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10 Tips On Writing For The Web

by Mary  Morel    

Sounds obvious, but the most common mistake in writing for the web is not writing appropriately for the audience. As you’re writing, constantly check that what you’re writing is appropriate, relevant and interesting for your readers. Remember that people want information fast and they hate ‘marketese’.

One of the difficulties when writing for the web is that you have to write for your target audience but also keep in mind you have a global audience. If you’re likely to have a large number of international visitors to your site, make sure your language is culturally sensitive.

2. Be direct and concise

Online writing is often about half the length of a print version. Don’t worry if you can’t write concisely in your first draft – but don’t treat that as your final version. In your first draft, concentrate on the flow of ideas and the structure. When you rewrite, edit your work vigorously, removing all unnecessary and repetitive words and ideas. It’s easy to get a word or phrase on your mind and use it several times without even realising. Also watch out for filler words like ‘there is’ and ‘it is’.

As a general rule, use:

· Simple, short words.

· Simple, short sentences with the main idea upfront.

· Short paragraphs with the main idea in the first sentence.

· Inverted pyramid structure with the most important news at the beginning (give your work the 5W and H check ? who, what,

  where, when, why and how).

· Active rather than passive statements.

Chunk information into small, bite-sized pieces broken up by headings and subheadings. If you can’t comfortably fit all the information into one screen you need to decide whether to scroll or hyperlink to another page.

Cater for readers who will read everything on the page in a linear fashion and others who will jump to headings that interest them and just read that section.

Longer text is sometimes published as Adobe PDF files, but this has the disadvantage of taking time to download. I personally hate PDF files. I think too many people use PDF files as an excuse not to write tightly. They just transfer a print document into PDF format.

3. Be clear

Make sure your text is clear and unambiguous. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and imagine every way they could interpret your material. If there’s any room for ambiguity, someone will always interpret the words incorrectly.

Examples:

     Kathy Henning says in an early draft of her free PDF book, Writing tight for the web, she wrote ‘writing clearly isn’t easy’.

     On rewriting she realised that this could mean either ‘Clearly, writing isn’t easy’ or ‘It isn’t easy to write clearly’.

     Last year I promoted three courses and gave one price (e.g. $297 GST Incl.). Several people thought the price covered

     all three courses. All I needed to do was add the word ‘each’ ($297 GST Incl. each) and there wouldn’t have been any

     ambiguity.

4. Make your writing easy to scan

Use headings and subheadings

Research has shown that people like headings that are short, simple and descriptive – not witty or clever.

Some tips:

· use simple, short headings that clearly indicate the contents of the sections

· use specific headings that promote benefits (e.g. instead of just saying ‘services’, a marketing company could say ‘strategies

  to increase profits’)

· choose a consistent hierarchy of headings

· don’t go beyond four levels of subheadings

· keep your headings on a separate line so they stand out from the body text

· use key words in headings that you’d like search engines to pick up

· stick with plain text. Use capitals and italics minimally as they are more difficult to read and use underlining only for hyperlinks.

Use lists

Bulleted lists work well in web material. Numbers are OK if the order of the list is important.

As a general rule don’t have more than nine items, preferably less, and use one or a maximum of two levels.

Use pull-out quotes

Use the magazine technique of pull-out quotes for emphasis.

Highlight key words for emphasis

Highlight key words for emphasis. This technique is used more on the web than in print writing. Avoid using underlining for emphasis as it is reserved for hyperlinks on the web. Also avoid capitals and italics. Plain text and bold work best in online writing.

5. Use a conversational style and tone

Online writing is more informal and conversational than print material.

Talk directly to your audience in ‘you’ language. For example, instead of describing the features of your product or service talk about what the benefits are for your audience. Read through your work and highlight each time you’ve used ‘we’ or ‘I’ and see if you can change them into ‘you’. This simple technique can change the entire emphasis of your writing.

Consider including profiles and photos of key staff. It adds a personal touch.

6. Be credible

Your site will lose credibility if you have:

· links that don’t work

· content that is rarely updated

· links to sites that lack credibility

· ads that are indistinguishable from content.

(Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, March 2003)

You can gain credibility through:

· having a well-written and designed site that’s easy to navigate

· avoiding ‘marketese’ – research has shown that people don’t like marketese on websites

· using testimonials and reviews to support your claims.

7. Be consistent

Inconsistencies often creep into websites as they’re continually updated. But it’s no excuse. At best, it shows a lack of attention to detail (‘cart’ on one page and ‘basket’ on another). At worst, it’s confusing. As Kathy Henning points out (Writing tight for the web), on the American Express site the navigation scheme changes at least three times.

8. Be accurate

Rewrite, edit and proofread. If you can, employ a professional proofreader.

9. Change and update

People don’t like radical overhauls of your website too often – it’s like going to a supermarket and finding they’ve rearranged the shelves. But they do like regular updates and new information. Too many sites have out-of-date information on them.

10. Integrate words and design

Words, design and technical usability issues must work in harmony.

Writing for the web is a collaborative process between writers and designers and information architects. Once you’ve handed over your words, you need to stay in the loop so you can make any necessary amendments to your text. What works well on paper may not work well on the screen.


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Copyright© 2003, Mary Morel. All right reserved. For information contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com.