As with most industries in the business world, the technical writing industry has benefited greatly from the popularity of the Internet. Technical writing online has become a very viable industry. Now, user guides, training manuals, and all sorts of technical documents can be published and distributed online. The barriers to entering the technical writing industry have become lowered due to the ease of publishing online. Now, companies can afford more extensive technical writing, whereas before the high printing and distribution costs may have deterred them. Because of its low cost and ease of use, the Internet has become a hotbed for online technical writing.
Tech writing online has also become an excellent resource and publishing avenue for freelance technical writers. They can create their own websites where they display samples of their technical writing online, so they can tell a prospective employer, "Go to this website to see my technical writing." The Internet is also a great place for the online technical writer to advertise himself or herself.
Many technical writing companies operate exclusively online. They specialize in the intricacies of online technical writing, which brings with it its own set of challenges and techniques. These companies exist to help other people or companies get their technical writing properly published online. Some of these people or companies do not have the time, energy, or money to do their own online technical writing.
The Internet has great directories of technical writing companies, services, and technical writers that offer online technical writing and publishing:
- Google's directory for Business Technical Writing
- Google's directory of Tech Writing Resources
- Yahoo's directory for Technical Writing