Happy 2003! In partnership with Jeff Herrington, I embark on a series of four EWAs devoted to writing for the Web. Over the years, Jeff has distinguished himself for his workshop entitled "Crafting Online Content"—an excellent learning experience! I've taken it, so I know. I hope this EWA and the next three (appearing in Feb., March and April) will help you gain new insights into writing for the Web—insights that help you to excel at this skill that is so much in demand!
--Chuck Lustig, owner, ExcitingWriting Communications

How to write for the way people read on the Web.

Chances are, right now, you're scanning this on a monitor screen. I could have said, "reading," but a study conducted by Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen found that 79 percent of all Web readers scan online; only 16 percent read information word for word.

The fact that you're most likely scanning rather than reading this is neither good nor bad—it's just the way it is. On a computer, these words are twice the distance away from your eye than when you are reading off a printed page. You're dealing with pixels of light on a flickering background, and you're probably in a rush—you're hunting for information, so you're scanning.

That's the case when people visit your Web site. These are your customers—a thundering herd of scanners. The only valid question: How can you serve up information in a way that makes it easy for them to get what they need?

Here are four strategies that will help you attract scanners:

1. Make sense quickly. Get to the point. Avoid burying the most important parts of your content in the second or third paragraph. Better to put it in the headline and in the first paragraph.

A Fortune 100 high-tech firm wanted to warn its employees not to do business with what it calls "Denied Parties." But it was slow in getting to the point:

"Our 'denied parties' list is a combination of US government agency blacklists. These persons/entities have been identified by the US government as having violated US export regulations, or as being located in, or acting or controlled by, or acting as an agent for, embargoed countries.

"It may be a violation of US law or company practice to conduct business with the entities."

If the company wanted employees not to break the law, it should have reordered the content to say:

"You could be breaking company practice, or even federal law, if you are doing business with what is known as a 'Denied Party.'

"Denied Parties are those persons/entities, etc., etc."

This technique is especially important if your content contains a call to action. Tell people to: "Register now," "Fill in this form," "Access this information" or "Attend a meeting" at the beginning of content, not at the end.

2. Shoot bullets. Bulleted lists highlight key thoughts and links—they're made for scanning. Links pop out much more vividly in bullets than if they are buried in a chunky paragraph.

Don't overuse bullets, however. When we tell the whole story through multiple bulleted lists, our content becomes long and vertical, forcing the reader to do a lot of scrolling. Your content also loses its voice and personality—it's closer to a shopping list than it is to a communication you and your scanners care about.

Use bullets occasionally, especially to highlight links. But limit their use—once or twice in a section.

3. Use subheads (like this one). Consider using subheads to break up even one screen of content into shorter sections. For example, an HR page could be divided into paragraphs given the subheads, "Company Profile," "Our Diversity Policy" and "How to Apply."

Why should your scanning readers have to deal with the whole screen if only one topic is of interest to them?

4. Insert charts and graphs. A well-chosen picture tells a thousand words in printed material. Online that number could be 10,000.

Coca-Cola, on its intranet, demonstrated how much it reduced the weight of its different packages by showing a glass bottle, aluminum can and plastic bottle side by side with the raw material weight reductions in percentages nearby. IBM conveyed its dominance among 10 companies in achieving patents through a bar chart accompanied by a numerical chart.

Ask managers to provide you with charts and graphs that may tell the story more completely in far less space. They probably have them--in their computers.

Jeff Herrington is president of Jeff Herrington Communications, a Dallas-based training and consulting firm. If you think the content editors in your organization could benefit from a seminar on how to write more effective print, or intranet/Web, content, contact Jeff at: jeffherrington@earthlink.net, 214.948.7954 or http://www.jeffherrington.com

Chuck Lustig owns Exciting Writing Communications—persuasive writing that turns heads, touches hearts and changes minds—builds sales! For virtually every kind of writing, including articles, white papers, annual reports and proposals, remember: If the writing is exciting, it's ExcitingWriting! Contact Chuck Lustig at:
chuckiel@airmail.net, 972-867-7799 or http://www.marketnet.com/lustig

Email: clustig@excitingwriting.com

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