"When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing."  ~Enrique Jardiel Poncela

Every article on the web is in competition with the clock. There's always another page just a click away. The reader, whether he realizes it or not, hears the ticking in his head. "Is this interesting and understandable? Does the author know what he's talking about? Is this just a bunch of fluff? C'mon, now, let's get to the point. Time's up! Let's see what's next."

As a writer I feel the pressure to tell the reader what he wants to know - and only what he wants to know. It's difficult to know what needs to be thrown out. Words come easy. Keeping just the right ones is the tricky part.

I, too, hear the clock ticking in my head. I know the reader is just looking for an excuse to move on to another page. Spelling and grammar errors must be avoided because they damage my credibility. Once that's gone, the reader will hit the [Back] button. Just like with factual mistakes, there are no second chances.

All the while the tone and tenor of my writing must match the expectations of the reader. You wouldn't wear swimming trunks to a business meeting nor would you wear a suit to a pool party. The words I choose and the manner in which I arrange them are my clothes. For example, should I have written, "the manner in which I arrange them" or "how they are arranged" in the preceding sentence? I chose the former to demonstrate my understanding of grammar, which is something I believe you, my audience, will find more appropriate.

But what about Search Engine Optimization? All writing for the web must consider SEO. All of it - no exceptions. Some articles are written around a particular SEO phrase. The trick is to keep it from looking like an SEO article. What's the point of Search Engine Optimization of you lose the reader just seconds after he lands on the page?

Does the above paragraph seem like it was structured for SEO? It was.

Many people can write. Few of us can write well. As you review the bids from those willing to work cheaply, you should consider what Thomas Mann wrote in his Essays of Three Decades: "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." The bids you receive are often a reflection of how much a writer feels he is worth.

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