Developing online content : the principles of writing and editing for the web

An all-in-one resource on writing, organizing, and delivering Web content
After nearly a decade of experimentation, Web professionals now know that bells and whistles alone do not make a successful Web site. More than anything, strong and seamlessly integrated content attracts customers and keeps them coming back. Coauthored by a new media development expert and an award-winning writer, this book arms professionals with a complete blueprint and a set of best practices for writing, organizing, and delivering Web content. A one-stop resource for Webmasters, content developers, project managers, and editors, it covers all the bases-from key technical considerations to the principles of professional copywriting.
Companion Web site includes resource listings and updates.

Author Notes

IRENE HAMMERICH is the cofounder and senior partner of Inner Action, Inc. and Focus48, new media training and production companies. She handles corporate and government Web site production, coordinates a partnership with Algonquin College to deliver new media courses, and speaks extensively on the technological and creative issues involved in content delivery.

CLAIRE HARRISON is President of CANDO Career Solutions, Inc. She is an award-winning writer/editor with twenty-five years of experience and is a communications consultant to the Canadian government as well as the private sector. Her Web work ranges from editing Web content to developing complete sites.

Author Biographies	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
From the Authors	p. xv
Chapter 1 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Web	p. 1
The Informational Site: Uncharted Territory	p. 2
This Book Is for You if	p. 3
What You'll Learn	p. 5
Online Writing/Editing Challenges	p. 5
Career Advice	p. 6
Resources to Further Your Knowledge	p. 6
Examples, Exercises, and Links on Our Web Site	p. 7
Getting from There to Here	p. 7
Back in Them Olden Days	p. 7
Fast Forward to Today	p. 8
New Roles for Writers/Editors	p. 9
The Web Is a New Frontier	p. 10
Making A Difference: Your Contribution	p. 12
You and the Process	p. 13
How Much Technology Do You Need to Know?	p. 18
Getting Work	p. 21
The First Step: Surf, Surf, Surf	p. 21
What Employers Want: The Job Ads	p. 21
Know the Tasks	p. 26
What's Next?	p. 28
Resources for This Chapter	p. 29
Chapter 2 Audience, Audience, Audience!	p. 31
The Bubble Syndrome	p. 33
In-House Language	p. 34
Meet the Online CIA	p. 35
The User Prism	p. 39
Is Reading Print Different than Reading Web Text?	p. 40
De-Naturalizing Content	p. 40
Visualizing Users	p. 44
Thinking Global	p. 45
Text in the Context of Design and Navigation	p. 48
Is Designing for the Web Different than Designing for Print?	p. 49
Technology and Presentation	p. 49
A Question of Accessibility	p. 49
Typos and Other Gremlins	p. 53
Why Do Users Read (So Fast)?	p. 54
Precomputer Knowledge Seekers	p. 55
Living in the Information Age	p. 56
To Sum It Up	p. 59
Resources for This Chapter	p. 60
Chapter 3 Organizing a Web Site: "Elementary, My Dear Watson"	p. 63
Organizational Basics	p. 64
Architecture [right arrow] Navigation [right arrow] The Gooey (GUI)	p. 66
Information Architecture (IA)	p. 67
Navigation Design	p. 69
The Graphical User Interface (GUI), or The Gooey	p. 70
Getting Started	p. 71
Find the Right IA Model	p. 72
Choose Navigation Priorities	p. 75
The Case of the Chaotic Content	p. 76
Mind-Mapping: IA Revealed	p. 78
The Site Structure: Solving the Mystery	p. 81
A Tale of Two Web Sites	p. 88
Navigation Patterns	p. 92
Navigation Links	p. 93
How Many Clicks to Content?	p. 94
Site Maps	p. 94
Web Detection	p. 95
To Sum It Up	p. 97
Resources for This Chapter	p. 98
Chapter 4 E-Rhetoric: A New Form of Persuasion	p. 101
Death of the Author?	p. 102
Hypertext Theories	p. 102
The Futurists	p. 104
Rhetoric Returns!	p. 104
A New Definition	p. 106
But Whither Fact and Accuracy?	p. 107
E-Rhetoric and the Drive-Thru Reader	p. 109
The Four C's of Quality Web Content	p. 110
Credibility	p. 111
Clarity	p. 114
Conciseness	p. 117
Coherence	p. 121
The Small Stuff Counts	p. 128
Make Microcontent Meaningful	p. 128
Conjunctions: Those Old Standbys	p. 129
To Boldly Go...?	p. 132
To Sum It Up	p. 132
Resources for This Chapter	p. 134
Chapter 5 Is Seeing Believing? The Art of Visual Rhetoric	p. 137
"A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words"	p. 139
What Is an Image?	p. 140
What Do We Really See?	p. 143
Don't Let Gestalt Get You Down	p. 145
