Writing for the Web

Tips for effective presentation of web-based material.

Speed Counts Create fast-loading pages.  Studies show you now have 10 seconds to get your user's interest. The site should be clean, simple and attractive.
Write Effective Headlines Action Verbs (achieve, produce, incorporate)  vs Flat Verbs (is, have, was)

Be creative ("Drink Milk Every Day"   vs "Ever Feel Your Bones Begging for Some Calcium?"

 
New Acronyms email   (not e-mail, E-mail, E-Mail, EMail)

Web or WWW  (not web or www, unless it's in a hyperlink)

online (not on-line.  New concepts typically start out as two words, then become hyphenated, and finally become one word when they become more familiar).

set up, back up and log on  (verbs)
setup, backup and logon (nouns, adjectives)
Web Readers want to know who is speaking. Which example is preferred?

"Writing for the Web demands a much more concise style than writing for print."
Or
"Five years as the editor of an online newspaper (insert name of paper here)  has convinced me that writing for the Web demands a much more concise style than writing for print."

 
Style of writing -- marketing hype vs objective factual writing "Object oriented programming is one of the most revolutionary new programming methodologies in years, and can save an incredible amount of time and money in software maintenance."

Object oriented programming is a new programming method that restricts access to the data in an application, with the goal of saving time on maintaining the software.

"As a professor of computer science, I've designed and maintained numerous software applications, including applications written using structured programming techniques, and there's no doubt in my mind that object oriented  programming is superior to the other methods . Applications written using this method encapsulate the data, are easier to debug , and are easier to maintain, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the application."

 
Linking When adding hyperlinks, be sure to make it very clear about where the link actually leads.

Which is better?
"DreamWeaver is my favorite web editor."

OR

DreamWeaver is my favorite web editor. For additional information, you can read a review of the product, or you can visit the vendor's Web site.

Caution your reader when they are about to leave your website and a user needs to find what they want by the 3rd mouse click.

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