The difference between writing academically and writing for the internet

Although I had some considerable skill and experience as a writer before I became a freelancer, I had to learn a new set of skills, as there is a significant difference between writing academic essays and web content.

As an academic, writing was (and is) one of my most important skills. I have written countless essays and articles, a few dissertations (including the 100,000 word PhD one) and have been published a number of times. I know I'm a good academic writer. I can construct a clear argument and get my point across in a concise manner.

It therefore seemed to make sense that I should turn that skill into my main WAHM business.

Realistically however, most of the work I'm going to be able to pick up as a beginning freelance writer is writing someone else's web content, and not academic essays.

What I struggled with, at the start, is that writing for the internet is very, very different than writing academically.

An academic piece needs to be concise. It has to have properly referenced facts, and needs to present a clearly structured argument. While it's nice if you can entertain your readers as well, this really is only a secondary concern.

Writing web content is the exact opposite in many ways. You don't want to get bogged down with too many facts and references. The main target is to grab the attention of your readers from the start and keep them entertained. Short paragraphs and bullet points are the order of the day.

So while at a basic level, I'm a decent writer, to be able to offer good content as a freelancer, I eventually realised that I needed to learn a new skill set.