Table of contentsDesktop Guide to Writing for the Web
by Susannah Ross
(Chambers 2007, £6.99)
Table of contents
Part One: Thinking about Websites
- What's so special about the Web? - describes the characteristics of the Web compared with other media.
- What is your website for? - takes you through the process of sorting out your ideas and rigorously eliminating all but the essential things you want your website to do.
- Who is it for? - uses exercises to help you focus on your target users and write for them.
- What's it all about? - gives you practical guidance in organising material for a non-linear medium.
- The language of the Web - looks at the kind of language you should use on the Web and the differences between written and spoken English.
Part Two: Thinking about Writing
- Using as few words as possible - gives you tips and exercises to make your writing concise.
- Choosing the right words - gives you advice on what to avoid and how to improve a piece of bad writing.
- The functions of words - reminds you of the mechanics of the language, the grammar.
- Constructing sentences - helps you put words in the right order and make your sentences flow.
- Spelling - gives you advice on spelling consistently.
- Punctuation - helps you use punctuation effectively.
Part Three: Putting it into Practice
- How does it look? - helps you make text easy to scan and use fonts and colours well.
- Stories, summaries, headlines and lists - takes you through some essential skills in Web writing.
- Writing pages with a purpose - reminds you of the different functions of the home page, transaction pages, forms, error pages and so on.
- Writing for search engines - goes through the ways of helping search engines find your site.
- The role of the editor - reminds you that a website needs constant attention and a strong editorial hand.
From 27th April 2007 you can buy the book online or in bookshops.
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