Writing Effectively for
the Web and Intranet

"Nothing matters but the writing"

Summary:
A page of hyperlinks and resources for use in the
Writing Effectively for the Web and Intranet class.

But first, a short quiz....

The Wayback Machine    

Ten Fundamental Truths About Learning

What Matters Most To Your Website?
Good Design, Copy or Both?

Web Word Wizardry Chapter Index:

1. Unleash the Power of Words (p. 1 - 9)
2. Think Web (p. 10 - 18)
3. Before You Start Writing (p. 19 - 32)
4. Write Expressly for the Web (p. 33 - 39)
5. Write for Skim-Reading (p. 40 - 45)
6. Write for the World (p. 46 - 57)
7. But Is It Legible (p. 58 - 62)
8. The Ins and Outs of Ezines (p. 63 - 76)
9. Writing For An Intranet (p. 77 - 92)
10. Form and Function (p. 93 - 100)
11. The Fine Art of Writing Alt-Text (p. 101 - 113)
12. How to Make People Trust You (p. 114 - 123)
13. The Quest for Top Ten Ranking (p. 124 - 136)
14. From Keywords to Titles (p. 137 - 157)
15. The Irresistible Description (p. 158 - 176)
16. The Pros and Cons of Doorway Pages (p. 177 - 186)
17. Optimizing Web Sites for Search Engines (p. 187 - 204)
18. A Web Site That Gets Results (p. 205 - 218)
19. Magic and Math (p. 219 - 224)
20. Joy of Web (p. 225 - 236)
21. Resources
22. Tools

Web Word Wizardry

‹1› Unleash the Power of Words (p. 1 - 9)    [Index]

• YouGov       p. 6
• Google       p. 7

‹2› Think Web (p. 10 - 18)    [Index]

1. Think Web
2. Ten Ways the Web Will Change the World
3. Web's an indispensable but flawed work tool
4. Shouldn't Technology Make Life Easier?
5. Creating Convergence

‹3› Before You Start Writing (p. 19 - 32)    [Index]

1. Strategy
2. Project Management
   1. The Management of Web Projects
   2. Creating a Web design project plan
3. Audience for the Web Site
   1. User Analysis
   2. Designing Your Audience
   3. Know your audience and their needs    Examples
   4. A User-Centered Approach to Designing a New Top-Level Structure for a Large and Diverse Corporate Web Site
4. Defining the Demographics
   1. Pew Internet & American Life Project
   2. Georgia Tech Graphic Visualization and Usability Center (GVU)
   3. Nielsen/NetRatings
   4. Nua Internet Surveys
   5. Web Log Analysis Who's Doing What, When?
   6. User Tracking
5. Naming Your Domain
6. Domainsurfer
   

• Luxury Finder       p. 20
• beavoter.org     [Congress.Org]       p. 21
• About Spikefast       p. 21
• Online Reading Eye Test       p. 22
• Welcome to Push Design       p. 23
• InterVerse Web Hosting ISP       p. 24
• Chinese Folk Art       p. 25
• SEND ME A DOLLAR!       p. 25
• Grantastic Designs site map       p. 29

‹4› Write Expressly for the Web (p. 33 - 39)    [Index]

1. Differences Between Print Design and Web Design
2. How to write summaries for web and intranet pages, and why
3. Editing for the web
4. Writing for a Web Audience   [Ten Web writing tips ]
5. Publishing on the Web Is Different
6. Word Processing vs. "Web" Documents
7. Seven deadly sins of web writing
8. It's All in the Links: Readying Publications for the Web
9. What is good hypertext writing?
10. Will Web Publishing Change the Way We Edit?
11. Let's Talk about Writing Style
12. How to Write for the Web   [short summary]    [Downloadable Files]
13. Web Writing for Many Interest Levels       [e-gineer.com]
14. The Principle of Least Astonishment
15. Make Information Organization Visible  Hippocratic Oath
16. Wikipedia:Writing better articles
    

‹5› Write for Skim-Reading (p. 40 - 45)    [Index]

