Three-Step Process

Writing for the Web: Adapting the Three-Step Process

The three-step process that you've been using to develop printed documents, e-mail, and instant messaging is equally effective for websites and blogs. However, the unique nature of web-based communication does require special attention at various stages in the writing process. The links below offer specific advice for each task.

Plan

/

Write

/

Complete

Analyze the Situation

Recognize the unique nature of online communication
Define your purpose(s)
Develop audience profiles

Gather Information

Determine audience needs
Gather necessary information

Select the Right Medium

Choose the right online medium

Organize the Information

Design the information architecture / Adapt to Your Audience
Establish your credibility
Adapt your content for a global audience
Compose the Message
Compose web-friendly content
Present concise, scannable information
Write effective links / Revise the Message
Simplify and shorten
Produce the Message
Design for and readability
Proofread the Message
Review for errors and operational problems
Distribute the Message
Launch your site or blog

[1] Recognize the unique nature of online communication

Successful online communication starts with the recognition that the online experience is a unique opportunity—and a unique challenge. Not only is the process of reading onscreen different from reading a printed document, but the experience depends heavily upon a wider variety of technology and design factors. For instance, you can write an effective message and still not reach your audience if the web server malfunctions or the navigation is so confusing that readers give up and move on to other websites.

On the positive side, with careful planning and execution, you can accomplish more online than would ever be possible on paper. To ensure successful communication efforts, start by considering these four issues:

·  Web Readers Are Demanding

·  Reading Online Can Be Difficult

·  The Web Is a Nonlinear, Interactive Medium

·  The Web Is Three-Dimensional

[1a] Web Readers Are Demanding

Have you ever had this experience? You type a search term into Google or your favorite search engine, then jump to the first site on the search results list. If you don't find the information you want within seconds, you jump back to the search results and try the second site, then the third site, then on and on until you find what you need. You might bounce across a dozen websites in less than five minutes. Keep this behavior in mind as you create your own online content.

Today's web readers are impatient and demanding. If your site can't meet their needs quickly, they'll find another site that can. And having the right information buried somewhere on the site isn't good enough. Most visitors won't bother to read your webpages word for word or dig for information. They scan navigation buttons, headings, and hotlinks, looking for possibilities. If nothing looks promising, they're gone.[1]

If site visitors do find the information they're looking for, you're not in the clear yet. The information also needs to be clear and concise. Cute, clever writing and funky graphic design is fine for personal websites and some sites engaged in consumer marketing, but most business readers have no patience for it.

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Next: Reading Online Can Be Difficult

[1b] Reading Online Is Difficult

For most people, reading on a computer monitor is more difficult than reading from the printed page. In fact, studies show that reading speeds are about 25 percent slower on a monitor than on paper.[2]

Two factors contribute to this slower reading speed: First, text is not as easy to read on-screen, a problem that is compounded by wide variations in screen settings and monitor quality. For instance, a monitor that displays graphics at 640 by 480 pixels will produce larger type than a monitor set to higher settings such as 800 by 600 pixels or 1024 by 768 pixels. Moreover, liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors typically can't be set to lower resolutions without significant loss of display quality, so users with high-resolution models (such as 1600 by 1200) often find themselves squinting at extremely small text online. (Internet Explorer and other browsers let users increase or decrease text display size, but websites that force type to display at a fixed size in order to preserve page layouts deprive users of this flexibility.)

Second, reading from computer screens can be tiring on the eyes, even to the point of causing headaches, double vision, blurred vision, and other physical problems.[3] The growing number of users accessing the web with personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones also face the challenge of trying to read webpages that can be many times wider and taller than the screens on their handheld devices. (To avoid this problem, a number of websites now offer versions specifically for the smaller screens on handheld devices.)

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Next: The Web Is a Nonlinear, Interactive Medium

[1c] The Web Is a Nonlinear, Interactive Medium

Paper-based writing follows straight lines; writers provide directions for readers by organizing information into a logical flow and by ordering that flow into progressive paragraphs and pages. Most readers move through a printed document in a fairly linear path, perhaps skipping over a few sections here and there, but generally moving from the beginning of the document to the end. The most interactive thing readers can do is to turn the pages.

However, online readers move around a document in any order they please. Readers may choose to follow a linear path, but they are not obligated to do so. The tool that makes such interactivity possible is the hyperlink—a piece of highlighted text or a hotspot in a graphic that lets readers click through to a different location on the same webpage, to related information on a different webpage in the same website, to a completely different website, or to just about anywhere on the web.

The challenge this places on you as a web writer is to anticipate the various paths your readers will want to follow and to make sure you provide the right hyperlinks in the right places to help readers explore successfully.

