by Fredrik Wackå, Web adviser and trainer

Almost 10 years have passed since Webmasters started to realize that text on the Web required their full attention. This insight is more apparent now than ever. Everything we have learnt over the past decade is both important and relevant as the Web and intranet bring about even more text. It is clear that good Web sites require more of editors than being able to write shortly and concisely.

There is a lot of talk about animations and sound on the Web. Web TV is on the advance, but in this time of new possibilities, it is important to remember that we are in the middle of a "text explosion". We are writing more than ever.

We are writing blogs and sending e-mails and text messages. Sales departments are sharing experiences in CRM solutions and development teams are publishing knowledge bases. This is the world in which your Web site will be competing for attention.

"Writing for the Web" is still important

The situation started to become apparent in the mid-1990's. How could we keep our visitors when so much else was only "a click away"? The answer was formulated by, among others, Jakob Nielsen and can be summarized with the words: short, concise and easy to overview.

This recommendation still applies and many of the tools for writing can be borrowed from the journalistic way of writing. Clear headings and introductions, and a logical text structure are some of the things that are basic knowledge when writing for the Web. This is often enough if you are managing a few pages on an intranet, but editing for the Web involves so much more for those that manage large Web sites.

Let me point out several points where editing on the Web can, and maybe should, be qualified.

Help your reader with their task

We visit certain Web sites just for fun. Some of us, however, manage complex Web sites that are visited by users who want to carry out a certain task.

Web editors must understand and address this task. "Avoid getting burnt this summer" will draw more readers than "Our assortment of suntan lotions". "Apply for vacation now" will get a better response than "Form archives" on an intranet's first page. The closer you get to the exact task that the visitor wants to carry out, the more visitors you will reach.

Experience actually shows that one word's difference in a task-oriented line of text can mean 300% more clicks, which demonstrates the importance of each word.

Every word should be accurate

If the heading isn't good enough, it's the only thing the visitor reads. This has been true so far, but Poynter Institute shows in their survey, Eyetrack III, that we have even less time to catch the visitor's attention.

We quickly browse the first words in each heading in news-oriented Web sites, like Web newspapers and many intranets. "We celebrate our 25th anniversary, you get 25% discount" may seem to be a short and concise heading, but there is a risk that the visitor will miss the main message. The Web editor must be able to find the right words and then not just use them, but use them in the right place.

Editors affect Google

Search engines, especially Google, are becoming increasingly important for where visitors go to find their information. Web pages that do not rate highly on Google's results list are at a definite disadvantage.

Everyone knows this today, but all too few of us understand the role that Web editors play. Editors that know how people express themselves; we search as we express ourselves. Editors that use the words and terms that Google wants - in the title, heading and body text. Editors that actively work for relevant links.

The list could be made longer, but the point is the same. Being a Web and intranet editor is obviously about writing for the screen - clearly and concisely. Writing for the Web is also just as much about writing with a deep understanding of how people use Internet. They don't just have to understand, they also have to find, understand and react.