Writing for the web
Some of the guidelines in this document have been taken from two web sites – both Jakob Nielsen’s useit.com and the Sun Microsystem‘s web site are excellent resources that should be investigated further by those interested in developing their skills in writing content for web sites. Conversely, websitesthatsuck.com is useful to see how not to do it.
Writing good content for web sites is a skill that has definite differences to writing good content for printed media.
Difference between paper and online presentation
- Users can enter a site at any page and move between pages as they choose, so make every page independent and explain its topic without assumptions about the previous page seen;
- Users find it painful to read too much text on screens, and they read about 25 percent more slowly from screens than from paper. Make the word count for the online version of a given topic about half the word count used when writing for print;
- In print, your document forms a whole and the user is focused on the entire set of information. On the Web, you need to split each document into multiple hyperlinked pages since users are not willing to read long pages;
- Credibility is important on the Web where users connect to unknown servers at remote locations. You have to work to earn the user’s trust, which is rapidly lost if you use exaggerated claims or overly boastful language; avoid “marketese” in favor of a more objective style;
- The Web is an informal and immediate medium, compared to print, so users appreciate a somewhat informal writing style and small amounts of humour.
Scannability
Because it is so painful to read text on computer screens and because the online experience seems to foster some amount of impatience, users tend not to read streams of text fully. Instead, users scan text and pick out keywords, sentences, and paragraphs of interest while skipping over text they care less about.
- Structure articles with two or even three levels of headlines (a general page heading plus subheads – and sub-sub-heads when appropriate). Nested headings also facilitate access for blind users with screenreaders;
- Use meaningful rather than “cute” headings (i.e., reading a heading should tell the user what the page or section is about);
Bulleted and numbered lists slow down the scanning eye and can draw attention to important points; - Each paragraph should contain one main idea; use a second paragraph for a second idea, since users tend to skip any second point as they scan over the paragraph;
- Start the page with the conclusion as well as a short summary of the remaining contents (“inverted pyramid” style).
Hypertext Structure
Make text short without sacrificing depth of content by splitting the information up into multiple pages connected by hypertext links. Each page can be brief and yet the full hyperspace can contain much more information than would be feasible in a printed article. Long and detailed background information can be relegated to secondary pages; similarly, information of interest to a minority of readers can be made available through a link without penalizing those readers who don’t want it.
Hypertext should not be used to segment a long linear story into multiple pages: having to download several segments slows down reading and makes printing more difficult. Proper hypertext structure is not a single flow “continued on page 2″; instead split the information into coherent chunks that each focus on a certain topic. The guiding principle should be to allow readers to select those topics they care about and only download those pages. In other words, the hypertext structure should be based on an audience analysis.
Each hypertext page should be written according to the “inverse pyramid” principle and start with a short conclusion so that users can get the gist of the page even if they don’t read all of it.
- Don’t use a hypertext link if the information can be succinctly presented on the current page;
- Don’t mention that you are providing links at all;
- Use a description of the information to be found in the link, or perhaps the link address.
Terms to avoid
- Writing well for the Web means taking advantage of the options the Web offers, but at the same time, not calling attention to the Web. “Click here,” “follow this link,” and “this Web site” are just a few self-referential terms to avoid;
- Generally, if the words or phrases are specific to Web use, then they are probably words to avoid. A good test of web-term overuse is to print the page out, read it, and ask yourself if it makes as much sense on paper as it does on screen;
- You can’t eliminate all references to the Web, especially when giving browser-related instructions. However, a common error to beware of is assuming that everyone reading the page uses the same browser. For instance, instructions on how to download a file are different from browser to browser. Make sure that your instructions are detailed enough to be understood without being specific to browser version or brand of browser.
Submitting material to me (if you are sending me stuff for websites)
Since the actual coding of your web pages is being done on your behalf by Kdgweb, it is important that the material submitted is easily understood by those who are turning your material into web pages.
- Please submit all texts as Word or RTF files;
- If you wish to use any graphics, charts or other forms of media, please discuss these with a member of Kdgweb staff prior to submission so that formats can be agreed. Please do not insert them into the Word document;
- Do not use the features within Word to use text as hyperlinks. Instead, use footnotes to provide the web site address;
- Provide a summary to longer documents. This enables the reader to quickly see if the information is relevant to them, before wading through a long section of text. We can place this summary (no more than fifty words) alongside a link to the main document;
- As far as possible, avoid using tables, the tab key, and indents of any sort, as these can prove difficult to convert;
Please align all text to the left, rather than justifying it / centring it; - Please try to ensure that your document appears in one font size and face (e.g. Arial / Times) throughout, unless absolutely necessary (you may use bold, italic, etc. without problems);
- You need only type one character space after a full stop;
- Do NOT use automated numbering for lists – number each item individually by hand or the lists could prove very difficult to edit.