Writing for the Web
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Your organization has invested in developing an innovative web site with clean, modern design, cutting edge functionality, and user-friendly components. You have access to a content management system that allows your team to add your own content to keep the site fresh and dynamic. Great! But do you know how to write for the web? It's not the same as writing a report, a college research paper, or even print copy. Here is a basic overview on effective web writing.
Before you can begin effectively writing for your web site, you should consider five important questions.
Q1: How do users read web sites?
Web usability experts have long-agreed that users don't read. They scan or skim. Users look over text in short bursts to find the information they need, gather it, and move on.
Q2: Why do users read web sites?
Whether for leisure or business, most users read (or scan) web sites to get information. They have questions or needs and they want to find answers quickly.
Q3: Who is my audience?
If you have not already considered your audience, this will require some research and careful thought. In order for your content to work, you must identify the people who will be using it. Clues to who is using the site include your organization's mission, the intended target market, direct feedback forms from site visitors, and customer/donor demographics gathered from an e-commerce interface. You could also observe, conduct studies, interview users, or hire a skilled consultant to gather and analyze the data for you.
**Tip**
When gathering information about your audience, it is always best to keep the feedback, answers, or stories in the users' actual words.
Q4: How should audience characteristics influence content?
Now that you know about your audience, remember to keep your text audience-centered. The easiest way to do this is to think of your content as a conversation with the user. To have an effective conversation, consider the following:
- Level of experience with the subject matter. (Are you talking to newbies or experts?)
- General demographics. (Are you writing for Baby Boomers or Millenials?)
- Emotional state. (Might your audience be skeptical, perhaps questioning the legitimacy of your organization?)
- Values. (What do your users consider most important, or value most – time, cost, ethics?)
**Tip**
Bring your audience to life by creating a composite character, or persona. Create a profile for the persona including the information you have gathered, name her or him, and even include a photograph or drawing. Now, when writing, you are having a conversation with “Sarah” instead of “the users.”
Q5: How should I approach the writing process?
Again, keep in mind that you are having a conversation with an imagined user composite -- Sarah. Create scenarios, goals, and potential obstacles for Sarah. Then write questions from her perspective. If you write as if you are responding to Sarah's questions, you will find it easier to keep her goals in mind, use her language, maintain an accessible and conversational style, and provide the focused information your users need.
Once you are clear about who your audience is and how to speak to that audience, you need to focus on the text or copy itself. When writing for the web, it is critical that you follow these three simple guidelines.
1. Your text should be easy to skim
- Place main points or essential information at the top of the page or block of text (inverted pyramid).
- Enter bite-sized chunks of text, easily digestible by the eye. Short paragraphs, bulleted or numbered lists, and tables work best.
- Leave white space to allow the eye to jump from block to block and around images
- Use headings in larger, bold, or different font.
- Follow a team-based clutter elimination process: Write. Read. Cut. Put away. Come back the next day. Cut more. Pass!
2. Use plain language
- Choose short, easily recognizable words. Do not try to impress readers with your vast vocabulary.
- Construct simple sentences or fragments. Avoid convoluted structures and unnecessary filler.
- Break complex concepts down into easily manageable bits of information.
- Select common or universal identifiers. Name pages and files with words your reader would use -- eliminate jargon, insider language, and local terms.
- Only give users what they want. Just because it is important to you does not mean your users care to read it.
3. Engage the audience with text
- Talk to visitors in a personable, conversational style. Use “you” and “we” (or “I”) consistently throughout the site.
- Use headlines not just as signposts, but to seduce – ask a question, tell them “how to” do something, state interesting facts.
- Greet visitors and show them around with your text. Address their needs on the home page and let them know they are in the right place.
**Tip**
Keep in mind that there are times when these rules can be broken. Not all writing on the web is restricted to the rules of copy. You use copy to convey straight-forward messages about your organization and provide information your users are seeking. In some cases, articles, blogs, and stories can rightfully adopt a more artful and literary writing style. This exception should be restricted to only the most skilled writers.
The development of your web site's content should receive the time, effort, and respect necessary to complement your site's design. Poor copy can ruin an otherwise well-developed site.
Additional Resources:
A List Apart: For People Who Make Web Sites http://www.alistapart.com
Steve Krug. Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (New Riders Press, 2005)
Gerry McGovern. Killer Web Content: Make the Sell, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand (London, UK: A&C Black Publishers, 2007)
Janice (Ginny) Redish. Letting go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works. (Boston, MA: Elsevier, 2007).
