| Have you ever received an email in which the | | | | sophisticated thanusing a table with a border. |
| formatting has beenlost and all the lines run together? | | | | 9. Avoid busy backgrounds on your web page. |
| Did you try to decipher it? | | | | To make text easy to read, there needs to be |
| Not likely. Delete. | | | | plenty of contrastbetween the background colour |
| Email recipients read with one finger on the delete | | | | and the font colour. Purple text ona red background |
| key. Oneclick and your email is gone. Internet users | | | | is unreadable. Any text on a busy background |
| surf the Web withtheir finger poised on the mouse | | | | isdifficult to read. If you want a patterned |
| button. One click and they'regone. As a web site | | | | background, that'sfine, just change the colour of the |
| owner or ezine publisher, you must have | | | | table cell in which your textappears to white or a |
| goodcontent, but to keep your customers from | | | | pale solid colour and make your text blackor very |
| clicking away or hittingthe delete key, you must | | | | dark. Here's an example: |
| strive to make their online readingexperience as easy | | | | 10. Use plain English. |
| as possible. | | | | Most web pages, ezines and ebooks should stay |
| Reading online is about 20% slower than reading | | | | away from academicwriting. If you're not writing a |
| from print and alot harder on the eyes. And although | | | | thesis, don't write like aprofessor. Instead you should |
| people browsing the Web arelooking for information, | | | | be aiming at a grade level ofbetween 6 and 8. I'm |
| they're also very impatient. For thesereasons, most | | | | not telling you to dumb down your text, butto make |
| visitors to your web site will only scan yourcontent; | | | | it clearer, shorter and easier to read. |
| they won't read it. | | | | 11. Write in a chatty, conversational style. |
| You probably scan when you read the newspaper so | | | | Avoid corporate-speak. Corporate-speak is language |
| you know what Imean. You glance at the headlines | | | | that speaks tono one in particular. Instead, visualize |
| and from there choose thearticle you want to read. | | | | one of your readers andwrite to that person. If you |
| This happens on the Web, too, but evenmore so. | | | | write to someone you know, yourstyle will |
| Within an article or web page, people will scan for | | | | automatically be more casual, friendly and readable. |
| sub-headlines. So, whereas they'll read the whole | | | | People will feel you're speaking directly to them. Yes, |
| article in thenewspaper, they'll only read bits and | | | | yourstyle might not click with everyone, but better |
| pieces of it on the Web. | | | | that thanclicking with no one. |
| Armed with this knowledge, you can make your | | | | 12. Use contractions. |
| content much easierfor people to read. | | | | To make your writing easier to read, use |
| 1. Provide a Table of Contents at the beginning of | | | | contractions. "I'll tellyou more next month" reads |
| long pages. | | | | easier than "I will tell you more nextmonth." It's also |
| Adding a Table of Contents to the beginning of your | | | | less formal. Your ezine or sales copy is notthe place |
| article orezine enhances a reader's experience. | | | | for formal writing. If you currently write for |
| Here's a comment from one of my ezine subscribers: | | | | printpublications and want to start writing for the |
| "First off, Ireally like the | | | | Web, some of therules you live by will have to be |
| 'Tell-em-what-they're-going-to-get' approach tothe | | | | abandoned. |
| header of your ezine. Just had to tell you." | | | | 13. Choose a sans serif font for your text. |
| He's talking about my Table of Contents, something | | | | On the Internet, a sans-serif font like Verdana is |
| so simple, yetit warranted a comment from a reader. | | | | much easier toread than Times New Roman (serif |
| If your article or ezine is in HTML format, use the | | | | font). In print, the opposite istrue and this confuses |
| "namedanchor" tag to make the items in your Table | | | | many people who go from writing for printto writing |
| of Contents | | | | for the Web. |
| "clickable." | | | | Use serif fonts for headings, to provide variety. |
| Note: Not everyone's email software renders HTML | | | | However, do notuse more than two or three fonts |
| properly. Alwaysoffer your readers a plain text | | | | altogether. Otherwise, your textwill look amateurish. |
| version of your newsletter. Oneday we'll all use HTML | | | | It will also be hard to read, as yourvisitors' eyes will |
| for our ezines, but we're not quite thereyet. Some | | | | constantly need to adjust to the changingstyles. |
| autoresponders and email management software will | | | | Note: Virtually every book you read in print is |
| "sniff out" a recipient's ability to render HTML and | | | | type-set in aserif font like Times New Roman...every |
| deliver theappropriate email (for this to work, you | | | | page, even the chapterheadings. It's not boring and |
| have to write twoversions of your newsletter -- one | | | | no one thinks twice about it. Inthe same way, you |
| in plain text and one in | | | | don't need to use different fonts on every pageof |
| HTML). | | | | your web site. Just remember, online Verdana is the |
| 2. Break up your page with sub-headlines. | | | | font ofchoice. |
| Provide your readers with the ability to scan your | | | | 14. Specify a font in your HTML code. |
| page and pickout the topics that interest them. If | | | | Remember to specify a font in your HTML code. If |
| you don't provide sub-headlines, there's a very good | | | | you leave thefont at the default, most web |
| chance your readers will skip thepage entirely. | | | | browsers will render your text in |
