by Sarah Torribio

Created on: June 16, 2010

When writing professional web content, you need to take two audiences into consideration: your employer and visitors to their website.

 Let’s talk about your employer first. If you want to get paid, you need to find out what your client wants and deliver it. Luckily, the first part of that proposition is easy because most employers are looking for the same things.

BECOMING AN EXPERT
They want you to write about their product, service or topic with intelligence and authority in a way that a layperson can understand. Doing that may take a bit of research, because it is rare that a writer comes to a project with complete expertise. You’re going to need to sit down with your client and ask questions about their enterprise. You’re also probably going to need to hit the Internet, doing research on your own.

Let me give you a for-instance. I took on a job creating web content for a company that manufactures an easy-to-add catalyst that helps engines run more efficiently and with less greenhouse gas emissions.  Let me be honest. I don’t know a lot about engines. What’s more, when starting out, I didn’t have more than the average person’s understanding of the emissions causing air pollution and global warming, etc.

What I did have is a background in journalism, which has taught me the art of transcending limitations. The average journalist will write about countless topics during the course of his or her career, many on which he or she is inevitably uninformed. For the finished article to sound authoritative, tell the truth and avoid experts’ sensitive B.S. detectors, the writer needs to do some research.

Luckily, in today’s information age, most of what we need to learn is at our fingertips. Don’t know exactly what CO2 is? Google it. Do you want to know what percentage of greenhouse gas emissions come from the shipping industry? Google it. You can also get old-school and check out a book from the library or browse through relevant material at your local Borders, or get someone on the phone who is willing to help with your questions.

AVOID BEING UNDERPAID
This is where the real work of writing comes in. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a journalist to do this. You just have to think like one. One caveat: many employers out there underestimate the time it will take for you to complete a writing project, because they don’t figure in enough time for research. Because of that, many potential

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