Flickerwell Academy
Web writing courses for New Zealanders
Improve search
engine rankings
Increase
conversions
Enhance
credibility
Give readers
a better experience
Maximise your
website’s potential
Gain new skills
for the digital era
Writing for the web is an art and a science.
Flickerwell Academy teaches web writing for:
Business
Government
Not-for-profit
Personal projects
5 courses,
20 chapters,
100 five-minute lessons
Digital Basics
3 chapters
15 lessons
1 quiz
Audience
3 chapters
15 lessons
1 quiz
Writing & Editing
8 chapters
40 lessons
1 quiz
Visual Design
3 chapters
15 lessons
1 quiz
Writing in Practice
3 chapters
15 lessons
1 quiz
Course content
Digital Basics
15 lessons across 3 chapters:
Digital is different
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help you and hurt you
HTML & CSS underpin it all
Audience
15 lessons across 3 chapters:
Audience analysis is your first step
Accessibility is good for people and good for profit
Inclusivity can grow your audience and build goodwill
Writing & Editing
40 lessons across 8 chapters:
Style guides improve your writing and help solve arguments, too
Navigation is deceptively simple
Headings are where it’s at
F-ing up your writing is usually a good thing
Links can make or break your reputation
Plain language is best
Search engine optimisation (SEO) helps people find your good work
Editing, editing, always be editing
Visual Design
15 lessons across 3 chapters:
Information design helps readers absorb and understand
Images are not for decoration
Typography changes everything
Writing in Practice
15 lessons across 3 chapters:
Privacy and compliance are legally (and morally) non-negotiable
Apps, ebooks, and the mobile web also deserve consideration
Tools and resources to guide you forward
How you’ll learn
Written lessons
A writing course should be written, right? Each of our 100 written lessons can be read in five minutes. Lessons end with thought-provoking questions which prompt you to reflect on your learning.
Real-world examples
Every lesson is grounded in practical experience, with frequent examples from New Zealand websites or apps. These demonstrate how fundamental concepts apply to real-world content creation.
Real-world resources
You’ll learn to use a style guide to enhance and professionalise your writing. You’ll also learn to use AI and SEO tools to ensure your web writing supports your website’s goals.
Why Flickerwell Academy?
Digital writing expertise
Not only does Flickerwell publish the world’s finest ebooks, it also publishes the Flickerwell New Zealand Style Guide. We know how good writing can change the world.
New Zealand English
Flickerwell Academy was developed by Kiwis, for Kiwis, using New Zealand English. We accommodate local formatting, spelling, and vocabulary, alongside local examples.
New Zealand Style Guide
A style guide is an essential tool for any professional writer — especially those who are working in teams. The New Zealand Style Guide is a free companion resource for all students.
Learn anywhere, anytime
Our courses adapt to your schedule. Take our browser-based lessons in any order, on any device — desktop or laptop, tablet or phone. Retake lessons as often as you like, for up to one year.
Personal feedback
Each course ends with a 20-point quiz. You’ll receive personal feedback along with your score. If you pass all five courses, you’ll earn a printable Flickerwell Academy Certificate of Completion.
Employment prospects
Apply web writing skills in your current role, or use Flickerwell Academy as a stepping stone to becoming a content developer, digital copywriter, marketing content writer, or web editor.
Most importantly, we know our stuff
Ario Smith BA BSc GDID
I’m Ario Smith, editor at Flickerwell.
I bring 20 years of experience designing, writing, and editing digital content. I’ve worked on apps, ebooks, and websites for the commercial, education, and not-for-profit sectors in New Zealand.
My biggest impact was at the University of Otago, where I learned that, like education, good writing can change the world.
Here are some examples:
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As part of a team redesigning the University of Otago website, I rewrote the homepage content, along with key recruitment and enrolment pages. In the face of a nationwide decline in the number of students entering university, these changes contributed to an unprecedented 9% jump in first-year enrolments.
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I led content development for the university’s official mobile app, which featured an innovative bilingual interface. Within a month of launch, the app had a 95% uptake rate amongst new and existing students, with 100% positive reviews.
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Search visibility is the estimated percentage of clicks a website receives from Google searches. I refined existing content on the Otago MBA website, contributing to 275% better search visibility within a month.
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I led the user experience (UX) development of a postgraduate research opportunities database, designed to recruit students from around the world. Over four years, it saw a 2,000% increase in enquiries from prospective students.
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Organic traffic comprises visits to a website from unpaid search results. I helped redevelop the Christchurch campus’ homepage to increase postgraduate recruitment, resulting in a staggering 16,000% increase in organic traffic to key recruitment pages.
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I developed an ebook publishing system for Otago Medical School and the Health Sciences First Year programme. My ebooks, which were designed to work on the widest-possible range of devices and be fully accessible to students with disabilities, were used by over 3,000 students annually — with zero tech issues or complaints.
Good writing can change the world.
Join us.
Access five courses — Digital Basics, Audience, Writing & Editing, Visual Design, and Writing in Practice — all in New Zealand English. At the end of each course, take a quiz to receive personal feedback on your progress. After passing all five quizzes, receive a printable Flickerwell Academy Certificate of Completion.