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Compton Communications"An Internet Communications Agency"
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Articles
Four tips for writing articles for the WebPosted Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - Write for the Internet - Standalone pages - Scannable copy - Informal voice Tip 1 - Write for the Internet. If materials were produced for printed newsletters, magazine articles, etc., they will need to be repurposed to the new media, a web page or email. This means shorter sentences and more bulleting of items for presentation on a computer monitor. Sun Microsystems has an excellent guide on Web writing written by Jakob Nielsen, one of the leaders in web usability. The Web is a different media notes Nielsen and the computer screen is not paper. Web pages need to be shorter, because people read 25% more slowly on a computer screen than they do on paper. Users do not want to scroll through long paragraphs of text and complicated, compound sentences and structure. Tip 2 - Because a Web page may be entered from any direction or reference, it needs to be able to stand on its own. Subjects must be short and written for a single level. Notice how most online news articles are broken into a series of topic areas or subtopics. Pages should be short with simple sentence structure. Detailed explanations or ideas should be linked and explained on their own page or level. Tip 3 - Web writing is often called scannable. Simple lists of bulleted items aid the eye in quickly scanning the subject matter. Keywords are bolded or highlighted to aid navigation and comprehension. Links and navigation are separated from the base text to provide consistency and ease of navigation. Linking within the page means users will jump out of the page in the middle of a thought and get frustrating. Put links a the end of an article to provide more details or information. Tip 4 - Web style also requires a more informal voice in the writing. As a more immediate medium, a “just the facts” attitude predominates in news writing. But informal voice is part of Web culture and readers often require more candor, less marketer’s jargon and more interactivity with readers than in traditional writing or publications. Use caution, however, hyperbole, metaphors and humor are much more difficult to convey in words on the web. Links:Sun Microsystems, Web writing at http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/ E-write Newsletter "Four fatal errors in Web writing" at http://www.ewriteonline.com/newsletter/issue2R.html |