Writing for the Web
Studies have shown that Web users don’t read the Web the same way they read a newspaper or a magazine. Think about it. Your newspaper or magazine reader is sitting in a comfy chair at a coffee shop reading for entertainment purpose or for information.
Your Web user is sitting at a desk at home, his or her office or an Internet café. Unless they are blessed with owning a Herman Miller chair, you’re probably not as comfortable as you be would be in a lazy-boy.
Launching your Web browser isn’t like opening a magazine. You don’t just open up a page, find something interesting and start reading. Most Web users are looking for something. Most of them wanted that information yesterday!
If you are looking for a business or someone, chances are you’ll Google a search word and go from there. Once your keyword in, you’ll look at the various Google results and make your pick. Notice how Google displays the results? Keywords are in bold, page titles are slightly bigger and links are underlined. One of the most important things to remember about writing for the Web is that Web users surf the Web with their shortest attention span and they scan the Web. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention.
Use short paragraphs
Say what you mean quickly. Unless your Web site is a blog or a repository of your writing material, use short paragraphs instead of walls of text. Try to have a single idea in each paragraph and use a title for each if appropriate. By being concise you will also minimize the amount of scrolling, which users prefer not to do.
Learn to love bullets
Because reading online isn’t as fun as reading a magazine (in a comfy chair); users tend to scan text, not read it. If you find yourself listing services, benefits or advantages that your company offers, you may want to consider using bullets instead of a full sentence.
Use colour sparingly
Have you ever noticed all of the white space in a magaizne? Have you ever wondered why? Reading puts great amounts of stress on your eyes and black text on white is by far the best choice. You might love yellow and aqua, but most of your users might not be able to stand the look of your site long enough to read it.
Keep your user in mind
Finally, one last thing to keep in mind. As you are carefully reading, editing and re-editing your content, put yourself in your customers’ place. What would you be looking for if you were a customer? What information do you need? Once you really understand this, your content will be ready for the Web.
Colours are best used for headings and titles. You can also emphasize certain important words or links using coloured text.