Elements of Cyberstyle: Writing for Web sites

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Elements of Cyberstyle Writing for Web sites

• Shelley Herron
• Sydney Donahoe
• TritonLink Blink

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Its all about you.

• Name
• Web site youre working on
• What Web site do you hate or love?

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Its also all about the users.

• Who will come to your site?
• Whats your main message?
• What will users want to door find out?

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Three really wretched Web sites

• Whats the main message?
• Whats the call to action?
• Icons. I see icons all around me.

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W-retch-ed

• What image do you project?
• Shy away from scrolling.
• Watch out for moving parts.

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The wretched winner

• Try not to be so annoying.
• Keep it simple.
• Use best practices.
• Organize your home page by audience, topic, and
  action.

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Use words to lay a scent trail.

• Titles Key words convey the scent of information
• Main message Just one, up top
• Subheads For scanning
• Organizations at UCSD

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Build your structure word by word.

• Words Use active verbs.Choose nouns you can
  see.
• Sentences Stop at 25 words or less.Slice out
  the fat.

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South Dakota State University

• The Jackrabbit Guarantee rewards first-time
  students earning a 24 or higher on the ACT with
  at least 1,000.00 in scholarship support per
  year. A student may benefit from the program for
  up to four year (8 semesters maximum) as long as
  they continue to meet the requirements of the
  program

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Audience, money, action

• If you earned 24 or more on the ACT,
• you can get 1,000 in scholarships a year for
• up to 4 years. See our Jackrabbit Guarantee.

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Keep the scent.Make it short and sweet.

• Start with information-carrying words.
• Write links to indicate clues to details.
• Restrict the width to 50-75 characters.
• Set a limit at 50 words, 5 lines, or 4
  sentences.
• Student Voices
• UCSDs Six Colleges

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Consider the format.

• The City University of New York offers a broad
  array of services to students at all nineteen of
  its campuses. Services offered are designed to
  empower and motivate students as they work to
  achieve their academic goals. At every campus
  there are programs designed to facilitate the
  introduction of freshmen students into the
  college community, as well as programs that
  provide academic and supportive services to
  students as needed. There are programs and
  activities that offer students opportunities to
  discover their strengths and skills and to
  develop their leadership abilities.

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Use bold, bullets.

• The City University of New Yorks 19 campuses
  offer
• Freshman orientation programs
• Academic and supportive services
• Self-discovery opportunities
• Leadership development

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NextYour orgs name on TritonLink

• tlteasers.ucsd.edu
• Student Life tab

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Tell us what you think.

• What do you love or hate about TritonLink?
• What other Web sites do you love or hate?