Writing for the Web
Eston Martz
Holly Swanson
Rose Pruyne
Writing for the Web
Challenges of Web Text
• Harder/slower to read on screen
• Stiff competition—users can always go
somewhere else
• Text is often afterthought in site
design/architecture
Writing for the Web
The Fundamental Question:
How do people read on the Web?
Writing for the Web
Jakob Nielsen, 1997
• 79% don’t “read” the Web
• People scan the Web
• Skim text for key words, subheads,
and lists
Writing for the Web
What Works Best on the Web?
Nielsen tested 5 approaches to text:
• Promotional writing
• Concise text
• Scannable layout
• Objective layout
• Combined approach
Writing for the Web
Promotional Writing
Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that
draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996,
some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park
(355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166),
Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000),
Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
(60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).
Writing for the Web
Combined Approach
In 1996, six of the most-visited places in
Nebraska were:
Fort Robinson State Park
• Scotts Bluff National Monument
• Arbor Lodge State Historical Park &
Museum
• Carhenge
• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
• Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park
Writing for the Web
Nielsen’s Recommendations
• One idea per paragraph
• Limit word count to ½ of printed text
• Stick to facts
• Eliminate “marketese”
Writing for the Web
Stanford/Poynter Institute
• First eye-tracking study of Web users
• Focused on on-line news sites
• Confirms importance of good writing
on the Web
Writing for the Web
Stanford/Poynter Findings
• Users see and read text before
graphics
• Users read shallow, but wide
• Users will scroll to read articles they
find interesting
Writing for the Web
What’s It All Mean?
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•
•
•
•
Web text is different than print
Good writing still counts
Every word counts
Use subheads and lists
Journalism, not academic writing
Writing for the Web
Academic Writing
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•
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•
•
Introduction
Background & literature
Explanation of research & methods
Analysis of data
Discussion of results
Conclusion
Writing for the Web
Journalistic Writing
“Inverted pyramid”
1. Big picture/conclusions
2. Findings
3. Discussion
4. Background and depth
Writing for the Web
Edit for Brevity and Action
• Use active, not passive voice
• Simple, declarative and imperative sentence
structures
• Don’t “noun-ify” good verbs
• Use second-person where possible
• Be precise—avoid ambiguity
• Kill all useless words without mercy
Writing for the Web
Other Guidelines
•
•
•
•
Avoid self-promotion and jargon
Short and direct = good
Choppy = bad
Focus on content, not interface
Writing for the Web
Be Consistent: Use Stylesheets
• Editorial stylesheets, not CSS
• Defines how you treat:
– Numbers and measurements
– Common, unusual, or technical terms
– Abbreviations, titles, punctuation
• Helps keep multiple authors on same page
Writing for the Web
Forbidden Phrases
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Come back often”
“Keyword search”
“Press this button” / “Click here”
Hotlinks or hotlist
“Just a mouse-click away”
Cutting edge/leading edge/bleeding edge
Coming soon!
Under construction
Writing for the Web
How to Write for the Web
NOT
How to Write for the Web
NOT
How to Write for the Web
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Web content should be 50%
of print content
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Easy ways to accomplish this:
•Bullets
•Paragraph breaks
•Graphs and charts
•Hyperlinks
•PDFs
•Cutting out needless words
NOT
How to Write for the Web
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Bullets
The first thing you must decide, when planning a
birthday party for a 2-year-old, is: Should you invite
the 2-year-old? Things to consider:
•A child that age can put a real damper on a party.
•Your child probably doesn't understand that he or
she is turning 2.
•2-year-olds do not enjoy organized activities.
•You will find cake frosting in unexpected places
for months.
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Paragraph Breaks
A low-stress option is to wait until your child is invited to some OTHER 2-yearold's birthday party, and tell your child that the party is actually for him or her.
But, you must throw a birthday party for your 2-year-old, and they must have
fun, even if they don't want to. This is why so many birthday parties feature
rental clowns, even though clowns are terrifying to small children.
