Writing for the Web
Stephen Van Esch
So you scan the want ads on a regular basis - and your beady little
eyes caught the words "Web writer." You've heard that Web writers can
make pretty decent coin, so you want to take a stab at the job and get
out of the mailroom.
Not so fast; the decent wage is paid for a reason. If you can't tell
a comma splice from a paper cut, this job isn't for you. Keep sorting
mail while you get your professional writing degree at night
school.
If you are on top of the rules of grammar and punctuation, and you
routinely correct the spelling on restaurant menus, then read on.
Writing for the Web is much like writing for anything else: It's
harder than it looks. Any fool can put pen to paper, but it takes a
special fool to be a great writer. Fear not fair reader, by following a
few simple guidelines, you'll move from the first category to the
second.
Prep Work
Okay, you've got the copy in your head. You've got moxie, and you're
ready to spill all those words onto the page.
Stop.
You're not ready yet, young Jedi. Lay the foundation before you
start pouring concrete. A few carefully planned steps now will save you
a lot of hassles down the road.
Client needs
Since you're likely doing this for someone else, nail down exactly
what they want. Just like designers, you need to have a clear
understanding of what the clients want as well as what you think
they'll need. Talk it up with the developers and designers and compare
notes. Botch this part and the rest goes down the tubes.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice in a piece of writing says a lot. In some cases,
how you word it means more than what you say. Tone of voice can count
for a lot more on the Web than it does in print. In print, you
sometimes have the opportunity to choose who sees your stuff. On the
Web, you give up that privilege.
So think of what your target users want to see. If you're IBM, you
want to sound professional, so you leave out the contractions and
choose more action words. If you're Low End PC, you want to be hip and
with it, so you leave the contractions in and share a few jokes here
and there.
Writing Guidelines
Sound boring? It is. However, writing guidelines keep things
consistent on your site. Are you going to use World Wide Web or
Internet? They're not the same thing.
What are you writing about? If it's called the ADXV super colloidal
juxtaposer (SCJ) will you call it the ADXV, the super colloidal
juxtaposer or the SCJ? Consistency makes your writing easier to
follow.
If you're developing a site for another country, take a look at some
of the language differences and incorporate them into your style guide.
Canadians and Brits don't always use the American spellings. Trust me,
spelling color with a "u" (colour) for a Canadian site shows you care.
[Low End PC recognizes the international scope of the Internet. We
retain British spellings when used by international writers.]
Review Cycles
We realize that you're probably the greatest person to touch a pen
since Shakespeare, but it's likely that your creative vision won't mesh
perfectly with what the client wants. Set up a review cycle so that
your superiors have a chance to see your stuff before it actually hits
the Web. It's also a good idea to have a signoff sheet to keep track of
who approved what. There's nothing worse than finishing your copy to
the client's specs - only to have them to come back and say that you're
way off base. Include the client in the review cycle to make sure
you're on track.
Writing
All right, now you can get down to the great task of writing all
those great ideas you have for the ADXV super colloidal juxtaposer
(SCJ). While you're doing this, it's a good idea to think of, yes, the
user. When it comes to the user, remember one thing: Nobody is reading
your text. That's right, nobody is actually taking the time to read
what you write. People have a tendency to scan the text on a Web
page, looking for the juicy nugget they need. This really bites,
since you've invested a lot of time and effort into getting your
message just right. So what do you do? Make your content scan friendly.
Here's how.
Use relevant headings and subheadings
Don't confront your readers with reams of text with no discernible
(dictionary please) beginning or end. Use headings and subheadings to
help lead readers to the information they need. Even if the information
they want doesn't exist on the page, they can find that out quickly.
Skip the cutesy headings (like using "the nutcases" instead of "the
team") to make things even easier.
Use the inverted pyramid style
You can hear your English teacher screaming now, "Conclusions come
last!" Ignore that rule when writing for the Web. People want the meat
up front. They're scanning, remember? It's likely that the first
paragraph will make it into their stream of consciousness.
Putting the conclusion first doesn't mean using the words "in
conclusion" in the first paragraph. Be smart. Sum up the whole article
or page in a couple of beautiful sentences. Read a couple of newspaper
articles to see what I mean. There's a good chance that you'll only
have to read the first paragraph to understand most of the story. Apply
this to your Web content.
Use lists
User lists to make things easier to find. Which of the following is
easier to read?
