www.EvaBlue.com - Communication & Design Eva Blue

CONTENT STRUCTURE FOR YOUR WEB SITE

A web site has visual content, textual content and a structure that puts all of it together.

The most efficient way to organize a website is to start by getting your main ideas written down then to create a storyboard. Choose your main topics and sub-topics and make a flow chart. Remember that the topics that should be answered by your website are "What do you do?", "How will they benefit?", "What is your history?" and "What is your contact info?"

Typical main content for a web site are:

Home Page - Splash Page

Company Information

Products - Services

Samples

Contact Information

Topics often included:

Mission Statement

Careers - Jobs

Facts & Questions

Testimonials

Team - Company Personnel

An example of an overall flow chart:

In each section, define what content is to be on each page such as links to other pages, images to be used, descriptions, copyright information, etc.

Once you've finished storyboarding and have the structure of your site completed, the textual content for the web must be accomplished. Writing for the web is unlike writing for print or paper.

Jacob Nielsen, author of Designing Web Usability, states:

79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word

Reading from the computer screens is 25% slower than from paper

Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent

Keep in mind the following ideas when writing for the web.

1. Limit the amount of scrolling. Users dislike scrolling down long pages. Instead, make shorter pages and making linking pages; one main page (main topic) and sub-pages (one idea each).
2. Keep your sentences simple especially if you have a varied audience. Being overly smart may alienate your potential client and audience. Your international audience may have a harder time understanding metaphors and need a dictionary.
3. Use bolding. Since users will scan your page, bold captions ands ideas that you want your audience to notice.
4. Using bullets or numbered lists draws your attention and catches your eye.
5. Keep one idea per paragraph. Users tend to read the first few lines and skip the rest of a long paragraph.
6. Update your content. You use credibility when your information is outdated.
7. Integrate the keywords in your online marketing in your text.