An interesting article on the Guardian’s website today. Aida Edemariam looks at the issue of search on the internet and how this influences online writing in contrast to offline articles.
This, of course, links in to how content for the web must be structured differently in general. Unfortunately, she thinks it makes ‘depressing reading’, interpreting it as meaning that ‘long, thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t work [on the web]‘.
‘Write great content’
She quotes Paul Roach, the Guardian’s head of SEO, who says that for successful search results, ‘you just have to write great content’. Good advice. She then refers to the following advice from Jakob Nielsen:
“Stick to simple presentation formats in all ways: a logical progression of the story, mainly active sentences, simple words, short sentences, and a plain, scrolling page. Also, keep people looking down the page by scattering attractive elements throughout the page in the form of subheads and bulleted lists.”
Edemariam concludes that: ‘Short pieces work. Lists work even better. Long, thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t.’
Help your readers, don’t dismiss them
I think this is a misleading opinion. Of course long, thoughtful pieces wouldn’t work online in the same structure as they would in print. But because they need to be presented differently, it doesn’t mean they won’t work at all.
Break the article down into shorter paragraphs and more pages if necessary. Use subheadings to make it easier to navigate and read. It’s hard to read large sections of unbroken text on screen.
It isn’t a bad thing to use simple words where you can. Do you need to use long, difficult words to get your message across, or to justify yourself as a writer? Remember, your article is available to a global audience, many of whom do not have English as a first language. Don’t make it more difficult than it has to be.
Use the web to your advantage
Finally, use the internet’s features to present your argument in a more interactive and interesting way. Provide links to useful resources, for example. Help your readers and reinforce your points!
The web offers new opportunities to illustrate your communications in different ways. It’s not an obstacle to intelligent thinking or writing.
Posted: December 6th, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Language, SEO, Usability, Writing style | No Comments »
Jakob Nielsen recently covered the issue of which English language variant to use in one of his recent Alertbox emails. This topic usually interests me or bugs me in equal measure (but for different reasons).
I’ve written for companies that want to use British English and for those that prefer American English. As Nielsen points out, it’s not just a case of changing the spellings. It’s about terminology and more. He provides some useful tips, as well as guidance on which version to use.
As ever, it boils down to your website’s target audience, which is your first consideration in any type of communication. However, your choice is also influenced to some extent by how you want to portray yourself or your company. That is, as an international business or a regional one.
Nielsen also explains how using the incorrect version can alienate the people you’re trying to speak to. As he says, ‘language matters’. Visitors will make assumptions about a company or product based on the variant used.
Finally, he says to be consistent in your choice, which refers to a source of constant annoyance for me! Switching between the two shows ‘poor attention to detail’ and a poor grasp of the English language, whichever version you choose.
Posted: December 6th, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Language, Writing style | No Comments »
Any organisation that produces printed publications understands the importance of an editorial style guide. So it stands to reason that a separate style guide for your websites, intranet sites and e-newsletters is important too.
When creating an online style guide, the differences between online and offline communications and how content is generated should be taken into consideration.
In many instances, a network of administrators (not always professional communicators) add information onto a website via a content management system (CMS). They might not be very knowledgable about the best ways to write for a website, or sure of what information to include.
An online style guide can help to define some of the basic rules for writing for the web, such as the right language to use online, how to structure the content to make it easier to read, or even what fonts and colours to use.
It also serves many of the same purposes as a style guide for printed publications. For example, it helps to make sure that all websites have a consistent tone of voice, and that spellings and capitalisations particular to the business are used correctly. It’s also a valuable document to give to external agencies that might be producing online content for the company.
There are some excellent examples of online style guides available for free, which you can use as inspiration if you want to develop your own (or you can contact me to do it for you!).
Here’s a selection of the best I’ve found to date:
Posted: September 9th, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Writing style | Tags: online writing, style guide | No Comments »
