Thursday, June 29, 2006

Writing Content for the Web

At Zunch, we find over and over again that one of the biggest challenges of building a website is writing content. Often, our clients decide to take on that daunting task themselves, planning to use content from print. It's a good place to start, as long as it is appropriately and strategically re-purposed.

Here are some quick tips to writing Web content:

1. Avoid marketing fluff.
    Online users find it self-inflating and time-wasting.

2. Make the text scannable.
    Use short phrases and common words to help them digest it quickly, including your keywords.

3. Be concise.
    Pretend they have OADD (online A.D.D.)
    Don't make the user wade through bloated text to find the meat.

4. Break up long pages.
    If it must be long, try anchor tags at the top to help users get what they need quickly.

5. Cross-reference related pages with hyperlinks to help the user get there.
    it's great for SEO too!

6. Keep forms short.
    By asking questions that aren't necessary, you'll be less likely to get any info from the user at all.

7. Answer questions.
    As you write, think about what questions users will have and answer them.

There are more content tips and in-depth explanation in an article by Jakob Nielsen.

Of course, the best idea is to have Zunch take on that task so they can make sure all the pieces are in place and user-friendly.

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