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Writing Copy For The Web
While developing copy for the web site ensure that you address the three areas highlighted below and that the page specifications are closely met.
SummarizeWeb copy that presents summaries and conclusions up front is useful and saves time. Details and background information can be linked to.
ConciseUse topic sentences, limiting each paragraph to one main idea, and keep paragraphs to a few concise sentences. Informal or conversational writing is better than formal writing as it is easier to read.
ScannableIncluded bullets, numbered lists, boldface text to highlight keywords, additional headings, and shorter paragraphs. These changes give the pages a cleaner, more open design.
Page Specifications
Total Word Count: 300-500 words
Paragraph Word Count: 50-125 words
These are recommendations and there are situations that warrant the use of larger word counts. However, the numbers listed above have been shown to result in highly usable content.
Articles on Writing Web Copywriting
Sources
Usability Engineering
Book by Jakob Nielsen, published by Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 1994.
Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web)
Article by Book by Jakob Nielsen published 1997.
The missing link: Hypermedia usability research & the Web Research and Article by Shum, S. B. 1996.