Writing for the Web

I hope you will visit our newly redesigned Web site (see the ad on page 86 to see what it looks like, or check it out at http://electronicproducts.com). Using it and reading Electronic Products , the paper edition, is not much different. I know, because I help edit them to be like that. Electronic Products has for years been using on paper the principles that work on the Web: clear purpose, clear writing, and easy reader access to company information. I've been copy editing the paper edition a lot longer, of course, but I know we've been using on paper the principles that work on the Web: We allow readers to search, find, and then move on. A new style manual for the Web–Writing for the Web , by Crawford Kilian (Self-Counsel Press, Bellingham, WA, 1999, $14.95)–confirms that we aim in the right direction. The book says that computer users expect “high joltage”–“an emotional reward that follows a prescribed action. A truly high-joltage web site is one that supplies the information its readers are looking for. Your role as a web author is to make your reader's job effortless.” Crawford Kilian gives a lot of advice on how to do this. A good Web site, the author says, orients the reader well, presents information clearly and correctly, and allows the reader to take action. He recommends lots of hooks and blurbs: “As a web writer, you need to anticipate when readers will need such hooks and to include suitable links.” The author includes chapters on writing and editing Web text. His advice is straightforward, much like that in the more famous Bible of concise writing, Strunk and White's Elements of Style . “Web writing should be understandable at first glance,” he says, and that's exactly our aim on paper, too. We aim to be concise and readable. Kilian, like Strunk and White, teaches with simple rules, such as: “Use bulleted lists,” “Activate the passive,” “Use simple sentences,” and “Edit for international readers.” Where appropriate, he provides exercises for the reader to practice the principles. See how “high joltage” we are. Turn these pages. Check out our new Web site. Len Schiefer, Chief Copy Editor
lens@electronicproducts.com