Writing for the Web

Hundreds of books have appeared on how to design new web pages and jazz up existing websites with graphics, animation, and sounds. But creating an effective website has much more to do with engaging text that people will want to read. This is what draws people to websites and ultimately keeps them coming back. This fourth edition of Writing for the Web includes chapters on blogs and other personal sites, portfolio sites, and corporate webwriting. It also includes links to special download material including reference sites for webwriters and writing/editing exercises. This new edition is the complete solution for anyone wanting to write persuasive and interesting web content that will draw readers to a website and engage them enough that they will add the site to their bookmarks file.Write informative, persuasive content for blogs and personal and corporate web pages.Hook web surfers’ attentionWrite informative, persuasive contentDevelop content for corporate WebsitesEdit your material for an international audienceAdapt content from print media to the webEdit material for an international audienceBreak print-based writing habitsThis book will help you write prose that’s as good as your code. It includes a convenient, easy-to-use Webwriter’s style guide to step you through the rules governing abbreviations, biased terms, capitalization, compound words, and clichés. Exercises will help you practice your new Webwriting techniques, and critiques of real Websites will give you practical advice. Whether you are creating a personal Website, developing your company’s Website, or publishing an e-zine, Writing for the Web offers sound advice on writing within the framework of three principles: 1. orient readers to your site 2. inform readers effectively 3. prompt readers to take action so that you get the results you want

Learn how to write informative, persuasive content for blogs and personal and corporate web pages.

This book will help you write prose that's as good as your code. It includes a convenient, easy-to-use Webwriter's style guide to step you through the rules governing abbreviations, biased terms, capitalization, and compound words. Exercises will help you practice your new Webwriting techniques, and critiques of real Websites will give you practical advice.

PREFACE xvINTRODUCTION xxi1 HISTORY, HYPERTEXT, AND INTERACTIVECOMMUNICATION 11. Plain Text versus Hypertext 32. The Interactive Communication Model 53. Computers Make Us Impatient 64. Computers Give Us Jolts 75. Computer-Screen Text Is Hard to Read 75.1 Computer-screen text is hard to proofread 86. Websites Attract Different Kinds of Visitors 87. Webtext Is Hypertext 9vCONTENTS2 STRUCTURING YOUR WEBSITE 111. Chunking: Hit and Run Information Retrieval 122. Scrolling: Information Retrieval by Downloading 143. The Three Principles of Webtext 163.1 Orientation: Where am I and how do I getaround this site? 173.2 Information: The reason for the site’s existence 193.3 Action: What people should do once they’reinformed 203 ORGANIZING WEBSITE CONTENT 231. Orientation: Navigation Cues Provide a SiteOverview 231.1 Understand how visitors scan web pages 241.2 Treat every page like a home page 261.3 Signal transitions with navigation buttons 272. Orientation: Headlines 282.1 Use subheads 292.2 Grab readers’ interest: Hooks, links, and blurbs 303. Information: Analyze Your Audience — and Yourself! 343.1 What’s your exformation? 353.2 Create a “client brief ” 393.3 Organize consciously 403.4 Writing webtext from scratch 423.5 Style and display 443.6 Format for printing 453.7 Use bulleted lists 464. Action: Communication Runs Both Ways 484.1 Response cues 494 WRITING GOOD WEBTEXT 531. Activate the Passive 54vi Writing for the Web1.1 Don’t confuse passive voice with past tense 552. Choose Concrete Anglo-Saxon Words 563. Use Simple Sentences 574. Avoid Clichés 585. Choose Strong Verbs over Weak Ones 616. Be Aware of Dialect Variations 617. Be Precise 627.1 Diction: Choose your words carefully 638. Don’t Use Extended Metaphors 709. Use Clear Antecedents 7110. Grammar and Usage: Common Errors 7110.1 Sentence fragments 7110.2 Subject-verb disagreements 7210.3 Incorrect pronouns 7310.4 Misuse of adjective for adverb 745 EDITING WEBTEXT 771. Don’t Trust Your Spell Checker 772. Check Your Reading Level 783. Cut Verbiage 794. Critique Your Own Text 795. Print Out to Proofread 816. Don’t Respect the Text! 827. Edit for International Readers 848. A Webwriter’s Style Guide 858.1 Abbreviations 888.2 Business abbreviations 898.3 Business symbols 938.4 Email abbreviations 948.5 Greek and Latin 958.6 Scholarly/general abbreviations 96Contents vii8.7 Web abbreviations 998.8 Punctuating abbreviations 1008.9 Pluralizing abbreviations 1018.10 Abbreviating dates 1018.11 Biased terms 1028.12 Capitalization 1079. Online Advice about Online Writing Style 1146 CORPORATE WEBWRITING 1151. Challenges for Corporate Webwriters 1162. Define Your Audience 1183. Corporate Webwriting Needs the “You” Attitude 1194. Too Many Webwriters Can Spoil the Site 1215. Components of Corporate Websites 1235.1 Mission statements 1235.2 Policies 1245.3 Products 1255.4 Services 1255.5 Departments 1255.6 News 1265.7 Archives 1265.8 “Good news surprises” 1275.9 Action items 1277 WRITING FOR BLOGS 1291. Personal Blogs 1302. Job Blogs 1313. Specialist Blogs 1344. News Blogs 1355. Advocacy Blogs 1366. Developing the Right Style for Your Blog 1386.1 Orientation: What your blog is about 139viii Writing for the Web6.2 Information: What you want to tell your readers 1406.3 Action: What you want your readers to do 1417. Online Résumés 1437.1 Make a good first impression 1437.2 Surprise: Redefine yourself as different 1457.3 Create a portfolio on your site 1477.4 Provide useful services 1497.5 Make response easy 1498 ADVOCACY AND MARKETING ON THE WEB 1511. Semantics and Register 1522. Three Elements of Persuasion 1532.1 Logical argument 1542.2 Appeal to authority 1542.3 Emotional appeal 1552.4 Credibility 1553. Constructing Persuasive Webtext 1563.1 Orientation 1563.2 Information 1573.3 Action 1584. What’s a Legitimate Appeal? What’s Not? 1585. Notes on Propaganda 1596. Major Types of Propaganda 1607. Propaganda myths 1608. Basic Propaganda Devices 1629. Analyzing Advocacy Websites 1649 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1651. Can I Make Money as a Freelance Writeron the Web? 1652. Can I Teach Webwriting? 1663. Can I Create My Own E-zine? 169Contents ix4. Can I Write Hypertext Fiction for the Web? 1695. Can I Copyright My Webwriting? 1706. How Do I Cite Web Sources in Scholarly Writing? 1717. Can a Website Enhance a Book on Paper? 1728. How Can I Attract Visitors to My Site? 1739. How Can Writers and Graphic DesignersWork Together? 174APPENDIX 175AFTERWORD 177EXERCISES1 Assessing Website Structure 342 Identifying Exformation 383 Reviewing a Website 514 Converting Prose to Bullets 525 Identifying Clichés 596 Activating the Passive 747 Using Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary 758 Critiquing Corporate Websites 1279 Reviewing Blogs 142x Writing for the Web