Writing Words for the Web...and How It's Different from Other Media.

• Author: Thomases, Hollis
• Position: Internet marketing in the banking industry - Brief Article

For starters, on the Web, you cannot predict how an individual will navigate a website so you cannot assume that information stated on a previous page will have already been read. Although most people begin with a visit to the home page and work their way out from there, sometimes even the home page is not the page through which a visitor enters your site. That's why some kind of central, reappearing communication theme needs to come into play.

For example, our WebAdvantage.net web site has a standard masthead that appears on every page. On that masthead is the phrase, "Internet marketing strategies & solutions." At least this way, even if you were to enter our site on the Marketing Tip page, you could still quickly understand that we provide Internet marketing strategies and solutions.

Also, because navigation is unpredictable, it's extremely important to have consistent navigational tools throughout a site. The more complex and deep the site, the more important navigation is. At the very least, top and bottom navigation bars ought to be implemented.

Transition from anywhere

Don't rely on logic and navigation tools to communicate information to your visitors. Each page should present information in a thorough and understandable fashion, independent of other pages. Strong page headlines are a must, as they can also help "gel" information, page to page.

You've heard of sound bites, right? Well, on the Web, you ought to think in "information bites." People tend to absorb little chunks of information more easily, and with a great possibility of information overload on the Web, you'll be doing your reader a great service if you make information more "digestible" for them. Then, if they want more, they'll read on or drill down to a deeper page.

Utilizing subheads, hyperlink phrases, teaser...