Writing for the web

The second half of this article is very important for anyone looking over the library website for possible revisions.  We'll find that there are numerous places and ways that we are writing incorrectly for the web and that through this lens there are numerous UX errors.

In our case, considering that a big reason for the website upgrade is to make it mobile friendly, we may want to shift how we write in order to embrace brevity.

I turned toward Don and said, we have so many things to change, he just nodded his head in that way that he does.

Librarians:

We're not writers

We over explain

Go into too much detail

8 seconds to grab a reader's attention

PEOPLE

  Know your customers

     Take advantage of google analytics

Have a focus (audience)

  Write to them

PRODUCT

  Posts or webpages are products

  Focus on the right things

    Showcase the product and the customer benefit, then what action is taken

PROCESS

  Titles are important

    Front load the content

      Don't be cutesy

    Keywords

    Use only 5-6 words

Most newsworthy info, then details, then background info

Use images as much as possible.

   Must match content

Re-use content.  It's ok to use the same content in multiple places

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Write like you talk.

  How does it sound when read out loud

  More relatable

  Easier to understand 

  Casual language 

  Write like you were speaking to the patron

Stephen King hates the passive voice.

  Use active voice.

Change "customer" or "patron" to "you"

TONE

  Reassuring but not paternalistic.  Inspiring but not cheerleady, fun but not cheeky.  Academic but not highbrow.

Keep sentences and paragraphs short, no more than 3 sentences or 6 lines

Sentences no more than 25 words

Embrace parallelism 

Use tables for related content.

Use bulleted lists for items and options

  White space is good

  Numbered lists for instructions

BUT use instructions sparingly

Remove unnecessary adverbs

Remove redundant adjectives

Simplify

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Online people don't read they skim.

Web content is useless unless it supports a key objective or helps the user complete a task.

Use descriptive link text

  Never use "click here"

Avoid using all caps

Left align text

Stay away from images that don't convey information