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Next: The Web Is Three-Dimensional

[1d] The Web Is Three-Dimensional

In the online world, there is no beginning, middle, or end. And in most cases, readers access a website from another site’s link. This ability to jump into, out of, and all around a document gives the web its three-dimensional format. Consider the Orbitz website, for example (see Figure 1). Some visitors arrive at this website from search engines; others come from the sites of Orbitz alliance partners (such as United Airlines, American Airlines, or Northwest Airlines); still others arrive from online newspaper articles, financial sites, travel sites, and so on. Once these visitors arrive, they decide whether to navigate other pages at this website, return to the site at a later time, or go somewhere else. They make that decision based on their initial experience with the first page they see—which may or may not be the site’s homepage. And if their initial experience with a website is displeasing, they’re less likely to return.[4]

{Figure 1: The Three-Dimensional Nature of the Web}

Being able to access information from all directions is a powerful benefit for readers. But it also makes it difficult for them to judge the depth and scope of a website. In the world of traditional print, a reader can thumb through a 300-page book in a few seconds to gauge its depth, scope, organizational structure, and layout. Getting the same overview of a website of similar volume could take hours, requiring readers to click on every page of the site. Moreover, linking to external websites can increase the scope of an online session many times over. Finally, because well-managed online content changes frequently, readers find it nearly impossible to quantify or gauge the depth of a site’s material. Therefore, it is your job as a web writer to help readers along with logical site organization and clear labels and instructions.

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Next: Define Your Purpose(s)

[2] Define Your Purpose(s)

Making sure you start with a clear purpose is always good writing advice, but the wide reach of online communication adds a special challenge because websites rarely have a single purpose. For instance, consider some of the tasks a typical company website might be expected to perform:

·  persuade potential customers to consider the company and its products

·  update current customers on new products

·  provide current customers with product support information

·  give customers a means to check on the status of their orders

·  issue emergency alerts in the event of natural disasters, product recalls, or other crisis events

·  provide the news media with information about the company and its executives

·  provide investors with detailed financial information

·  present the company's viewpoint on important matters of public policy

Each of these individual purposes needs to be carefully defined and then integrated into an umbrella statement of purpose for the entire website. Then as you develop the site, you'll need to clearly identify the specific purpose of each section of the site so that readers always know where to find the information they need.[5]

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Next: Develop an Audience Profile

[3] Develop Audience Profiles

As with many other aspects of crafting messages for online distribution, developing a profile of online audiences is the same process as for offline audiences, only more complicated. You rarely have a printed document with a half-dozen different audiences, but websites often have that many or more. The global reach of the web further complicates the audience analysis issue, since you may get visitors from all parts of the world.

In many cases, you'll need to establish some audience priorities based on the most important purposes you've identified for you site. Fortunately, websites are much easier to expand and modify over time than printed documents are. For instance, you might decide that in the first six months, you'll address only the needs of potential investors, so you can focus your audience analysis efforts on that group. After that, you might expand to address the needs of potential customers, so you can then focus on their needs, and so on, until you eventually understand all your various audiences and can address their specific needs.

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Next: Determine Audience Needs

[4] Determine Audience Needs

"I can't find what I'm looking for" is a common complaint among website visitors. The problems include information that's presented in the wrong formats, information with unexpected or incorrect labels, information that simply isn't there, and information that is there but impossible to find. Moreover, the challenge isn't restricted to textual information, either. For example, reporters often visit corporate websites looking for digitized photographs to include in newspaper and magazine articles, and owners of computer products visit sites looking for downloadable software updates.

One of the biggest challenges in website design, in fact, is addressing the diverse needs of the typical online audience. On an apparel retailing website, for instance, some visitors might want only a phone number so they can talk to a sales representative, whereas others might expect an interactive online product catalog complete with virtual fashion models that can "wear" various clothing items on commands. Time and budget constraints will often force you to prioritize the audience needs that you can realistically hope to meet.

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Next: Gather Necessary Information

[5] Gather Necessary Information

Although the process of gathering information for websites and blogs is essentially the same as it is for other document types, the amount of information required sometimes catches communicators off guard. In most cases, audiences don't expect printed documents to be updated over time. However, most website visitors expect most sites to be updated frequently, and by their very nature, blogs must be updated frequently or they lose their purpose entirely.

Many websites, blogs, and online newsletters get off to an enthusiastic start, only to wither after a short while because their creators ran out of time, energy, or content ideas. The situation becomes even more complicated if your site or blog depends on other online sources for some of its information, since you'll need to keep constant tabs on those sources as well.

To ensure a steady supply of fresh information, be sure to plan your content strategy well in advance. Identify where you'll get content ideas and who is responsible for finding, crafting, and publishing new material. Size up the real scope of the project by first estimating the amount of work involved for a single update, then multiplying that by the frequency with which you intend to update your site or blog. For instance, writing a 200-word daily piece for an internal employee blog sounds easy—until you multiply it by 250 workdays in a year and realize you're taking on a 50,000-word project.

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Next: Choose the Right Online Medium

[6] Choose the Right Online Medium

The rapid emergence of blogs as a popular online medium is proof that traditional websites are not the best vehicle for every online communication challenge. Blogs are a great tool for delivering fairly simple information quickly. However, they're not a great choice if the information has a long "shelf life" (meaning that people will want to access it over time) or if the information is complex enough to demand some organizational structure. Even with search capabilities, trying to find information in a blog archive can be a pain.

Of course, the combination of a blog and a regular website can be a great alternative. The structured parts of the website can deliver all the various pieces of information, files, and other materials that people expect to find on your website, while the blog provides a continual stream of up-to-the minute news and information—with links to related sections elsewhere on the site. All of these technologies continue to evolve, naturally, so watch for new developments that might give you more options for meeting audience needs.

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