Mix sugar, water, milk, salt and yeast in a bowl.
Mix the following in a bowl:
If you chose example one, get your eyes checked.
Split up your content
If you just can't get away from that 1000-word product description,
pity your reader and split the text into separate pages. Label the
pages accordingly to help users get what they need as fast as
possible.
Skip the marketese
This is the type of language that uses up space without saying much
of anything. Example: "We use quality products to empower your
employees to achieve a new paradigm." Say what? Sharpen those pens,
boys and girls, and start slashing.
Get to the heart of the message
List the exact purpose of the text for a specific page. Don't stop
at "explain product line." Go all the way to "explain why product XYZ
is superior to product XYZ from company A." Be specific and keep your
message on track.
Write to the user's level of education
This may not sound particularly nice, but you should tailor your
writing to the lowest common denominator of your audience. I'll admit
that it isn't easy to figure out what level your writing suits. One way
of doing it is to throw the Gunning Fog Index at it. This is an
equation you can use to get an idea of how smart someone has to be to
understand what you've written. Here's the basic idea:
- Calculate the average number of words in a sentence. Use between 5
and ten sentences for a decent sample.
- Calculate the percentage of the words from the sample that are
three syllables or more.
- Add the two numbers.
- Multiply the number by 0.4.
The result is a general indication of how many years of schooling
someone will need to understand what you've written. It's fun to mix
math and writing, but it gives me the creeps.
Let's make an example of Rodney O. Lain. In his piece Rodney "Outs" Outlook for the Mac,
Rodney uses an average of 18 words per sentence. About five percent of
the words he uses are big. This leaves you with about a fog index of
9.2. On average, a reader needs a grade nine reading ability to
understand what the heck Rodney is talking about. If your fog index is
too high, you have two choices:
- Shorten your sentences
- Make the language simpler
To help the mathematically challenged, some word processors can
calculate the fog index for you.
Remember that the fog index is just an estimate.
Editing (Eschew Obfuscation)
After you've spilled your guts, it's time to clean up the mess.
Editing cuts down on the amount of useless information that creeps into
your writing. Great editing turns mediocre writing into something worth
reading.
Cut
Really look at each and every word and weigh its meaning. In the
marketese example already shown ("We use quality products to empower
your employees to achieve a new paradigm."), question the relevance of
the words. Products? What products? Fiber optics? Lasers? Pet vacuums?
Nail it down. Empower? How? Through control, choice or what? Put each
sentence through the grinder and cut the fat.
Cut some more
After the first pass, be even more ruthless with your editor's pen.
If it's not immediately apparent why the word is used, cut it or find a
shorter way of saying the same thing. Here's an example:
"HTML is primarily used to display text and images on a Web
page."
"Primarily"? Try "HTML is used to display text and images on a Web
page."
A small gain, but a gain all the same. Catch a few of these and that
200-pound gorilla will become a svelte supermodel.
Cut and Combine
If you followed the above directions, there's one thing left to do:
keep cutting. Really. Look for redundancies in your writing. Does one
paragraph echo or repeat another? Combine them. Are two ideas too close
for comfort? Cut one and beef up the other. Repetition tends to be a
hallmark of marketese. Generally speaking, your online content
shouldn't be more than 50% of equivalent hardcopy content.
Proofing
Check the Message
Did you lose the message in your wild slashing and editing? This
sometimes happens. Reread the trimmed content to make sure that nothing
essential was lost in the battle.
Proofread
Now that most of the grunt work is done, it's time to weed out the
spelling errors and grammar snafus that made it past your initial edit.
Use the spell checker and grammar checker, but don't rely on them
completely. The grammar checker is not exactly reliable, and you
should question some of its suggestions. Be on the lookout for usage
errors as well. For example, there, their, and they're are all spelt
correctly here, but each has a different meaning.
Let it sit
If you have the luxury (and most of us don't), let the copy sit for
a week, and then come back to it. Errors will be much more obvious
after you've detached yourself from your work. At the very least,
let it sit for a day or two. Sort the mail while you wait.
Update
This is the Web after all, so periodic updates remain important.
There's nothing worse than a site with outdated content. Set up an
editing schedule to make sure that the content of your site is
periodically reviewed and changed.
Well, there you have it. Follow these basic guidelines and your copy
should remain tight, consistent and relevant. This, of course, leaves
all your visitors more time to admire that Flash movie the graphics
gals are so proud of.
