How To Write for the Web
By Amrit Hallan
Among the Web's many peculiarities is the way people read online text. It took
me a lot of time (being a writer who loves to read the greats like Dickens and
Kafka) to realize how impatient and hurried the general web reader is.
Most of the web readers do not read complete sentences and paragraphs, unless
they are reading a white paper or a piece of literature. They generally scan the
headlines, or the words that grab their attention. Web readers tend to scan text
online and read text offline. They typically do not read a page from start to
finish on the computer screen. Instead, they scan a site looking for relevant
items and then print pages that contain the information they seek. You need to
apply a style and method to your Web documents that accommodate this type of
reading.
I'm not saying there are hard and fast rules for writing for the online
audience, but if you take care of the following guidelines, you may find
yourself on the comfortable side of the hedge.
==> TRY TO BE CONCISE <==
As I mentioned above, an average web reader doesn't read big text streams.
Unlike a printed papyrus, the web is humanly limitless when it comes to seeking
information. It's all on the back of the reader's mind that the moment he or she
begins to feel bored, just a few clicks are required to go somewhere else.
==> CONVERSE WITH YOUR READER <==
Write in a conversational tone whenever possible. Use lots of Yous, Is and Mes.
Keep a free flow and keep throwing attention-grabbing expressions at your
reader. No, it doesn't mean you create a nuisance or insult the sensibilities of
your reader, but try to be as informal as your subject allows.
A few months back I used to write technical tutorials for a management portal.
The chief editor had hired me as a freelance columnist because of my casual but
incisive style. The senior management, sadly, objected to my style and said I
should tone down my humor and make the tutorials sound serious and bookish.
While I was writing in my style, the portal was getting great response and
the readers were loving the tutorials. When they curbed my style, the popularity
declined vertically, and soon, I got bored and stopped writing for them. They
closed the web site last week because many subscribers asked for refunds.
Lesson learnt: no matter what's the field, a typical web reader does not read
pedantic stuff. I don't know why, but the web makes them funky.
==> WRITE IN A LINEAR FASHION <==
Try not to divide a single topic among various pages. If the message is
interesting and relevant, your web readers would like to read it on a single
page no matter how long and bulky that page is, rather than pressing the
Backward and Forward buttons.
I have seen this myself, and know how irritating it is to having to go to
various pages to read just one article or product description. Fine, the web
readers prefer shorter pages, but it doesn't mean if a paper consists of
thousand pages then we should have to click thousand pages to read that paper.
It's better that all the content is on a single, linear, scrollable page.
==> USE LESSER LINKS <==
Some online articles are full of links. Even for a two-line explanation, some
writers use a second page and give the hyper link in the first page. This I find
very restrictive, especially if I want to take printout for later reading.
Agreed, sometimes we can't help it, but keep in mind that where you can avoid
giving a link, avoid it.
Another problem with links is that they distract the reader. Sometimes the
reader clicks on the links, reads whatever is there, and ends up forgetting the
original page.
==> HIGHLIGHT MAIN POINTS IN THE BEGINNING <==
Yes, this is a very important point. If you give the headlines at the beginning
of the page, and if you make them sound interesting, the web readers tend to
read with greater earnestness.
Suppose an article or a section tells the insomniacs how they can sleep using
the technique mentioned in the article or the section. The following highlight
would probably trigger an interest:
DO YOU CRAVE TO SLEEP CONTINUOUSLY FOR AT LEAST 10 HOURS WITHOUT TAKING A
PILL?!! READ ON TO KNOW HOW YOU CAN.
==> MAKE COMPLETE PAGES <==
As far as possible, all the relevant pages should be self-reliant, and should be
present in their intrinsic entirety. Web surfers arrive at a particular page
randomly, sometimes straightaway from a search engine or a referred link. There
is no way to tell where they've been or where they'll go after visiting your
page. Even if you try to provide context using links to tie related pages
together, you cannot force a Web reader to follow those links. As a result, your
approach must be encyclopedic, giving the reader a fairly comprehensive
presentation of the topic on every page. Whenever they arrive, they should know
where they are without having to go here and there.
Always include a link that takes to the main section of the web site with just
one click.
==> IMPORTANT THINGS FIRST <==
Whatever your reader should know, according to the relevance, should come first
on the page, and if aesthetically possible, properly highlighted. Think of all
those things that the visitor would like to see first most, and keep them as
easily accessible as possible.
You should present the important information in the first two or three
paragraphs so that by the time the reader gets distracted and leaves the site,
you have conveyed your main message.
==> MAKE PRINTABLE PAGES <==
If you have lots of textual content on your web site, keep it in a form so that
your readers can take out printouts. If you look at articles on my web site at http://www.bytesworth.com/articles,
you'll notice every article has a print version too, so that a reader can take
the printout and read the article later.
This sums up my writing presentation for the time being. If you feel I have left
out some vital point, you are welcome to let me know.
Copyright ©2001 Amrit Hallan
Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter, writer and a web developer. He
also writes pages that are optimized for search engine rankings. Checkout his
site, and read more of his writings at http://www.amrithallan.com.
