Writing for the Internet

You are perhaps the world’s best judge of what to include, what to leave out, how to grab the attention of the casual visitor. You just have to run a simple experiment.

1.       Sit at your computer with a watch with a sweep second hand.

2.       Think of a topic you’ve always wanted to research but have never had the time.

3.       Google a search on the topic – check your watch.

4.       Review the search results and look through the results until you find one that takes your fancy.

5.       Check how long it took to find the chosen page, and how many pages you checked out in the process.

6.       Divide the time taken – in seconds – by the number of sites checked.

The result is the number of seconds you – and presumably any other searcher – you are willing to spend on a site before moving on. This is the time a visitor will dwell on your site if nothing in particular grabs his or her attention.

Note the web address of the page you eventually settled on.

Now repeat the experiment with as many people as you can find who approximate to your target audience to refine your estimate of the likely dwell time on a site, noting each time the address of the eventual site settled on.

Now that’s done check out all the sites your sample of people settled on. Scan them careful, never looking beyond the ‘fold’ – ie viewing only that part of the webpage visible before you start scrolling down. Look for the common features.

1.       Copy

a.       How long is the longest paragraph you can see (in words)?

b.      Are there clear headings to bring you to the relevant text?

c.       What size is the font?

d.      How are the lines spaced?

2.       Images

a.       Are there images breaking up the blocks of text?

b.      How big are these images?

c.       How many of these images can you see?

3.       Impression

a.       How much ‘white space’ (ie areas with no text and no images) can you see

                                                              i.      5%?

                                                            ii.      10%?

                                                          iii.      20%?

                                                           iv.      More than 20%?

b.      What form of printed literature most resembles your favourite pages?

                                                              i.      Novels?

                                                            ii.      Text books?

                                                          iii.      Magazines?

                                                           iv.      Newspapers?

                                                             v.      Comic strips?

4.       Content

a.       How many words do you read before something of definite benefit to you or your researcher turns up?

b.      Does the text above the fold suggest a course of action directly?

c.       Are there ‘side boxes’ or other text outside the main text offering other benefits in the form of short notes?  

It seems all too simple but in a matter of minutes you have made a start at a standard profile for your pages.