Introduction

The proliferation of the Internet and of commercial websites has brought with it a need for web-based communication. The writer is central to effective web communication, and the writer must be aware of certain characteristics that make web writing different from other kinds of writing. Web writing—just like brochure writing and video writing—has its own set of forms and conventions. This being said, good web writing is like any other good writing in terms of the need to express ideas clearly and with purpose.

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Web Writing Is Hyperlinked

The principal difference writers must address when writing for the web is that web writing is “hyperlinked,” which means that it is not linear with a starting point and an ending point. This makes web writing different from other media writing, in which the writer determines the flow of the copy and information from beginning to end. On websites, readers direct themselves through the copy on various web pages by clicking on textual or graphical elements. These linking elements are referred to as navigational elements, hyperlinks, or simply links.

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Organizing Web Copy

Writing in a hyperlinked environment presents the writer with a special set of organizational challenges. These challenges involve writing copy for separate web pages and the links on these pages, and understanding how all of the copy and links fit together as a whole.

Good website organization is essential. Good organization gives readers the ability to easily navigate among the web copy and hyperlinks, and to understand where they are on the website at any given moment. Before a website is written, designed, and placed on the Internet, the creators of the website develop a navigation map, which depicts the number of web pages on the website and how these web pages are linked to one another.

To illustrate, here is a partial navigation map for a website I wrote for the financial services firm Standard Management:

Explanation

• A complete and accurate navigation map is crucial for developing a website. Websites should be thoroughly planned before writing, development, and final design begin. Changing a website schema in midstream can cause serious organizational and budgetary problems. For identification, each web page is assigned a name and a number, and each piece of copy is accounted for on the navigation map.
• Using a military numbering system like the one shown here is extremely effective. When I am speaking with a graphic artist or technical developer or vice versa, it is much clearer and more efficient to refer to page “one dot four” than it is to say, “you know, off of the main page, the page with the biographies on it, the one with Pete Pheffer’s biography.”
• The navigation map above shows how web pages link to one another. For example, a web user going to Standard Management’s corporate home page sees web page 0.0. There is copy on this web page along with links (indicated by carets) to pages 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0. These web pages, in turn, include copy relating to corporate executives, human resources, community relations, and testimonials.

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Web Writing Is Compressed

Web copy tends to be very tightly and concisely written. There are several reasons for this:

• People read differently on screen than they do on paper. Short paragraphs and short copy in general are easier to comprehend and absorb on screen than is long copy.
• Computer screens are only so deep, and only so much copy is visible without readers having to scroll. Copy that is visible on screen without having to scroll is said to be in the “non-scrolling area.” It is a good idea to keep important copy concise and visible in the non-scrolling area.
• Besides the text on the web page, copy is also required for navigational buttons and other navigational links. There is little space on these links to write, which means that linking-copy has to be very concise. While it is extremely concise, linking-copy must at the same time give readers a crystal-clear idea of where the links lead to on the website.

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The Interactive Script

When I write web copy, I use a certain script format to accommodate the Internet medium and its special requirements. Following is the interactive script I wrote for web page 0.0:

Here is the web page that was created using this copy, followed by points explaining how web copy is planned and then realized on a web page.

Explanation

• Target audience. As is true in any other type of communication, having a clear picture of the target audience is important when writing for the web. The target audiences for this web page were insurance agents and financial analysts.
• Tone. Keeping the target audiences in mind, I wanted to project a tone of confidence, clearheaded self-assurance, and forward thinking.
• Copy. The copy focused on the company’s strength, expertise, accomplishments, results, and vision for the future.
• Links. Links to other sections of the Standard Management website were embedded in the copy. On the interactive script, I indicated which copy was linked to other areas of the website.
• Typography. On the interactive script, I suggested some typographical approaches to the graphic artist. When I collaborate with a graphic artist, I always present my graphical ideas as just that—ideas. I do not want to encroach on the graphic artist’s prerogatives. In this case, I suggested the relative sizes of type in the headline at the top of the web page. I also suggested that we emphasize phrases or sentences at the top of each web page. The graphic artist decided to do this by using red type.
• Change. Web pages change. Companies alter web pages to reflect the advancement of time, changes in products and services, and new corporate and product branding. In the case of web page 0.0 shown above, Standard Management changed the copy in the second and third paragraphs to reflect current conditions, after I first wrote the web page. The words ten years were changed to 12 years; $1 billion today was changed to $1.5 billion today; and 65-year-old flagship company was changed to 67-year-old flagship company.
• Approvals. I slug each page in the interactive script to indicate whether copy is in draft or final form. I have also found it helpful to clearly indicate whether copy has been approved by relevant parties like marketing managers, human resources managers, and company lawyers. Sometimes, legal counsel asks for changes involving things like product claims and trademarks.

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Varied Approaches

The following examples show how the tone and editorial content of web pages vary to meet different kinds of communication needs.

Here are the web pages that were created using this copy, followed by some explanatory points.

Explanation

• Web writing is sometimes derivative of other forms. For example, the Boy’s Club piece on web page 3.1 was written as a feature story, and its form as a feature was similar to what a reader might see in a newspaper. The difference was in its length. Because I was writing for the web, I wrote the story shorter than I would have written it as a newspaper feature. At the same time, I had to make sure that the story had a beginning and an ending; struck an emotional chord; and positioned Standard Management as a caring company.
• Speaking of the derivative aspects of web writing, the interactive script format I developed is based on the video script format. Instead of visuals on the left and audio on the right, I place copy directions on the left and the copy itself on the right.
• Differences in approach between the Standard Management corporate home page (web page 0.0), and the pages dealing with Standard Management’s community-relations activities (web pages 3.0 and 3.1), are worth noting. The corporate home page uses facts and a logical appeal to help readers see the company’s clarity of thought and purpose. On the other hand, the community-relations pages use an emotional appeal to help people see that Standard Management has a clear mind, but it also has a caring heart.