WWW Means Web Writing that Wows!

It’s especially challenging to write effective copy for the World Wide Web. That’s because much of what’s considered “good” style for print writing doesn’t work well online. There are a variety of reasons for this. Primarily, they center around technical issues specific to the World Wide Web, and social issues with Web users:

o       The best Web sites are non-linear. Web users have been technically and socially adapted to using the Web in particular ways. When it comes to information gathering, this means jumping around from place to place (site to site, and page to page), scanning for pertinent information. So, when we try to cram typical print text – which follows a linear progression – into a Web site… it just doesn’t work. It’s not consistent with the technical format of the Web that we have adapted to.

o       The Web is a horizontal medium. Nobody likes to sit and read dozens of lines of text off a computer monitor. It’s tiring. It creates eyestrain. Furthermore, studies have shown it takes us twice as long to read text off the monitor as it does to read text off of white paper. So the Web has become a horizontal medium where people expect to seeing small chunks of information organized side-by-side, rather than in up-and-down ribbons.

o       We have become an impatient society. It’s sad, but true – nobody wants to wait for anything anymore (or so it seems). We have remote control televisions, instant coffee makers, microwave ovens…and, of late, the computer mouse. All of these are devices that help save time, but also make us tremendously impatient. The fact is, even the most patient people won’t wait around for a Web site to load up. So, if your site isn’t on screen and complete within 10 to 15 seconds, you’re going to lose much of your potential audience anyway. Once the site does load up, users won’t slog through big blocks of text to find what they’re looking for. Users’ strategy is to scan… point, click… scan… and if you don’t have the information right there where they’re looking… they’ll go elsewhere.

So, knowing that the Web is a “whole new ballgame” in terms of information-delivery… and knowing that Web users use an accelerated, horizontal, “pick and click” information-gathering strategy…. here are some suggestions for making the Web the most productive it can be for your organization:

1. Define your site’s purpose. The most effective sites are targeted to meet specific needs of users – perhaps information delivery, or product promotion, or direct sales. Sites that offer a hodgepodge of different message strategies usually don’t communicate any of them forcefully.
2. Keep everything you post on the Web concise. A good rule of thumb is to take the “normal” amount of printed copy you’d use and cut it by at least half (perhaps even two-thirds). Use simple voice. Use active phrasing. Keep sentences short. Put information in bulleted lists whenever possible.
3. Put personality in your writing. Web writing that reads like a catalog is boring. On the other hand, Web writing with too much personality can be perceived as trivial or offensive. Find a midway point where your written copy tells users everything they need to know – and everything they want to know. At the same time, be entertaining enough so that users will want to stick around (or click around) and see what else you have to offer.
4. Give Web site users lots of options. The biggest advantage to using the Web is the no gatekeeper concept – meaning users are free to decide for themselves where to go, what to access, and how to apply the information. Support this on your site by giving users lots of options in terms of information offered, supporting documents/ files/ graphics and helpful links. Organize and label everything clearly.
5. Update your site regularly. An out-of-date Web site makes a strong credibility statement. It says don’t trust me. Users will react accordingly. Make frequent updates to your site content, and make sure you have a way to clearly indicate what was updated and when. Make sure that everything new you put on your site has a value exceeding that of what it replaced. This will allow users to look forward to visiting again and again.

Ó2003 Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D, APR