The Gestalt Principles	p. 147
How You Can Help	p. 149
The Psychology of Art	p. 150
Perception as Cognition	p. 150
Vision Is Selective	p. 151
Fixation Solves a Problem	p. 151
Discernment in Depth	p. 152
Shapes Are Concepts	p. 153
Perception Takes Time	p. 154
How You Can Help	p. 155
Visual Semio-What?	p. 156
The Image Act	p. 156
Social Distance	p. 159
Perspective and Angles	p. 160
How You Can Help	p. 164
Design Tips from Designers	p. 165
To Sum It Up	p. 167
Resources for This Chapter	p. 167
Chapter 6 Links, Logic, and the Layered Reader	p. 171
Brain Links: From Apples to Muffin Tins	p. 172
The Web Site: A Network of Associations	p. 175
The Writer/Editor as Arranger	p. 176
Macroarranging: The Main Navigation Links	p. 176
Microarranging: Embedded Links	p. 177
The Rhetoric of Departure and Arrival	p. 181
Types of Associative Links	p. 185
Authorizing	p. 185
Commenting	p. 187
Enhancing	p. 188
Exemplifying	p. 188
Mode-Changing	p. 189
Referencing/Citing	p. 190
Self-Selecting	p. 190
Intranet E-Orientation: A Case Study in Associative Links	p. 191
Highlighting Employee Policies	p. 193
Building a Learning Culture	p. 193
The Manager's Orientation Toolkit	p. 196
The Launch	p. 196
Tips to the Process of Linking	p. 197
To Sum It Up	p. 200
Resources for This Chapter	p. 201
Chapter 7 Writing/Editing for the Web Page; Writing/Editing to the Web Screen	p. 203
Is a Web Page Really a Page?	p. 205
Starting with a Splash	p. 205
Navigation Pages versus Destination Pages	p. 205
How Many Screens Does It Take?	p. 208
The Web Page: A Rhetorical Unit of Content	p. 210
Credibility Basics	p. 211
The Page as Persona	p. 211
Creating Page Personalities	p. 215
"We" versus "You"	p. 217
The Web Screen: A Flexible Unit of Space	p. 219
Those Baffling Browsers	p. 219
Users' Monitor Technology	p. 220
Can You Count on Word Count?	p. 221
To Scroll or Not to Scroll	p. 226
The Internally Linked, Scrollable Web Page	p. 228
Scrolling and Memory	p. 228
Scrolling Considerations	p. 233
Writing/Editing Nuts and Bolts	p. 234
The Editorial Style Guide	p. 234
A Note About Proofreading	p. 241
Keeping Track of Web Pages	p. 242
To Sum It Up	p. 244
Resources for This Chapter	p. 245
Chapter 8 Content + Technology: A Surprising Alliance	p. 247
Make the Technology Transition	p. 248
Adjust Your Mind-Set	p. 248
Think Techno-Creative	p. 249
Technology Basics	p. 249
The Web Production Team	p. 250
User Technologies: From Browsers to Players	p. 252
Making Audio/Video Decisions	p. 255
Different Ways to Deliver Content	p. 257
Real-Time Delivery Tools	p. 257
Web Pages versus One-Stop Documents	p. 259
Online Forms	p. 260
E-Mail Broadcasts	p. 261
Print-Out and E-Mail Buttons	p. 262
Build Up Your Tech Vocabulary	p. 262
More File Formats	p. 263
Scripting and Programming Languages	p. 263
Making Sites Visible: Web Searching	p. 263
Web Search Engines and Directories	p. 265
Titles, Links, Metatags, and Meta Descriptions	p. 268
To Sum It Up	p. 271
Resources for This Chapter	p. 271
Chapter 9 Keep CALM: Content and Logical Management	p. 275
The Many Faces of Content Management	p. 277
Managing for Users	p. 278
What Is Information Quality?	p. 279
User Interface Economics	p. 280
The Content Management Process	p. 282
Building the Team	p. 283
Developing a Strategy	p. 284
Making Plans	p. 286
Good Policies from the Get-Go	p. 289
Accessiblity Policies	p. 289
The Long-Term View: Rebuilding and Maintaining	p. 292
Big Site Basics	p. 293
The Evolution of Knowledge Bases	p. 293
Time for More Technology?	p. 294
Think Global; Act Local	p. 297
What Is Localization?	p. 299
When Going Global	p. 301
International English or "What's in a Word?"	p. 301
Culturally Correct Design	p. 303
Translation Techniques	p. 305
To Sum It Up	p. 309
Resources for This Chapter	p. 310
Chapter 10 The Business of Web Writing/Editing	p. 313
First Steps	p. 314
"Where Do I Start?"	p. 315
"How Can I Break In?"	p. 316
Freelance Pros and Cons	p. 319
Being Business-Wise	p. 320
First Meeting Qs and As	p. 321
Setting Your Fees	p. 322
Invoices and Payments	p. 329
Proposals and Contracts	p. 331
Make-It or Break-It Relationships	p. 336
To Sum It Up	p. 337
Resources for This Chapter	p. 339
Chapter 11 After Words and For Words	p. 343
The Wireless Web	p. 344
Convergence	p. 345
Virtual Reality	p. 345
Personalization	p. 345
The Semantic Web	p. 346
Internet 2	p. 246
To Sum It Up	p. 347
Appendix HTML Codes for Special Text Characters	p. 349
Glossary	p. 355
Bibliography	p. 363
Index	p. 375

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents