In a recent update the AP Stylebook, decreed that journalists should write "website" instead of "web site". Robert Niles, of the Online Journalism Review, chipped in to the debate by saying that it is more important for student journalists to learn search engine optimization (SEO) techniques than AP style.
Predictably, this has set off a chain reaction with everybody chipping in and adding his or her point of view to it. You can expect the debate to get personal and encompass whole lot things about writing online.
However, the point of this blog post about writing style is that personally, I find that the blog posts written in the style recommended by the likes of Robert Niles draws more readers than those written in the conventional style recommended by the AP Stylebook.
This to me renders the very discussion moot, because I write so that I have the pleasure of knowing a larger audience will read it. Therefore, if search engine optimization techniques get me more readers then it is superior to the AP Style and everyone having pretensions of being a writer should follow it.
The Codicil
