Design by Elle

The aim of this post is to cover basic disciplines to writing specifically for the web. Here are my five top rules to writing online.

1. Write Scannable Text—Web users do not usually sit down to read the whole text on the web page. They skim the page and look for the next link to click on. There are things you can do to help them:
   • Start with the most important stuff at the beginning. The first sentence in the first paragraph should be a summary.
   • Divide the text into logical divisions and use semantic markup to mark them up accordingly. Simply, break your content into smaller paragraphs.
   • Provide informative headings—Users will scan the headlines to know what the main ideas presented in the page are.
   • Draw attention to keywords by marking them with boldface (using <strong> tags) or using bulleted lists. This will highlight main points and will make easier to scan.
   • Use excerpts from the text through the text using <blockquote>.
2. Be Clear and Concise—don’t waste your audience time with blurbs or marketing texts. Keep it short and to the point. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to elaborate on the point if need be. There are studies that show web users are more comfortable with scrolling down nowadays.
3. Use simple language, not marketing or technical lingo—write to your audience in a way that will be easy for them to understand.
4. Spell Check—On the web, as opposed to print media, you can always go back and correct a misspelled word. Therefore, there shouldn’t be an excuse to have misspelled words in your text. Furthermore, this will give you a good chance to review your draft and edit it before publishing.
5. Use Meaningful Links—particularly important for screen readers, a link that says ‘Click Here’ is generic and doesn’t have a meaning. Use links that indicate where they lead you. The links you provide support and authenticate your arguments. Some believe that links within the text can become a visual distraction, offer half-told stories and recommend avoiding them within your text. A different solution is to use a list of references in the end of your article (as done in this one).

Further Reading:

Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 1997—How Users Read on the Web

Sarah Horton, 2001—Writing for the Web, From Web Teaching Guide

Aaron Swartz, 2001—Don’t use “click here” as link text, W3C Tips for Webmasters

William Strunk, Jr., 1918—The Elements of Style

Mary K. McCaskill, 1998—A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

Jared Spool, 2006—Long Pages Rule!, on User Interface Engineering

Nathan Wallace, 1999—Web Writing for Many Interest Levels

A List Apart, Online Magazine—Articles on the topic of Writing

USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review—How to write for the Web, University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication