· Using Links - Don't let the reader know you're leading them
· Keep it Personalized - Who's writing your pages anyway?
· Good Navigation - You can't know where your readers are coming from.
I admit it, I'm biased. I was a writer with a book title to my name before I became a Web Developer. Then, when I joined the Web team, I was brought on as a Web Writer. I like to write, I like good writing, and writing is my passion. So, when I see Web pages that demonstrate that the author doesn't care about writing, I cringe.
There are many things that constitute good writing. They include correct spelling, good grammar, as well as interesting content. However, to write for the Web you have to be aware of how people read Web pages, as well as the nature of hypertext itself.
Using Links
Don't use: "click here"How do you handle links on your Web page? If you're like most people, you have the words click here sprinkled liberally through your pages. Now, you may be thinking (as does the Marketing Department where I work), "What does that matter? Jennifer is just being a style martinet again."
Yes, I admit that I can be inflexible when it comes to those two words in a Web page. These two words completely destroy the flow of any document. The only time I can condone using "click here" is if you are writing a Web page on how to use Web pages.
Do use title tags and "inter-paragraph" links
I have found that the best way to add in links to Web pages is to add them after you've written the text. You can then go in and highlight textual elements as links so your readers can get more information. When I do this, I try to use title tags in my HREF so that readers with title enabled browsers will know where they are going.
Keep it Personalized
We all have myriad chances to deal with automation in our lives these days. Why not let your readers know that there is a person behind the pages? Because my pages are on About.com they all have my photo on them, but I like to keep my articles friendly and easy to read. (I think the other reason I write so casually is because I have to write specs at work, and those are very dry and impersonal.)
When you create your pages, make sure that you have some way to contact you on the Web page. If you don't want to be listed on every mailing list in the country, then at least put your name so people can give you credit. Why did you spend so much time on your pages if you didn't want someone to read them and know that you wrote them?
Good Navigation
Elsewhere on this site, there are many pages that have information of interest to my readers. A lot of these pages include navigation at the top, bottom, or sides that says "Next", "Previous", "Back", "Top", and so on. However, if you came to that page from my page, you have no idea where those links are going to take you.
This is the beauty of the Web; you never know where a link will take you or how people will find your page next. Never assume that because you set up a beautiful table of contents that anyone but you will use it. Links of this nature make you the tour guide again. Your links should tell people where they are going, preferably as part of a sentence, but they shouldn't be reminded to use their mouse to get there.
Summary of the Article:
There are three major points that you need to know in order to write well for the web. First, it is important to not show the reader that you are leading them to someplace. When you put up a link, you should put “click here” this is because that ruins the flow of the whole piece. Also it is nice if you indicate the writer of the web page. Last of all, when you are putting links, you have to put what this site leads to.
Source from: http://webdesign.about.com/od/writing/a/aa061598.htm
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