Secrets to successful Web writing

Amy Eisman, in addition to opening a critique of some Web sites, as I mentioned in a previous post, also talked about how to optimize writing for the Web. This means not just how a story is structured, but also how the headlines are written, what’s included with the story and whether it’s a traditional narrative story at all.

One of the key things to remember is how people read online — at least English readers. You know how the front-page design of papers such as The Bakersfield Californian is referred to as the “hot L” design? Well, we’ll call the online reading pattern the “hot F.”

These images are heat maps from eye-tracking studies done by Web site usability guru Jakob Nielsen. (From Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Instead of focusing on the top right of the page — a pattern that many newspapers are built around with that being a key spot for a lead story — online readers focus on the top left first, making the beginning of sentences and headlines extremely important. The images show just how attention can drop off as eyes travel to the right.

This means you don’t want to back into a lead or a headline or the story itself. Avoid wasted words such as “Hello” or “Please.” Just get to the point or you’re wasting a reader’s time.

Another important note is that while readers of the print product tend to be browsers looking for something to catch their eyes, online users are on a mission. They are task-oriented and looking for something specific.

But if you give them what they’re looking for, they’ll read it. Studies show that people actually read more of a story online, possibly because they went out looking for it specifically and it fills an immediate need. They don’t mind scrolling if the information is what they were looking for.

Alternative story formats including Q&As and lists are popular online, of course, but sometimes what would be “the Story” in print is the least important part of the story online. Don’t think about a linear story with special Web-only attachments; think about how to tell the story regardless of the tool.

Some great examples that could translate (if it was determined they were worth the resources):

• Interactive Vietnam Memorial: At footnote.com is a fantastic example of an interactive project that could live forever. It identifies the people behind the names on the wall in Washington. On a smaller scale, it could be applied to local monuments or lists of names.
• The Vegas Strip over time: The Las Vegas Sun has a great interactive map showing the change to the Strip over time. This would be a great way to show change over time to an area, like the loss of green space or farmland to development or the change in the shoreline and loss of homes.
• Football Chalkboards: The Guardian has this great interactive for users to map out game plays and “analyse” player performances. We probably couldn’t use something like this unless we licensed it somehow, but it sure is cool, so I included it in this list anyway.

We also got some suggestions for further reading:

• “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis, who also writes the Buzzmachine blog.
• “Wikipedia Revolution” by Andrew Lih
• “We the Media” by Dan Gillmor (This book’s been around a while but is still topical.)
• “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
• “Here Comes Everybody” by Clay Shirky (If you aren’t up for reading the whole book, there’s a good summary of its key points in either the Time cover story about Twitter or the Wired story about the new “socialism.” I can’t remember which. But both are worth reading, anyway.)