5 most important rules for writing on the web

1. Get straight to the point.
Jakob Nielsen's article may be from 1997, but it still has some points which are valid up to today, especially the one about being concise, scannable and objective. Most people, including myself, do tend to just scan through web articles so it is important to get your information and view across as efficiently as possible. Personally, most times I read an article or site it is because I searched for a specific topic and the site came up as one of the results, so I tend to just scan quickly through the page finding my desired information rather than reading the whole article. If I don't find it within 20 seconds, I'm out of there.

2. Linky Linky

Provide links, oh boy, you better provide LINKS, if a person has stumbled upon your page it is because they are seeking certain information. Giving them further options to pursue their desired interest is bound to give you a lot of brownie points. Upon reading Nielsen's 2008 entry on How little users read I was surprised to find out that the BACK button is only the third most used feature behind clicking hypertext links and buttons on the site.
Really??? Third?? There is no way I would click on more "buttons" on a website than I would the back button but that's just me. Having said that I do tend to click on ads just because I want to open another window, and once it is open I tend to write the address for the website I'm really seeking. Hope that hasn't skewered the results too much but I wonder how many people do the same thing?

3. Don't use long paragraphs
I think humans, thanks largely to television, glossy gossip magazines and the net, have looked at goldfish for long enough and decided, Fudge it!, I'm going to be just like you!
Seriously, any paragraph longer than 10 lines in a row will get you overlooked. If you have something important to say, either say it quickly or break it up into little pieces. Which is why I will not go into this into any more depth...sorry, move on.

4. Write scannable text
Really, I guess, this all goes back to reason number 1, but yeah, please, if I can type a word and see where it is on your web page, my job, and your job, is DONE. If not, at least make it easy to find, slap some bold text on it, or lat least ink the page to something worthwhile and relevant.

5. Make it fancy...or don't.
This really depends on what sort of site you are trying to push. If it is a website for a big company or an ambitious start up, then yes, make it sharp, bells and whistles and so forth, something that makes the consumer think if you go through that much trouble to make it look professional then his or her money is worth investing on your brand. People are attracted to bright colours and lights sure, but if your website is more of an information hub then keep it simple and easy to load. Horses for courses on this one, just make sure your desired audience is catered for in the right manner.