When our daughter turned 2, we had a big party at our house. Our house was
filled with 2-year-olds, running, falling, yelling, crying, pooping, etc., each with
at least one adult in pursuit, trying to organize the child.
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Graphs and Charts
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Hyperlinks
My daughter LOVED the bouncy castle we rented.
The bad news was, the rental company set it up six
hours before the party started. Once my daughter
realized there was a bouncy castle in her yard, she had
to be inside it at all times and wanted a parent in there
with her.
NOT
How to Write for the Web
PDFs
Click here for the full text of this document in PDF format
NOT
How to Write for the Web
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Cutting out needless words
If you would like to learn more about the
information you’ve read here, please contact Dave
Barry One Herald Plaza Miami, FL 33132 (305)
376-3620 barry@herald.com
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Cutting out needless words
Please direct any questions, comment, or concerns to
Dave Barry One Herald Plaza Miami, FL 33132 (305)
376-3620 barry@herald.com
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Cutting out needless words
For more information:
Dave Barry One Herald Plaza Miami, FL 33132
(305) 376-3620 barry@herald.com
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Cutting out needless words
Contact:
Dave Barry
One Herald Place
Miami, FL 33132
305-376-3620
NOT
How to Write for the Web
Keep
KeepYour
YourContent
ContentFresh!
Fresh!
Keep Your Content Fresh!
what makes content go stale?
Coming this fall, our new Coping With the Internet program promises to
change the way we view the World Wide Web forever and ever. The
initial course, focusing on combining content with graphics and
multimedia, will be offered this fall. An intermediate course, which will
familiarize the student with graphically integrated Web architecture, is
planned for the spring, and an advanced curriculum is planned for the
following fall. Continue to visit this Web site for updates.
Keep Your Content Fresh!
futurespeak
Coming this fall, our new Coping With Graphics and Multimedia
curriculum will enable Web developers to effectively combine content,
graphics, and multimedia across an entire Web architecture. The initial
course, focusing on effective combinations of content and graphical
elements, will be offered this fall. An intermediate course, which will
familiarize the student with graphically integrated Web architecture, is
planned for the spring, and an advanced curriculum is planned for the
following fall. Continue to visit this Web site for updates.
Keep Your Content Fresh!
what else makes content go stale?
Dr. Ivan Piper joins the school after a 24-year career in industry and the
military. He takes the place of Dr. Gerald Norse, who recently retired
after serving as the head of the Nuclear Physics department for 67
years.
A specialist in advanced antler-care techniques, Dr. Piper brings a
unique perspective to the engineering curriculum. The department has
been renamed Nuclear Physics and Antler Care and has undergone
major restructuring to accommodate recently-added courses.
Keep Your Content Fresh!
radon text
Dr. Ivan Piper joins the school after a 24-year career in industry and the
military. He takes the place of Dr. Gerald Norse, who recently retired
after serving as the head of the Nuclear Physics department for 67
years.
A specialist in advanced antler-care techniques, Dr. Piper brings a
unique perspective to the physics curriculum. The department has been
renamed Nuclear Physics and Antler Care and has undergone major
restructuring to accommodate recently-added courses.
Keep Your Content Fresh!
what else makes content go stale?
Calendar of Events
First-year students, don’t miss Orientation 2000, which runs August 24
and running through August 28.
June 12, 1991: Graphics-Supporting version of Mosaic Available.
Happy birthday to Dr. Livermore, who turns 107 on September 13,
1999!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Copyright The Penn State University, 2001
This page last updated June 9, 1991
Contact Webmaster
Keep Your Content Fresh!
blind dates
Calendar from Hell
First-year students, don’t miss Orientation 2000, which runs August 24
and running through August 28.
June 12, 1991: Graphics-Supporting version of Mosaic Available.
Happy birthday to Dr. Livermore, who turns 107 on September 13,
1999!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Copyright The Penn State University, 2001
This page last updated June 9, 1991
Contact Webmaster
Keep Your Content Fresh!
what else makes content go stale?
