Top 3 Online Punctuation Tips For Website Copywriters

The purpose of grammar and punctuation is to facilitate communication. This is as true on the web as it is for the printed page. However, it's harder to read from computer screens than printed material. So website copywriters should modify their punctuation to increase readability.

Here are three tips to help online readers better understand the meaning of your website copy:

1. Use Minimal Punctuation: Punctuation marks control the flow of sentences and help organise ideas. But because they're so tiny they can easily get lost on-screen.

So I recommend using punctuation in moderation online. Format information into lists if possible. Use short sentences and short paragraphs.

2. Don't Use Semi Colons: I avoid using semi colons when writing online. They're too easily mistaken for colons.

According to the popular writing style guide, Elements of Style by Strunk & White, the proper use of a semi colon is to join two independent clauses into a compound sentence. For example: "It's nearly midnight; the restaurants will probably be closed."

On the web you're better off using an em-dash (long hyphen) or a period (full stop). E.g. "It's nearly midnight ? the restaurants will probably be closed." or "It's nearly midnight. The restaurants will probably be closed."

Also, it's better to use em-dashes instead of hyphens in website copy. Hyphens are small. So they can more easily be overlooked than longer em-dashes.

3. Check Your Copy Offline: To make the best impression on your website visitors, your website copy must be free of grammatical and spelling errors. Typographical errors and poor English can easily turn off potential customers.

So make sure you do a spell check of your copy in a word processor before you upload it to your website. It's also a good idea to print it out and get a colleague to proof read it. Once the content is live, you should check it again on-screen.

By: CharlesFC

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Charles Cuninghame is an Australian web copywriter. He provides high quality copywriting services for business owners and marketing managers.