When writing for the web, short and simple has long been the order of the day. Short sentences, quick paragraphs, plenty of white space and bullet item points are what you should be using to communicate your ideas to online readers, as standard guidelines go.
This idea of keeping your online writing in a specialized format, coupled with a detailed proofreading (which we recommend doing with an advanced writing software), has long been accepted as the de facto style necessary for web-based content. More than simply serving as a guideline, its effectiveness has been proven to work time and time again.
So, does this mean long, flowing text has no place being published online? Not exactly.
If you started reading a book published online and found it especially engaging, would you really refrain from reading because there are no bullet points? When an excellently-written article breaks all the above rules bit features on the most compelling ideas you’ve come across, are you really going to search for something else instead?
Just like with books, most people will be willing to pay full attention to your writing if it’s good. If a piece of writing drips with passion, style, flair and vibrant language, there’s a good chance people will stay on it, even when it breaks the conventions of online copywriting. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you might generate a bit more interest from readers, as a direct result of your copy’s ability to break the monotony of generic web writing models.
Simply put, if you have something important to say and have the chops to stylishly detail it, you can get away with writing in a more traditional, less web-centric manner.
