Web Writing Style
Usability essentially refers to a site's ease of use for a visitor. It encompasses both content writing style and site design.
In terms of writing style, usability testing has yielded three major findings. Web users:
- do not read, they scan;
- do not like to scroll;
- prefer factual information to jargon.
Scanning -- 79% of users scan web pages rather than read each word. To stop a user's eye:
- Highlight key words, but do not use blue type and do not underscore, or your visitors will mistake your key words for hyperlinks.
- Use bulleted or numbered lists
- Employ meaningful sub-headings
- Limit your main ideas to one per paragraph
- Start the page with the conclusion as well as a short summary of the remaining contents. This is called "inverted pyramid" style.
Scrolling -- To reduce scrolling:
- Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent
- Use hypertext to link to relevant or expanded content
Language -- Avoid specialized or subjective language
- Use simple and informal writing
- Make sure your text is concise and objective
- Avoid use of jargon or acronyms.
Source and additional information:
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
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