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docb's webdesign clinic

 
WebDesign Clinic#6:
Creating Effective Content
 
Good taste, smell, and presentation are important in a meal, but nutrition counts most. When cooking up a website, content is what gives visitors value for their time. Don't get lost in 'gee-whiz' technology and forget to make sure your pages have a high 'signal-to-noise' ratio.

* Writing for the Web: differs from writing for print. Web Publishing allows you to conveniently & cheaply make widely available accurate, up-to-date, dynamic information, in an entertaining as well as informative way. But you can't just translate printed material directly to effective Web pages. Some Web-specific considerations are:
  • Web visitors like to skim, scan, and skip. Print readers start at the upper left; on Web pages, they see the entire screen as a whole.
  • Web readers prefer bite-sized chunks of information: less words, simpler sentences, more white space, less punctuation. Recast paragraphs as lists or tables.
  • Web-users don't like scrolling. Usually keep pages to about 3-4 browser screens; use navigation to break info up into easily digested pages. Shorter pages make your web more maintainable, too. If you must have a longer page (when providing tutorials, say, or heavy information), provide anchors and 'return to top' buttons so the user can skip around easily. You can also provide a link to the complete document in one file that users can download and print.
  • Use an inverted pyramid structure --conclusion first, then support.
  • Provide links to allow the user to choose if they want more background or detail. Novices will want links to basic explanations; advanced users might want more complex background.
  • Remember if you have a multi-page site that visitors may not start at the beginning; make sure your pages can stand alone, and that you provide easy navigation and links.
*General Content Advice: All audiences ask: "What's In It For Me?"; make sure your content benefits them.
  • Put as much content towards the top of a hierarchy as is possible and provide useful content on each page seen by your audience (with the possible exception of an opening 'splash' screen.)
  • The Web is dynamic; keep your material up-to-date. Highlight new stuff, and/or feature it on your home page in a 'what's new' area.
  • Remember that copying content from other pages may be in violation of an implied copyright. Check with the author for permission.
*Links: Write as if there were no links, but just meaningful text. Not "click here for info on our training programs", but "our training programs have something for everyone" with the words 'our training programs' a link to your catalog of programs. Make it easy for your visitors to send you comments, with mail-to links and/or a feedback form. Listen and respond.
 
Now that you've made sure your Web meal is nutritious, let's make sure it looks and tastes good, too. In the next installment, we'll explore graphics considerations, including when to include them, how to choose the right format, and conserving bandwidth.
 
NEXT: WebDesign Clinic#7: A Picture's Worth a Thousand Bytes
Content ©1999 Dr. Barbara Strand.
All Rights Reserved.