How to Write for the Web

[mandy]

2 articles on writing for the web...

From Slate:

You're probably going to read this.

It's a short paragraph at the top of the page. It's surrounded by white space. It's in small type.

To really get your attention, I should write like this:

    *
      Bulleted list
    *
      Occasional use of bold to prevent skimming
    *
      Short sentence fragments
    *
      Explanatory subheads
    *
      No puns
    *
      Did I mention lists?...

full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/?from=rss

From Jakob Nielsen:

Web content must be brief and get to the point quickly, because users are likely to be on a specific mission. In many cases, they've pulled up the page through search. Web users want actionable content; they don't want to fritter away their time on (otherwise enjoyable) stories that are tangential to their current goals.

Instead of a predefined narrative, websites must support the user's personal story by condensing and combining vast stores of information into something that specifically meets the user's immediate needs. Thus, instead of an author-driven narrative, Web content becomes a user-driven narrative...

full article: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-o...ntent.html