Solutions

Development

Q12 "How should I adapt my existing printed material for our web site?"

We can help you adapt for the web your processes for preparing and maintaining copy. We can also help you to ensure that your web pages make sense as printed documents when visitors choose to print them for later reading.

Some web writing tips

Use a direct, journalistic style

Put the call-to-action near the top

Make text less intimidating by using images and headings

Summarise content using lists

Put key phrases in bold

Avoid meaningless link text, such as "click here"

Link to related pages

It is very tempting to use the same copy and style from your existing printed materials for your web site. However, it is likely that such copy will not be read when it's put on a web site.

People need to be able to get the gist of a web page in a few seconds, while being able to find detailed content when they want it. For example, those parts that stand out, such as headings, lists and hyperlinks, should summarise the page effectively.

Web pages are read differently from print
Reasons why people read web pages differently from paper include:

visitors often arrive at a site with a specific goal in mind, and expect to be able to achieve that goal quickly
computer screens are luminous, and are affected by glare, so are more tiring to read than paper
people often use the web in short bursts, so can't stay focused on one site for a long time
people often use the web while paying by the minute

How we can help
We apply various structuring, editing and summarising techniques to ensure that content is appropriate for the web.

Relevant services:

Interaction design more...
Prototyping more...
Technical consultancy more...
Web site construction more...
User manuals