1. How Users Read on the Web
2. Why Web Users Scan Instead of Read
3. plainlanguage.com
4. Eight Things You Can Do Now To Improve On-Screen Readability
5. Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web)    Be concise
6. Succinct Writing
7. 99.9% of Proper Grammar Is Obsolete
8. Inverted pyramids approach to writing
9. The Great Pyramids
10. Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace    Write newspaper style
11. State your conclusions first and elaborate on them afterwards
12. Use typography and layout for skimming  
13. Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web
14. Scrollbars Bad, Print Preview Good
15. Writing Headlines People Will Read
16. Hyper-Linking
    1. Write links that don't have to be followed
    2. Fighting Linkrot
    3. Using Link Titles to Help Users Predict Where They Are Going

• CYBER MERIDA BEST SITES FOR 2000    p.43
• Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate    p. 45

‹6› Write for the World (p. 46 - 57)    [Index]

1. International Considerations
2. Plain Language Action Network
3. Centrelink Home Page: We speak your language
4. European Guidelines for the Production of Easy-to-Read Information    [ PDF ]
5. Why language isn't easy
6. Scrambled Engish is esay to raed
7. How to write worse and improve your Spinnish
   1. Web Economy Bullshit Generator
8. Plain English
   1. Plain Language: Improving Communications from the Federal Government to the Public
      • Before-and-After Comparisons
   2. Plain English Campaign
      • Free guides and software
      • Drivel Defence
   3. VOA.GOV       VOANews.com       VOAnews.com Special English
   4. Common Errors in English
   5. Perspicuity... The English Language in Cyberspace
   6. Conquering Confusing Words
   7. Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age
   8. Power-Revision Techniques—Sentence-Level Revision

• Statistics Belgium - NIS - INS    p.46
• English Language Teaching in the Lake District    p. 53
• Deutsche Bank Private Banking: Market Information    p. 57

‹7› But Is It Legible (p. 58 - 62)    [Index]

1. Text / Links / Backgrounds

‹8› The Ins and Outs of Ezines (p. 63 - 76)    [Index]

1. Should You Publish an Ezine?
2. Adding Emphasis to Plain Text Writing!
3. Email Newsletters Pick Up Where Websites Leave Off
4. How to Code HTML Email Newsletters
5. Samples
   1. Tourbus
   2. WebBusiness
   3. Surfing the Net with Kids Newsletter
   4. Free Pint
   5. The Scout Report
      

• EarthWeb.com    p. 73
• familyeducation.com    p. 73

‹9› Writing For An Intranet (p. 77 - 92)    [Index]

1. Designing and Building an Intranet
2. Good Documents: INTRAnet business writing from Dan Bricklin and Trellix
3. Style Guides / Policy
4. 10 Best Intranets of 2002    2001
   

• 1.4.10 SICK LEAVE       p. 86
• UNT HR Records - Sick Leave      p. 87
• Hunter,Inc: Intranet Demo: Home Page      XYZ Events Calendar       p. 88
• NetTech Intranet Demo      Time sheet      p. 89
• Ministry of Education > Curriculum and Policy       p. 91
• National Center for Policy Analysis       p. 92

‹10› Form and Function (p. 93 - 100)    [Index]

1. Forms
2. What's with the attitude?

• BEA Customer Satisfaction Survey       p. 96
• Statistisches Bundesamt WWW Survey Gateway $version      p.97
• N C H S - Contact us       p. 98
• Customer Service Comments or Questions       p. 98
• SNZ- Feedback Form       p. 99

‹11› The Fine Art of Writing Alt-Text (p. 101 - 113)    [Index]

1. Accessibility, Section 508, Usability
2. Graphic Design for the Web
3. Use of ALT texts in IMGs      
4. Use of ALT texts in IMGs   The Art of ALT
5. Guidelines on alt texts in img elements
6. ALT background materials
7. Textual Equivalents
8. Cow or elephant?

