Every morning the Library of Congress receives 20 000 new items.
Write for Scanners
People looking for information don't read - they scan, on screen
or on paper. Good website writing makes scanning for information easier.
It is easier to scan a document on paper than on screen because:
- you can see more of it at one time - not just a window
- you can move around very quickly without waiting for downloads.
Newspaper readers find information they need very quickly, even in
an unfamiliar newspaper. Learn to use newspaper techniques to improve
scannability of website writing. Also learn from yellow pages and classified
Website writers contribute heavily to a website's success. They are
responsible for the top two things that drive users to a website:
4 Characteristics of Good Website Writing
Short and simple
more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words, the
greater the profit.
- inverted pyramid style - conclusions and important facts first
- newspaper style, but originally to address "download time"
of the telegraph
- as few words as possible, avoid full sentences
- no unnecessary information - puts users off the scent
Today was able to condense the whole thing down to 25 words and
a pie chart.
- Jay Leno, on The Washington Post's publication of the Unabomber's
- headings, subheadings, leads, pullquotes
- lists - bulleted or numbered
- bolded keywords
- descriptive hyperlinks:
- attract attention with traditional link format (underlined and
- show user what optional information is available, even if it
takes quite a few words.
Objective and unemotional
Mapped and hyperlinked
your writing a library, not a pile of books.
- mapped to orient user in site and section
- clear sections - newspaper concept (sports, stock page,
- area above the scroll (fold) used wisely - show user
what page contains
- hyperlinked to offer user content options
- "It is polite to point." - use hyperlinks to
help users interact, creating own nonlinear path through material
- links described clearly - users make informed choice
to follow or not
"Who'd have thought that the most valuable emergent skill of the professional author wouldn't be the ability to write sentences
or structure documents ... but would be the ability to compile an
index and table of contents."
Weinberger's "Metadata is Monarch" article, February 8/99.
Writing for Search Engines
Search engines create an extra wrinkle for writers. Generally, they
assume the more times a keyword occurs the more likely the webpage is
relevant to the searcher. So, if it is important that search engines
send users to your website:
use keywords often to improve ranking at search
Writing for Email - Respect the Recipient
Subject line - descriptive but short
One idea per message
- keep it simple and short, or users may not read it all
Use text-only formatting
make message easy to scan
you can't tell what it will look like to recipient, depends on email
tool and computer
use new lines to create white space
underline with symbols on a new line (--- or *****)
use spaces to indent, rather than tabs
assume font, size, color, bolding, italics, links, etc., won't
save recipient the extra step of opening an application
recipient may not have compatible application (platform or version)
attachments often large files wasting bandwidth
spare recipient concern for viruses (straight text not virus-prone)
attached files may be blocked by firewalls or spam detectors
Edit your reply
deleting unnecessary portions of the original
message to save user time
don't bury your reply in the original message (unless you point
out you are doing that) or recipient may not notice it
use text-only formatting to make your reply noticeable (for example,
separate it with vertical space)
Respect originator when
although you may want to delete all those ugly headers, leave information
about the source
respect ownership/ copyright / traceability
to use mail-merge to email for
sending messages to a group.
Dr. Jakob Nielsen's
Alertbox - much good information from this website usability guru
- website writing techniques, philosophies, samples,
to other resources including web style guides.
SearchEngineWatch - everything you need to know about search engines
About this Webpage
This topic was presented by Micky Gulless to students of Writing
for Public Relations at Mount Royal College in Calgary, at the invitation
of instructors Nancy Snowball and Maureen Healey (March 4/99, Nov.4/99, March 2/00). Repeated Dec.8/99 for IABC Calgary's Editors'