Writing for the Web

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Writing for the Web

• Mike Hopkins and Chris Madison

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Agenda

• Reading on the Web
• Writing Web Content
• Tips
• Resources
• Note Writing for the web is about so much more
  than the written word

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How do Users Read on the Web?

• They don't
• Jakob Nielson, Alertbox for October 1, 1997
• (data validated again in 2006)
• Most web readers scan pages
• Pick out relevant words and sentences
• 79 always scan a new page
• 16 or less read every word

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How Do Users Read on the Web?

• Web a visual medium
• Construct meaning from
• headings,
• sub-headings
• links and bold or emphasized text
• Print longer text to read offline

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Users State of Mind

• User driven medium and users want to feel they
  are active on the web at all times and get tasks
  done quickly.
• Users are in an engaged and action-oriented state
  of mind.
• Constantly deciding whether to jump to anther
  part of the page, site, web, etc.
• 3-10 seconds to get their attention and keep it
  before they hit the back button or another link
  (perhaps much less)
• The back button is the most frequently used
  browser command.
• Web medium and net culture encourages behavior
  with hyperlinks, etc.

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Users Read Text Before Images

• People tend to read text (3/4 of the time) before
  they look at any images exact opposite of what
  they do on paper.
• Think of how you scan a newspaper we tend to
  read the headlines and pictures first.
• Go to briefs and captions first, then scan
  pictures.
• Stanford and Poynter Institute study on reading
  online newspapers. http//www.poynterextra.org/et/
  i.htm

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Writing Web Content
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Preparing to Write

• Know your audience
• Know your audience
• Know your audience

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Know Your Audience

• You are not your audience
• Take yourself out of the design process
• Who are your audiences?
• Write for the 80
• Write for primary and secondary audiences (if
  significant)
• Do not write for the exception
• Dont even consider writing until you know who
  you are writing for and how to engage them

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Basic Demographics

• Age and gender of target audience?
• Educational level?
• Spending habits??
• Occupation and hobbies?
• Geographical location?
• Are they expert (professionals) or novice?
  (consumers) with your subject area?
• Why are they coming to your site?
• What do they want to do/find?
• What is their reading level?
• Level of comfort with browser, web, etc.?

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User Research

• Demographics are just the facts not the meat
• What is your users worldview?
• We employ many research methodologies
  qualitative user research, task analysis, etc.
• For this class if you can, interview someone else
  about your subject are How do they think about
  the subject of your site in their daily lives?
  What perceptions or misconceptions do they have?
  What information interests them? What questions
  do they want to know about the subject? What
  tasks might they want to do? What features might
  they want?

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Web Writing Style Inverted Pyramid
Print Web
Build up to conclusion through the points and detail State conclusion first Summarize your main points in the first paragraph Provide detail or supporting material at the end
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Writing Style Inverted Pyramid
Header
Blurb
Background info, supporting details, links, call
to action
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Islands of Content

• Each page is an island of content
• User can land on it from anywhere
• Writing for 3D hyperspace
• What is this page about?
• Who is it for?
• Expert, novice, type of user
• Where is this page in relationship to the rest of
  the site?
• What can they do?
• What do you want them to do?

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How to Write for the Web

• How to Write for the Web
• By John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen
• Results show most usable writing style is
• Concise
• Scannable
• Objective

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Writing for Scanning Use Hierarchies

• HTML naturally designed for hierarchy and users
  create meaning from the hierarchy
• Page title
• Topic title or heading
• Sub-topic or sub-heading
• Topic Sentences Some viewers read ONLY the first
  sentence in a chunk.
• Bold words (italic is not easy to read on the web
  and should generally be avoided)
• Links (see below for developing a linking style)
• Other forms of emphasized text (with visual
  treatment, etc.)

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Structure Content Concise Information Chunks

• What is a chunk? Any idea that needs to be
  accessed individually.
• One idea per chunk.
• Not more than 100 words.
• Every word within a chunk is visible on the
  screen at one time.
• Organize chunks into CLEAR hierarchies
• A well constructed chunk provides the reader with
  all of the information they need to know as well
  as links to related or supporting pages.
• Readers may or may not have read the page before
  the one they are on and may not read the
  following page.

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Be Concise and Objective

• Remove extra marketing words when not needed,
  avoid hyperbole
• Promotional text adds to cognitive load as users
  have to evaluate truth
• Cut text by 50 from a (non-web) written version
• 1 page on the web 1/2 page of print

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Be Concise and ObjectiveAND Personal!

