Archive for the ‘writing’ tag
Words are part of the interface
The use of words is a critical component of a website’s design. Just like layout and colors, it can enhance the usability of your website and provide a pleasant online experience to your visitors. However, writing is often under-estimated, under-valued, and under-funded. It is not “cool” to be in charge of writing in an organization that is in love with computers and technology.
For a change, review your website and decide whether to use:
- ‘New’ or ‘Create’?
- ‘Edit’, ‘Update’, or ‘Save Changes’?
- ‘Save’ or ‘Submit’?
- ‘Modified’, ‘Updated’, or ‘Recently Updated’?
- ‘7′ or ’seven’?
- ‘Object not found’, or ‘The page you are looking for is not here’?
- ‘email’ or ‘e-mail’?
- ‘Jobs’, ‘Job Seekers’, or ‘Employment Opportunities’?
- ‘Preferences’, ‘Configuration’, ‘Settings’, or ‘Options’?
- ‘Buy now’, or ‘Purchase now’?
A naive view of web usability only involves decisions on the layout, structure, or whether to use a drop-down or a checkbox. Field labels, button labels, error messages, return policy, instructions, reminders are all necessary to improve the usability of a website.
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Photo courtesy of Wordsplosion!.
5 quick tips for improving your writing
- Get rid of “that.”
- Do not invoke the future tense unless it is needed.
- Do not capitalize words to emphasize their importance.
- Say what you have to say in the fewest words possible.
- Avoid dangling modifiers.
Nine times out of ten, the word “that” can be profitably eliminated from your sentence.
Original: “Here are the key metrics that web analysts measure.”
Better: “Here are the key metrics web analysts measure.”
Original: “Optimizing your web site will increase traffic.”
Better: “Optimizing your web site increases traffic.”
Original: “It is the policy of the Company to provide up to 10 paid Sick Days.”
Better: “It is the policy of the company to provide up to 10 paid sick days.”
Original: “He was driving at an excessive rate of speed.”
Better: “He was driving too fast.”
Wrong: “As a policyholder, I want you to know that you can reduce your premiums by 50% this year.”
Correct: “As a policyholder, you can reduce your premiums by 50% this year.”