Writing for How People Read on the Web: Audience and Web Site Structure

How do you read on the web? I know I don’t read long paragraphs of text… 

Ginny Redish describes reading on the web as “skim and scan” (2). We go to the web to do a task or to get information, not to read for pleasure as we would a book.  If we don’t find what we want, we move on.

Two typical web users. Image from Redish p. 2.

So if you’re writing for the web, what constitutes good web writing? Ginny Redish answers this question in her book, Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Canada: Elsevier, 2007). Her book is comprehensive with lots of examples, yet an easy read.  

She says, “Good web writing

·        is like a conversation

·        answers people’s questions

·        lets people grab and go” (4)

But, before we begin writing that content we need to understand our audience and the structure of websites …

In terms of our audience, we need to understand who will come to our site, and what tasks they will want to do or what information they will want to find.  And we need to write our content using their words.  To get this information it is best to actually watch, talk to and listen to our audience.   For example, we can watch and listen in your physical place of business, through a questionnaire, or interviews. We can also talk with other groups in our organization that are in contact with our audience like Marketing or Customer Service.  Other considerations about audience are their level of expertise, what technology they have available, what their state of mind is when they visit our site and what’s important to them.  As we gather this information it is helpful to create personas and scenarios that we can refer to throughout the website development or enhancement process. (Redish, pp. 11 – 27)

Now for the structure; Redish identifies three types of web pages - home pages, pathway pages and information pages. 

“Information-rich web sites set up pathways to the information through the home page and one or more layers of pathway (menu) pages.” Image from Redish p. 29.

First, home pages – in general, people read very little on the home page, “they want to grab the information they need and move on” (Ibid, 30).  But home pages serve very important functions. According to Redish, they identify who we are (via our logo, name and tag line) and what our site is about (for example, what business we’re in); they portray the site’s personality through visual design; they direct visitors to the information they seek (via short descriptions and links to that information); and if appropriate, they provide ways to start the task right away (for example, they provide a form). So home pages must be content-rich, but concise; they must live up to the title of the book by letting go of the words (Ibid, pp. 29 – 41).

Second, pathway pages – they too must live up to the title of the book.  “Busy site visitors are trying to get to the ‘good stuff’ – to whatever they are looking for – as quickly as possible. They don’t want to stop and read along the way. They are still navigating. They aren’t ‘there’ yet (Ibid, 53).”  The best pathway pages are like a table of contents, with short descriptions if appropriate.  They provide links.  It’s important that the pathway be quick and smooth, eliminating the need to think along the way. Many people will choose the first plausible link, so it’s also important that key information is on top (Ibid, 53 – 66).

And third, information pages - “[m]ost people come to the web for information, not for a complete document. They don’t want the user manual; they want instructions for the task they are doing. They don’t want the handbook; they want the answer to specific questions. They want usable, manageable pieces” (Ibid, 69).  To satisfy these needs, we need to break documents down into topics and subtopics, and provide premium navigation and search functionality. When deciding how much information to actually place on a page we need to think about our visitors; for example, how much do they need, will they print it, and how long will it take to download. Then we need to think about our message – even on information pages – visitors initially “skim and scan” – to determine if they’re in the right place.  So we must trim our message down, then trim down again, and perhaps again, to what is absolutely necessary. We need to write in “inverted pyramid style”; place the most essential information first, followed by less and less important information.  And then we need to break that information up into short paragraphs set off with headings, and incorporate bulleted lists where appropriate (Ibid, 93 – 107).

Now that we understand the structure of websites and our audience, we can begin writing content ‘that works’.  That’s a subject I will take up in future blogs.

Works Cited

Redish, Janice (Ginny). Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works. Canada: Elsevier, 2007. Print.