutionary plan for another.

We already know the web has revolutionized the way we do things. As trite as the term “digital revolution” can be, it’s a very accurate description of the last few years in our society.

It’s definitely revolutionized how we travel – from finding directions via Google Maps to buying plane tickets on Expedia.

It’s revolutionized the way we shop. Can’t get it locally? No problem – when we can shop anywhere, globally.

Examples could go on forever. From online activities to the very way consumers are in control now, rather than companies.

All of these ideas are discussed in circles everywhere online and offline.

Recently, though, a few articles made me think about some even bigger shifts in our society – the next big things to be revolutionized, if you will.

First, a bit more about digital marketing.

A few months ago, results of a Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group study announced a great answer to the infamous question social media marketers face…
“What’s the ROI on social media?”
(Without fail, usually one of the first questions all businesses ask about social media – whether they’re skeptical or not.)

Of course, the quick answer is:
“It’s about engagement, not conversions.”
But this study actually found that deep engagement with customers through social media correlates to better financial performance.

The most engaged companies in the study saw an 18% increase in revenues over 12 months. Compare these companies to those who weren’t engaged and saw a 6% decrease in revenues over the same period.

So, sure, it’s great for engagement, but ROI, too? Even better.

The catch. The companies who had the biggest increases in ROI were deeply engaged. This study defined deeply engaged as having:

“…dedicated teams, however small, active in the social media channels they utilize. The study found that the most successful teams evangelize social media across the entire organization to pull in a broad range of stakeholder.”

You can read more about the study here, but what struck me was the evangelization of social media across an entire organization. A large undertaking.

Now, my actual point: the next big revolution…maybe.

Another article I recently read discussed customer loyalty –  more difficult with the less personal nature of online customer interaction.

For better loyalty, Gary Edwards, Executive Vice President of Client Services for customer experience management company Empathica, recommends “ensuring that all employees – from the top down – know your mission and live that mission while at work.” (Read more about this one here.)

So, now, some equations:

• Deep customer engagement through social media = increases in revenue
• Deep engagement through social media = evangelization of social media across an entire organization
• Customer loyalty = ensuring all employees know and live your mission while at work

To me, it seems these points are saying:
To have loyal customers that are going to continue spending money with you, you better have some loyal employees you trust to evangelize your brand.

Yes, in simple ways, the web has already revolutionized hiring. Another equation:

• Pictures of horrifying behavior on Facebook ≠ responsible adult career

But, does a move to how companies find success – by completely and totally engaging with customers online, anytime, anywhere – mean the web is about to further revolutionize how we’ll hire employees in the future?

Sure, a potential employee might have a clean, innocent Facebook page and an impressive LinkedIn profile, but can she be trusted to engage with customers? Can she properly communicate the company culture, mission, and more to them, all without supervision?

In some companies already completely dedicated to social media, this revolution may have happened. In other companies that haven’t jumped on the social media bandwagon, might this movement to genuine online engagement strategies impact hiring – whether companies are primarily online or not?

If shopping, travel, or any number of other examples are any indication, this change will be the case. Digital is still revolting, and we’re all just along for the ride, wherever it might take us.