Writing for the Web: the Basics

Writing for a web site is different from many of your other writing assignments. While you can re-use text created for print media, it doesn’t translate well to a medium that is often associated with entertainment. Reading from a computer screen adds difficulties. As a result, consider taking the time to suit your prose to the web.

Some general rules of thumb for writing for the web are:

1. use familiar, direct language with small words and plain verbs
2. keep your sentence construction simple and sentence length short.
3. paragraphs should have one main idea and only 2-3 sentences. Chunk your content!
4. web pages should be short, with text broken up by graphics and white space.

You can practice by taking a long, complex sentence and re-working it according to the principles above. Here is a sentence you can rewrite for the web as practice:

Though the product had been tested in focus groups and selected stores, the Window Cleaning Widget did not fare well in the United States, but it did sell well in European nations such as France and Denmark, which often do not manifest good market response to gadgets.

If you have to use content designed for print media to get your site started, schedule some time to edit the content later as part of a site review.

Content providers wanting to know more about writing for the web may contact Claire Loranz.

(Thanks to Rob McKean of Chart Resource Group, who taught “Writing Successfully for the Web” at the Boston Consortium 8/6/2003, for articulating these ideas so well.)

Questions ? Ask Us !

Back to the Publishing a Web Site home page

Site Index · Contacts · Directories
Help

Course Catalog
Directories
Library
News Resources
Transportation
Weather
Wellesley & Region