• The web is a personal medium. You are talking
  directly to your users on a one-to-one basis.
  Engage them!
• Capitalize on their action oriented engaged state
  of mind
• Use action oriented voice, imperative statements
  such as Order Now! Start Here!
• Nike Home

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Write for Scanning Bulleted Lists

• Bullets
• Bulleted lists are easy for users to scan
• Most effective list is 3 5 items
• If list is to long loses effectiveness
• Break into logical subgroups or combine elements
  in the list

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Write for Scanning Tables

• Tables can help organize information
• Especially good when users need to compare
  options or understand sequential order
• Examples Program Summaries
• Compare All Programs

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Optimization

• Optimize every part of the page
• Headers and sub-heads
• Catchy names dont give users the information
  they need
• Summaries and other micro content
• Site Point Guidelines
• Tibco Example (move and relink)

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Embedded Linking

• Links can mislead!
• Users scan links to determine content
• Link carefully
• Dont link users OUT of your content before you
  want them to leave the page or your site
• Users tend to click on the first link they see
• Dont link just because you can
• Typical example
• SU school pages often mention Stanford University
  in first paragraph and link to SU Home. User
  clicks out of the site and never returns.

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Embedded Linking Style

• Lower usability
• This embedded link is surrounded by text.
• Embedded link is followed by text.
• Higher usability
• Example
• This is not an embedded link
• The additional descriptive text appears as a
  separate line

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Get Important Content Above the Fold

• Users are now more comfortable with scrolling
• When in a hurry they dont always do so miss
  content
• Very audience dependent
• Online shoppers may not scroll
• Prospective students are highly motivated and are
  more likely to scroll
• Even experienced users often miss important
  information if it is not above the fold" or
  amount of content that displays in their monitor
• EXAMPLE of solution

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Writing for Printing

• All content is not appropriate for web writing
  style
• If it is a document you intend the user to print
  and read
• Provide a brief summary of the document so that
  user knows whether the document is relevant to
  them.
• Sub-divide the info, add TOC, subheadings, links,
  anchors,
• Assume the user will print the entire document to
  read it. Make SURE the entire document prints
  with one print command never break up text that
  needs to be printed in one document process,
  job aids, research papers, etc.
• Use Cascading Style Sheets to control print
  (removes navigation and extra graphics)

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Writing to be found Search Engines

• Various types of search engines
• Crawlers
• Human Power Directories
• Hybrid of both (getting more common)
• Test content periodically with various search
  engines - make sure the results are what you want
• Check Search Engine Watch regularly for updates
• Best info now requires membership

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Writing to be Found Search Engines

• A few tips from Search Engine Watch
• Search engines will also check to see if the
  search keywords appear near the top of a web
  page, such as in the headline or in the first few
  paragraphs of text. They assume that any page
  relevant to the topic will mention those words
  right from the beginning.
• Frequency is the other major factor in how search
  engines determine relevancy. A search engine will
  analyze how often keywords appear in relation to
  other words in a web page. Those with a higher
  frequency are often deemed more relevant than
  other web pages.
• Go explore more! Search Engine Placement Tips and
  other articles

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Writing to be Found - Accessibility

• There is no usability without accessibility
• Basic guidelines for accessibility can be found
  at
• 508 Checklist www.webaim.org/standards/508/checkli
  st?templatetype3
• WC3 Consortium http//www.w3.org/WAI/
• Mike quick recap here

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Writing for the World

• Start with Plain English
• Use short sentences
• Use simple, common, concrete words
• Use you (second person)
• Use the active voice mostly
• Use positive language
• Put the main idea first
• Be stricter than usual about sentence length
• 20 word maximum
• P. 47 50 Web Word Wizardry

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Adapting for World Wide English

• Try to avoid slang, hidden metaphors, and
  idiomatic expressions
• Just around the corner
• The tip of the iceberg
• In the ballpark
• P. 50 Web Word Wizardry
• Be specific with dates
• Example 3 February 2006
• US 2/3/06
• Others 3/2/06
• Others 06/2/3
• Etc.
• On a form, give them the date format such as
  mm/dd/yyyy
• P. 56 Web Word Wizardry (adapted)

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Adapting for World Wide English

• Avoid phrasal verbs (two or more words)
• Instead of pick up , write collect
• Instead of pick up on, write notice or observe
• Instead of pick out, write choose or select, etc.
  
• Use simple tenses
• Beware of short common words with many meanings
• Double-check the clarity of, it, they, this,
  these, that and those
• P. 52 Web Word Wizardry

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Example Bechtel page!
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Jargon Free Zone

• Avoid domain jargon
• Avoid abbreviations unless they are universally
  recognized (USA ok)
• Write for the un-indoctrinated

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TIPS

• A few tips on writing your content

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Home Page Content

• First time visitor needs to immediately know what
  your site will do for them
• Home page is an ad for the rest of the site
• Must sell users to continue their exploration and
  return again and again if thats appropriate
• Include
• What is this site about and who is it for
• Why should I be here?
• What is the benefit of continuing to explore the
  site
• What are my options, what is the site hierarchy?
• Timely content and teases for the rest of the
  site
• Search, short-cuts, registration, etc.
• Where do I start?

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Write to Brand

• Everything about a site is the brand
• Site architecture, information architecture,
  visual design, and every word you write
• What is the brand? How do you want it be
  experienced?
• Experience is the brand . . . Clement Mok
• See Resources section below
• Write to gain the trust and credibility
• Web democratizes you need to stand out as
  reliable, up-to-date
• Disclose who is behind the site, where you are
  located, etc.

