WRITING FOR THE WEB

PART TWO

Part 1 of this series showed you some of the basics for composing your Web pages. In this part we give you ideas on how to layout and present your text.

By Wendy Boulding

How to perform Text presentation on your web site is like your body odor. If people like it they'll come closer. If they don't, they'll run away fast.

You want people to read your words. You want them to pay attention to what you have to offer. And they will, if you give them a feast of information in a style that their eyes can easily digest and their mind can appreciate.

Take off your shoes

The essential key to superb text presentation is empathy. Put
yourself in the shoes of your potential visitors. Think about the possible browser they may be using. Think about the speed of their modem. Think about what will be the easiest and most convenient way they can access your offerings in a short amount of time. Don't assume that the technology that
sits on your desktop is being used all over the world. Be prepared to design for all people and all their needs.

Take time to plan

After you've written and edited your text, divide it into segments. Every topic, concept, suggestion, and/or instruction should be placed in separate paragraphs. Keep your paragraphs short.

Write headlines. Remember, headlines are like traffic signs
directing your visitor from place to place. Make them descriptive and meaningful.

Consider using lists and tables. Putting your ideas into point form breaks up the monotony of reading paragraph after paragraph. Important information is also easier to visually grasp in this form. From a design perspective, it makes a long passage look a lot less daunting.

Decide what will go where. Let's say you are going put a short story on a web page. Chances are you will choose to put the story on one page. But let's say you wrote an article on how to write a short story and you want to put it on the Web.

You would divide the information up into sections and have each one on a separate page. While your text is still in your word processor, pick out the most important information that will go on to the web page your readers will be exposed to first. Then sort out the remaining text and determine how each section will be placed on separate web pages.

Seeing is believing

Keep in mind that people on the Internet don't graze. They surf. The tighter, more concise you can get your message across the better. You are being given the opportunity to maneuver your way into the psyches of millions of people.

Spoon-feed them your ideas. Readers will be much more willing to stay and much more willing to come back for more.

Do not place all text across the full width of the screen!

Reading long selections of text this way is unbearable. Have your text take up no more than half the width of your screen.

Size does count. When you put your text into HTML format, stick to using the default font size for most of the text on the page. This way you will be ensuring that what you are designing will be properly seen by most people.

Use different sizes of text to create variation on your page. But don't forget, fonts that are too small infuriate and fonts that are too big irritate. Use both sparingly.

Sprinkle in a few surprises. Emphasize and highlight various words scattered through each web page to catch the reader's eye. Because links are automatically underlined, it isn't a good idea to underline non-linking words just for the sake of emphasis. It will cause confusion. Use colored, bold, or italicized text instead.

Always include a <TITLE>. Have the title of your page clearly define what is found within it. When you are creating a <TITLE> think of what you want the reader to remember most about your site when they scan through their bookmarks.

Preview your pages before you upload them.

A paperless age? (HA HA)

I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that I print out a lot of web pages. I prefer to surf fast, print out what looks interesting, log off the Internet, and then take my printed pages to my couch or out with me when I go to McDonald's.

Let's assume I am not the only one who does this. Design your text-filled pages with printing in mind.

Create two versions. Have one version of your text split into segments and accompanied by graphics and links. Have a separate page where the text is uninterrupted. Encourage your reader to print out that page.

Again, be considerate of your readers. The width of browser
screens is varied. Text placed across the full width of your screen may look fine to you, but not to others. Lines may be cut off on the right side of their screen. When they print out pages that extend beyond their screen width, the printer also cuts off each line. If you want to have long lines, at the very least, create a one-inch margin on either side of the text.

Be color conscious. Choose your background and text colors very carefully. Red text on a yellow background, for example, prints out faintly. White text on a black background is invisible on a printed page. If your text is important, stick to the basics; black on white.

Do you really want to use frames? Some browsers cannot print frames correctly. Think about what parts of your text would be suited for frames and which segments need to be presented on a full screen for a potentially pleasing printout.

Ugly orphans

There is a statistic that states 60 percent of Internet activity happens via e-mail. If this true, you may want to create an e-mail tie-in to your web site. It may take the form of an e-zine or even just web site updates. Whatever you choose, be aware that the way you present text in an e-mail format is just as important as the way you choose to design your web pages.

Like with browsers, not all mailer programs are created equal. You may send out an e-mail that looks wonderful on your screen but may look like this to your reader:

I am writing to
let
you know that I have just updated
my web
site
and added some new
graphics and tutorials.
Come
and check it out!

Lines like these are called ugly orphans. The problem can easily be avoided by keeping the lines in your e-mail short.

A short line is 65 characters max. Compose your text in a word processor. Use a fixed width font like Courier (12 point). Have one-inch margins. This will create lines with 65 characters in each. Save your text to an ASCII text file (.txt). Open the text file and copy its contents. Go to your mailer and paste the text in the message you will be sending out.

You can also do it manually. Paste text into your mailer and
shorten the lines by placing your cursor at the point in the line where you want to shorten it and then press ENTER. Keep each line that follows the same length as the original one.

Change the world

With the investment of thought and time, you can impact your readers with your own words and ideas. Give them what you desire the most: simplicity, thoughtfulness, and convenience.

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