Some folks from Sun Microsystems did a study of how
people read Web pages, which led to a tutorial on How
to Write for the Web. Their insights are invaluable. By getting
into the minds of your readers, you are able to give them what they
want. The site sponsor will love the results, since readers will linger
on the site and are likely to come back for a repeat visit.
The study showed, among other things,
"...that a sample Web site scored 58% higher in measured usability
when it was written concisely, 47% higher when the text was scannable,
and 27% higher when it was written in an objective style instead of
the promotional style used in the control condition and many current
Web pages. Combining these three changes into a single site that was
concise, scannable, and objective at the same time resulted in 124%
higher measured usability."
Robert Crooks of Bentley University's English Department
explains why book-reading and Web-reading are so very different—a
difference writers for the Web must take into account. Log on to his
Web
Workers' Toolbox, click the Web Design link, then on
HTML Style Guide, and finally on the Viewing Information
link. (Sorry for the convoluted instructions, but on a framed site,
it's impossible to bookmark a single page.)
Writing expert Amy Gahran gives further enlightenment
on the subject in an article,
"Writing for the Web and Creating Effective Online Content."
