To measure the effect of some of the content guidelines we had identified, we developed five different versions of the same website (same basic information different wording same site navigation). Measuring the Effect of Improved Web Writing Also, credibility suffers when users clearly see that the site exaggerates. Web users are busy: they want to get the straight facts. Users detested 'marketese' the promotional writing style with boastful subjective claims ('hottest ever') that currently is prevalent on the Web. Links to other sites show that the authors have done their homework and are not afraid to let readers visit other sites. Credibility can be increased by high-quality graphics, good writing, and use of outbound hypertext links.

We found that credibility is important for Web users, since it is unclear who is behind information on the Web and whether a page can be trusted.

half the word count (or less) than conventional writing.

the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion.

one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph).

meaningful sub-headings (not 'clever' ones).

highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting typeface variations and color are others).

(Update: a newer study found that users read email newsletters even more abruptly than they read websites.)Р”Р„s a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using

In research on how people read websites we found that 79 percent of our test users always scanned any new page they came across only 16 percent read word-by-word.

Another word for content experts