• Department of Justice Section 508 Home Page       p. 102
• hair salon      ALT="click here to see larger version"       p. 108

‹12› How to Make People Trust You (p. 114 - 123)    [Index]

1. Better Read That Again!
2. Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility    The Web Credibility Project
3. Nigeria Advance Fee Fraud - scam - 419 - email hoax - con - confidence scheme

• Better Read That Again: Web Hoaxes and Misinformation
• The Web Credibility Project - Stanford University       p. 115
• Welcome to the United Way of Calgary and Area       p. 122

‹13› The Quest for Top Ten Ranking (p. 124 - 136)    [Index]

1. How Internet Search Engines Work   [Howstuffworks]
2. Heaven's Gate Website
3. Search Engine Watch
4. Search Engine Showdown     Features Chart
5. How to Search the World Wide Web
6. Search Engine Tutorial by Pandia
7. Seo Site Checkup
8. Web Voyeurs
   1. Ask Jeeves Peek Through the Keyhole
   2. 50 Top Searches at Lycos
   3. Metaspy
9. Spiders Crawlers and Indexers
   1. Search Engine Spiders Crawlers and Indexers
   2. Spider Options and Features
   3. Search Engine Spider Simulator
   4. Using a Robots Meta Tag
      
10. LinkPopularity.com: The Free Link Popularity Service
11. Links: What's Kosher?
12. Links to sae.org    Altavista

‹14› From Keywords to Titles (p. 137 - 157)    [Index]

1. Metadata
2. Meta tags - what, where, when, why?
3. Content Indexing Standard     [Washington State ]
4. Internet Meta tags   Intranet Metadata     [IMF]
5. Using meta tags in search engine optimization
6. Metadata Generator for Kentucky Webmasters
7. Keyword Density Analyzer
8. META Tag Analyzer

• Overture- Search Term Suggestion Tool       p. 141
• Growing Peonies in Alaska       p.
• British Shorthair: FBRL Breed Page       p. 155

‹15› The Irresistible Description (p. 158 - 176)    [Index]

• Dull Men's Club: FAQ       p. 161
• Association of Lighthouse Keepers     p. 165

‹16› The Pros and Cons of Doorway Pages (p. 177 - 186)   [Index]

1. Frames    [Examples]
2. Image Maps    [Examples]

• The Web Page from Hell       p. 184

‹17› Optimizing Web Sites for Search Engines (p. 187 - 204)    [Index]

1. Bruce Clay . Com
2. A Guide to Search Engine Optimization
3. Maximizing Search Engine Positioning
4. Search Engine Optimization Newsletter
5. Search Engine Optimization and Positioning   [Spider Food]
6. Creating and Submitting Search Engine Friendly Websites
7. Preparing your pages for the search engines
8. Search Engine Optimization Tips
9. Optimization for Dynamic Web Sites
10. Mind your phraseology!
11. Search Engine Dictionary
12. Search engine optimization resources     [Pandia]
13. The search engine placement tutorial
14. AddMe: Web Tools
15. Commonly Misspelled Words List

• Ask Jeeves About       p. 193
• Submitting a Site to The Open Directory Project       p. 199
• WebFile.com    [ was The Big Hub ]        p. 201
• Buying Your Way In To Search Engines       p. 202

‹18› A Web Site That Gets Results (p. 205 - 218)    [Index]

1. The Money Browser

• CashConnection.Com      p. 205
• Earn More Money In A Single Year Than Most People Earn In An Entire Lifetime!      p. 206

‹19› Magic and Math (p. 219 - 224)    [Index]

• Xmas Card, Xmas Clipart, Xmas Craft, Xmas Background, Xmas Animation, Xmas Clip Art, Xmas Picture, Xmas Graphic      p. 222
• KMGI Studios      p. 223
• Carter Holt Harvey       p. 224

‹20› Joy of Web (p. 225 - 236)    [Index]

• How to Write and Publish your own eBook... in as little as 7 Days       p. 226
• Xena Fan Fiction For The Palm Pilot       p. 226
• Hogwarts       p. 227
• @Publish       p. 228
• The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement       p. 231
• My Obsession With Chess       p. 231
• KURD-L Archives: DEMONSTRATION - April 13 - Ottawa       p. 232
• Unicursal curves and knot diagrams       p. 232
• The Good Life       p. 235

Plain Language

• Plain language
• Plain Language: Improving Communications from the Federal Government to the Public
  1. Usefulness in Web-Writing
  2. Document Checklist for Plain Language on the Web
• Center for Plain Language
• Plain Language Wizardry ™
• The Plain Language Association INternational
  • Plain Language Resources
• Plain Language Tools
• Plain English Campaign
  • Free guides and software
  • Drivel Defence
• WebAIM: Writing Clearly and Simply
• How should you organize your content?