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Address Specific Audience

• Voice and emphasis can differ from section to
  section or user segment to user segment if
  appropriate
• Examples
• Prospective students versus parents
• Expert versus novice users
• Luxury purchase versus basic necessity
• In general a conversational tone is preferred by
  web users (goes back to personal nature f the
  web)

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Response Cues

• Web is an interactive medium - What do you want
  the user to do?
• Dont strand them at the bottom of the page
  direct them
• Every page can have a call to action.
• Call to action
• Fill out a form
• Proceed to deeper information
• Email
• Sign-up
• Invite them to act in their own interest to get
  them to respond
• Tell them the benefits of their action.

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Response Cues Example

• Just fill-out this form to make sure you get
  regular updates on the latest research in
  biotechnology and you may win a free seminar of
  your choice!

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Establish a Style Guide

• Develop a style guide for your site
• Establish a glossary for you/your writers that
  shoes how to address abbreviations, acronyms,
  capitalization, gender, italics, numbers, quotes,
  product names, proper names and trademarks
• Provide standards for bibliographies, references,
  unusual punctuation
• More p. 136 The Web Writers Guide

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Establish a Style Guide

• Include commonly missed web terms such as
• Logon noun Log on verb
• (sign-on better end-user term)
• World Wide Web formal name
• WWW formal abbreviation
• web web pages, website
• Minimize Hyphenation
• Use online not on-line
• Email versus e-mail your choice but pick a
  standard. Some editors still prefer E-mail to
  make meaning clearer.
• More at http//www.webreference.com/content/writi
  ng/overcome.html

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Content Development/Mgt.Plan

• For large professional sites we develop a content
  development/management plan which includes the
  whole world of information design as well as
  process and technology
• Tool include page templates, content templates
• Methods for presenting quantitative information,
  etc.
• As well as technical strategies like content
  management systems, etc.
• Just be aware that all this exists when you
  venture out into the world

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Question Everything

• Question every idea and word you want to put on
  the site everything you write is for a user
  think and then think again about why you want to
  include each piece of content.
• What is the benefit of every word to your
  audiences?

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Test Meaning!What Meaning Did You Create?

• Web is a visual medium
• Test the meaning you have created
• Ask someone else to tell you what the page is
  about WITHOUT reading the text just the
  headings, subheads, links, etc.
• Rules of thumb reduce your text by 50 from
  print
• Red Cross Authorized Provider

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Resources
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Netography

• Jakob Nielsens useit.com
• http//www.useit.com/
• (search on writing for the web)
• Quality Web Content
• http//www.webpagecontent.com/
• (by author of Web Word Wizardry)

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Netography (and writing resources)

• Microcontent How to Write Headlines, Page
  Titles, and Subject Lines http//www.useit.com/ale
  rtbox/980906.html
• Writing Headlines
• P.124 Nielsen, Designing Web Usability (book)
• Writing Hypertext Copy
• http//kbs.cs.tu-berline.de/jutta/ht/writing/text
  .html

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Netography

• Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr.
• Newsgroup on English language use
• http//alt-usage-english.org/fast_faq.shtml
• Writing Web for the Web Quick and Easy Tips for
  Non-writers
• http//www.webreference.com/content/writing/
• A List Apart Articles 10 Tips on Writing the
  Living Web
• Many many more look up Writing for the Web

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Bibliography (linked to Amazon)

• The Web Writer's Guide by Darlene Maciuba-Koppel
  
• Hot Textby Jonathan Price (Author), Lisa Price
  (Author)
• Writing for the Web (Writers' Edition)by
  Crawford Kilian
• The Web Content Style Guideby Gerry McGovern
  (Author), et al
• Designing Web Usability The Practice of
  Simplicity
• by Jakob Nielsen
• Prioritizing Web Usabilityby Jakob Nielsen, Hoa
  Loranger

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Bibliography

• Web Style Guideby Patrick J. Lynch, Sarah Horton
• Web Word Wizardry A Net-Savvy Writing Guideby
  Rachel McAlpine
• Persuasive Online Copywritingby Bryan Eisenberg,
  et al
• The Online Copywriter's Handbookby Robert W. Bly
• Developing Online Contentby Irene Hammerich,
  Claire Harrison
• Words That Sell By Richard Bayan

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Bibliography

• The User is Always Right A Practical Guide to
  Creating and Using Personas for Web
• Steve Mulder with Ziv Yaar
• Chapter Available
• http//www.boxesandarrows.com/files/banda/long-liv
  e-the-user/Mulder_TheUserIsAlwaysRight_Ch3.pdf
• About Face 2.0 The Essentials of Interaction
  Design
• By Alan Cooper and Robert Reimann
• Emotional Branding the new paradigm for
  connecting brands to people
• Marc Gobé
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
• By Al and Laura Ries