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Writing for the web
Writing for the web is different from writing for a print document. People read less and skim more online. Because of the possibilities offered by hyper-linking, people also move quickly among various webpages and sites.
Author Steve Outing, writing in the online publication, Editor & Publisher Interactive, summarizes some of the advice given by Crawford Kilian in his recent book, Writing for the Web.
- Be concise. The low resolution of computer screens makes reading from a monitor more difficult than reading on paper. Monitor reading can be 25 percent slower than paper reading.
- Keep chunks of text short.Write chunks of text between 150 and 200 words, then edit so you get each chunk to about 60 words. Readers of electronic documents need minimal text. "Pack the maximum meaning into the minimum text, so your readers will get the message in the shortest possible time," Kilian advises.
- Use headings and bulleted lists. Use headings and bulleted lists so the text can be easily scanned. Long paragraphs don't work well on computer screens.
- Use active voice. Say "You need to review the draft" or "The committee needs to review the draft" rather than "The draft needs to be reviewed." Active voice identifies the do-er of the action and, thus, is usually clearer and more engaging for readers. Sometimes active voice even uses fewer words.
- Consider international readers. Avoid culture-specific idioms and metaphors. The whole world may read your message.
- Use an "inverted pyramid" structure for organizing information. Make finding the critical information as easy as possible. Include the important information up front and then the details.
- Limit in-text links to other sites and provide information about the links you do include. In the past, content on the web was littered with links and "long hotlists" that contained links with no explanation of what a user could expect on the other end. Many users found themselves linking from a page of links with little content to other pages of links with little content.
Read "The
Seven Qualities of Highly Successful Web Writing Online Copywriting & Editing." BY
Kathy Henning. On ClickZ (12-12-2000)
Click here for an interesting prespective on writing for the web. In "Just Say No to Dead Fragments: Writing Online," Nick Usborne points out that there are hazards in being too concise—even on the Web. On ClickZ Today (3-19-2001).