Resources    [Index]

Style Guides / Policy

1. The Alertbox
2. Writing for the Web         Downloadable Files  to Replicate Web-Reading Study
3. GoodDocuments.com
4. Webcontent.gov
   1. Document Checklist
5. Quality Web Content      Quality Web Content Club      Rachel McAlpine
6. Principles of copywriting for the web
7. Create A Web Site Style Guide
8. Business Writer's Free Library
9. The Writing Resource Center
10. Garbl's Writing Center
11. Web content for business people
12. Yahoo! Directory: Communications > Writing for the Web
13. Writing for the Living Web
14. Usability.gov     Web Design & Usability Guidelines    Printable version (PDF) (2.6 MB)
15. NLRB Style Manual       A Guide for Legal Writing in Plain English
16. Federal Communicators Guide    Writing for the Web: Tricks of the Trade
17. DOE: EIA Publishing Style Guide
18. DOE: Executive Secretariat Style Guide
19. Internet Public Library: Style & Writing Guides
20. Web Site Quality & philosophe.com
21. OWL Handouts : Complete Index by Topic
22. Web Pages That Suck
23. Tog's First Principles of Design
24. How to Write Effective Mailing List Email
25. Writing for the Web    [WDVL]
26. Writing for the Web    Crawford Kilian
27. Structured Writing - An Outline
28. Fluff & Contenders 2000
29. The official Sun Microsystems guidelines booklet    Writing for the Web
30. How to Write for the Web   short summary
31. Applying Writing Guidelines to Web Pages
32. Writing for the Web    [Writing for Multimedia]
33. Writing for the Web - The Busy Person's Guide
34. Untangling the Web    [The Editorial Eye]
35. Overcoming the Most Common Mistakes
36. Online Technical Writing
37. Journal of the Hyperlinked Orginization
38. Scripting News
39. K A I R O S: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy
40. Carnegie Mellon University Writer's Style Guide
41. Luciferous Logolepsy
42. Dreamweaver Clean Up Word HTML
43. Office 2000 HTML Filter 2.0
1. Office 2000 HTML Filter 2.0       Download
2. Use Office HTML Filter to Create Web Pages that Download Faster
3. Using Office HTML Filter to Remove Office-specific Markup
4. Using Office HTML Filter to Save Space on Web Servers
5. Using Office HTML Filter at the Command Prompt

Tools

1. Webpage Size Checker
2. Browser Header Checker
3. HTML Validator
4. Search Engine Simulator  
5. Search Engine Spider Simulator
6. Your Website's Popularity     [ checks MSN and AllTheWeb ]

Web Word Wizardry Chapter Index:

1. Unleash the Power of Words (p. 1 - 9)
2. Think Web (p. 10 - 18)
3. Before You Start Writing (p. 19 - 32)
4. Write Expressly for the Web (p. 33 - 39)
5. Write for Skim-Reading (p. 40 - 45)
6. Write for the World (p. 46 - 57)
7. But Is It Legible (p. 58 - 62)
8. The Ins and Outs of Ezines (p. 63 - 76)
9. Writing For An Intranet (p. 77 - 92)
10. Form and Function (p. 93 - 100)
11. The Fine Art of Writing Alt-Text (p. 101 - 113)
12. How to Make People Trust You (p. 114 - 123)
13. The Quest for Top Ten Ranking (p. 124 - 136)
14. From Keywords to Titles (p. 137 - 157)
15. The Irresistible Description (p. 158 - 176)
16. The Pros and Cons of Doorway Pages (p. 177 - 186)
17. Optimizing Web Sites for Search Engines (p. 187 - 204)
18. A Web Site That Gets Results (p. 205 - 218)
19. Magic and Math (p. 219 - 224)
20. Joy of Web (p. 225 - 236)
21. Resources
22. Tools

** Home ** Class Pages ** Site Map **

David J. Hark
HARK/INTERNET-HELP, Inc.
P. O. Box 201 Shepherdstown, WV 25443-0201
304-876-2607
N8GMQ
dhark@fred.net
dhark@dhark.com
http://www.dhark.com
http://www.fred.net/dhark

Last updated: 10 October 2008

© 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 David J. Hark