Writing for the Web

People don’t read web pages in the same way they read printed documents.  Instead, they rely heavily on skimming and scanning to find areas of interest quickly so you have to write differently for the web than you would for a printed document.  Follow these tips and you won’t go wrong:

1. Keep it short
   People just won’t read as much information on screen as they will if it’s printed, so keep it short.  A good rule of thumb when putting a document on-line is to cut the number of words in half.  A better goal would be to cut that in half again!  Really, keep it as short as you can.
   
   
2. Use the inverted pyramid
   Newspapers have long since used the “inverted pyramid” style of writing where articles start with a short overview of the issue and outcome, and then provide the supporting detail.  That’s right, START with your conclusion.  You only have a couple of sentences to grab the attention of your audience, so put the most import part up front.
   
   
3. Headings and subheadings
   Break up your content pages into smaller chunks using lots of headings and subheadings.  Headings make your content more manageable, breaking it into smaller, more easily digested bits and also allow your visitors to easily scan the page for specific information.
   
   
4. Bulleted lists
   Numbered and unnumbered lists are a great way of reducing the number of words without sacrificing the substance of your message.  They also present the relationships between information in a very clear and concise manner.
   
   
5. Eliminate spelling mistakes
   Spelling and grammatical mistakes diminish the credibility of your site and the content you’re presenting.  Take the time to do a spell check to ensure that you do not have any spelling mistakes.  If your HTML editor does not have a spell check function, then copy the text of your page into Word and check it there.

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