More Information about Penn State Howard
Penn State Howard’s Web Site:
- http://www.personal.psu.edu/h/p/hpp4080/harryspages/stuff/morestuff/NewHowardPage
Online Syllabi:
- http://www.personal.psu.edu/rxp6666/english15/fall99/home.htm
-http://www.geocities.com/hideouslylongURLinsomeGodForsakenVirtualNeighborhood
048804682/corndogs/billspages/syllabus/english/homepage
Press Releases:
- http://www.centredaily.com/7-dayArchive/howardstory.html
- www.altoonamirror.com/archive/2001/pennstate?storyID=“#storyID#”
Keep Your Content Fresh!
link rot
404 Error: Page Not Found
The page you are looking for,
http://www.personal.psu.edu/h/p/hpp4080/harryspages/stuff/
morestuff/NewHowardPage, might have been removed, had its
name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Keep Your Content Fresh!
what makes content go stale?
> futurespeak
> radon text
> blind dates
> link rot
> static pages
Keep Your Content Fresh!
keeping your content fresh
with dynamic pages
> delegate content management using databases
and online forms.
> date stamps, dynamic calendars, do the memory work
for you.
> dynamic link-checks
Keep Your Content Fresh!
examples
> database/forms: mt.net
> date stamps, dynamic calendars: ist.psu.edu/events
> dynamic link-checking: www.das.psu.edu
Keep Your Content Fresh!
resources
sites
> Yale Web Style Guide www.med.yale.edu/caim/manual
> Web Pages That Suck www.webpagesthatsuck.com
> WebMonkey hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey
> Webmonkey Commentary on Writing for the Web
www.hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/32/index0a.html
> Poynter.org www.poynter.org
> Penn State Copyright Information www.psu.edu/ur/copyright.html
> Dangerous Words www.kbs.cs.tu-berlin.de/%7Ejutta/ht/writing/words.html
> Writing Hypertext Copy: www.kbs.cs.tu-berlin.de/%7Ejutta/ht/writing/text.html
Keep Your Content Fresh!
resources
more sites
> Penn State Copyright Information www.psu.edu/ur/copyright.html
> Penn State Web Styleguide and Related Styleguides www.psu.edu/ur/webstyleguide
> Yale Web Style Guide www.med.yale.edu/caim/manual
> Web Pages That Suck www.webpagesthatsuck.com
> WebMonkey www.hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey
> Webmonkey Commentary on Writing for the Web
www.hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/32/index0a.html
> Poynter.org www.poynter.org
> Dangerous Words www.kbs.cs.tu-berlin.de/%7Ejutta/ht/writing/words.html
Keep Your Content Fresh!
resources
sites 3
> Writing Hypertext Copy www.kbs.cs.tu-berlin.de/%7Ejutta/ht/writing/text.html
> The Onion www.theonion.com
> Common Errors in English www.wsu.edu/%7Ebrians/errors/errors.html
> Jacob Nielsen's Writing for the Web www.useit.com/papers/webwriting
> 10 Elements of a Good Web Site
www.seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/technology/html98/nono25_20000625.html
Keep Your Content Fresh!
resources
books
> Don’t Make Me Think: Common Sense Approach to Web Usability; by Steve Krug
> Writing for New Media: The Essential Guide to Writing for Interactive Media,
CD-ROMs, and the Web; Andrew Bonime, Ken C. Pohlmann
> Designing Web Usability, Jakob Nielsen
> The Internet Writer's Handbook, Martha C. Sammons
> Writing for New Media, Bonime and Pohlmann
> Labyrinths, The Art of Interactive Writing and Design, Domenic Stansberry
> Killer Content, Strategies for Web Content and E-Commerce, Mai-lan Tomsen
> Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, Jennifer Niederst
Keep Your Content Fresh!
resources
tools
> database/forms/date stamps/dynamic calendars: asp, php, Ultradev,
ColdFusion
> dynamic link-checking: Dreamweaver/Ultradev, ColdFusion,
SiteMapper.com, WebTrends.com