Writing for web

• people scan for what they are interested in
• from usability studies here's what gets most attention:
  • upper-left first paragraphs
  • headings
  • bullet lists
  • first 11 letters of each bit of info
• therefore we must:
  • put a summary of page content in first paragraph
  • headings must convey only useful info
• 43% of US adults have basic or lower literacy
• use concise and simple text
• write to convey information vs to entertain
• on screen people read:
  • 25% slower
  • 20% text on page
• use 50% of text used in print
• in short, use short words, short sentences, short paragraphs
• in a study done, the more complex text was, the lower reader rated the intelligence of author

Formatting text

• headings
  • describe content
  • no more than 3 levels
  • if more split into different pages
• body text
  • inverted pyramid (start with conclusion)
  • use bulleted (general) and numbered lists (steps or ranking)
  • link keywords vs click here for more info