| On a web page or in an ebook, use a different colour | | | | Times New Roman. You don't want this to happen. |
| for the sub-headlines or bold them. Use underlines on | | | | It's a good idea to specify a family of fonts so PC |
| web pages cautiously asreaders may think the text is | | | | and Macbrowsers can choose their own pre-installed |
| a link. In a text-based ezine, youshould indicate | | | | fonts. I use thisfamily of fonts: "Verdana, Arial, |
| sub-headlines with bullets, asterisks, numbers,or | | | | Helvetica, sans-serif." |
| arrows (made up of dashes and a right-angle | | | | Note: As a last resort, if none of the first three fonts |
| bracket). | | | | areinstalled, "sans-serif" tells a browser to use any |
| You can also type headings in all capital letters, but | | | | other sans-serif font it has available. |
| this willmake them harder to scan. Most people use | | | | 15. Clean up typos and spelling mistakes. |
| shape to help themrecognize words. If you use all | | | | I know it sounds obvious to tell you to check your |
| capital letters, youremove this ability and slow the | | | | spelling, butbad spelling and typos are rampant on the |
| reader down. Remember,impatience is the norm on | | | | Web. |
| the Internet, so try not to put up anyroadblocks to | | | | Run your spell-checker, but also eyeball your content |
| easy reading. | | | | severaltimes. Your spell-checker will not catch typos |
| 3. Break up passages. | | | | like "form"instead of "from." Print out your text and |
| Notice how all my paragraphs are short? No more | | | | ask someone else toread it...preferably, someone |
| than a few lineseach? I strive to keep each | | | | who can spell. |
| paragraph to no more than 100 words. | | | | I'm not just being picky, by the way. Spelling errors |
| That's to provide small chunks of information that | | | | and typosslow a reader down and may even |
| can be easilydigested. | | | | confuse them. You never want todo that. If the |
| Note: Just because a paragraph is 109 words, doesn't | | | | reader loses momentum, you're dead; they'lllikely stop |
| mean youhave to automatically try to break it into | | | | reading and go away. |
| two smallerparagraphs. Just use common sense and | | | | 16. Use exclamation marks sparingly!!!! |
| you'll be fine. | | | | The Internet has spawned a love affair with the |
| 4. Create white space to reduce eye-fatigue. | | | | exclamation mark. |
| Breaking up your page into small paragraphs creates | | | | This poor, beleaguered symbol is so overworked on |
| plenty ofwhite space to rest the reader's eyes. It's | | | | the Web I'msurprised it hasn't up and quit. It's very |
| important to minimizereaders' fatigue so they'll keep | | | | amateurish to saturateyour text with exclamation |
| reading. If this article werewritten as one long chunk, | | | | marks. It signals HYPE!!!!! Andinsincerity!!! |
| you wouldn't be reading it by now,especially if you | | | | Prospects will become customers when they trust |
| were reading it online. | | | | you. How muchtrust do you put in an ad or sales |
| 5. Use short sentences. | | | | letter that's full ofexclamation marks? Your readers |
| As you may also have noticed, this article is not | | | | are just as wary as you. |
| made up oflong, convoluted sentences. Each | | | | Note: There is a place for exclamation marks in |
| sentence is fairly short andtherefore easily read at a | | | | impassionedadvertising copy. Just don't over-do it. |
| glance. | | | | And never use more thanone exclamation point at |
| You don't want to tax readers thinking either. Shorter | | | | the end of a sentence. |
| sentencesare easier to understand and digest. If you | | | | 17. Remove "that" wherever possible. |
| want people to "getyour message," keep your | | | | Example 1: Call now so you don't miss our July special. |
| sentences short. | | | | Example 2: Call now so that you don't miss our July |
| 6. Use short lines of text. | | | | special. |
| When writing your ezine, use a text editor and set it | | | | What's the difference? You glide right over the |
| to put ahard return after every 65 characters. That | | | | words in thefirst example, but in the second |
| will ensure yourezine articles have short lines that can | | | | example, the word "that" haltsyou for a split second. |
| be read at a glance. Iuse TextPad for this ( | | | | And as you know by now, any stumblingblock, no |
| When I'm finished writing my ezine content, I cut and | | | | matter how minor, can mean bye-bye reader. |
| paste thetext into my autoresponder and it retains | | | | This isn't all there is to know about writing for the |
| the hard returns. Youcan also cut and paste your | | | | Internet,of course. But if you follow these simple |
| text into the body of an email. | | | | rules, you'll go a longway toward keeping your |
| On your web page, use a table to contain your text. | | | | readers glued to your text. Hopefully,long enough to |
| Do not setyour table to 100% width. If you do, it will | | | | entice them to sign up for your newsletter, joinyour |
| stretch to fit anysized browser and your lines of text | | | | affiliate program, or buy your product. |
| will end up long anddifficult to read. | | | | Take-Away Tip: Remember, most online readers are |
| 7. Use bullets. | | | | actuallyscanners. To get scanners to stop long |
| Bullets are read even by scanners. | | | | enough to read yourcontent, you must make your |
| 8. Enclose text in boxes or indent it. | | | | text visually appealing andeffortless to read. Use |
| If you indent text, put a Horizontal Rule before and | | | | short, simple sentences, plain English,contractions, |
| after it. | | | | short paragraphs, lots of sub-headlines and afriendly |
| This trick makes it look boxed, but is more | | | | voice. |