Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works, 2nd Edition

August 14, 2012  [MK] Maria

Morgan Kaufmann is excited to announce the forthcoming publication of Letting Go of the Words, 2nd Edition by Janice Redish. The 333-page book is due in August 2012.

About the Book

Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works, 2e. Web site design and development continues to become more sophisticated. An important part of this maturity originates with well-laid-out and well-written content. Ginny Redish is a world-renowned expert on information design and how to produce clear writing in plain language for the web. All of the invaluable information that she  shared in the first edition is included with numerous new examples. New information on content strategy for web sites, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media make this once again the only book you need to own to optimize your writing for the web.

Who Should Read this Book:

For anyone who writes for the web or does usability testing on web sites, including web designers, information designers, information architects, content managers, technical writers, usability engineers, web application and forms designers.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Content! Content! Content!

People come to web sites for the content
Content = conversation
Social media = content = conversation
Web = telephone, not file cabinet
Web users skim and scan
Web users read, sometimes
They don’t read more because
Writing well = having successful conversations
Case Study 1-1 Conversing well with words
Case Study 1-2 Conversing well with few words
Case Study 1-3 Revising web words

Chapter 2 Planning: Purposes, Site Visitors, Site Visitors’ Conversations

Why? Know what you want the site to achieve
Who? What’s the conversation?
Using all that information

Interlude 1 Content Strategy

What is content strategy?
What does content strategy cover?
Content strategy includes all communication channels
Why is content strategy so important?
Who does content strategy?
How do I carry out a content strategy?

Chapter 3 Designing Your Web Pages for Easy Use

Successful web site = design + content supporting each other
Successful web site = designers and content specialists together
Successful web sites work for everyone
1. 6 guidelines for helpful design
2. Consider the entire site – and beyond
3. Work with templates They don’t destroy flexibility
4. Keep active space in your content
5. Beware of false bottoms
6. Don’t let headings float
7. Don’t center text
8. Set a sans serif font as the default
9. Use a relative type size
10. Use a fluid layout and a medium line length
11. Don’t write in all capitals
12. Don’t underline anything but links
13. Use italics sparingly
14. Have good contrast between text and background
15. Be careful with colors
16. Build in flexibility for universal usability

Chapter 4 Starting Well: Home Pages

Home pages – content-rich with few words
1. Be findable through search engines
2. Identify the site
3. Set the site’s tone and personality
4. Help people get a sense of what the site is all about
5. Continue the conversation quickly
6. Send each person on the right way

Chapter 5 Getting There: Pathway Pages

1. Site visitors hunt first
2. People don’t want to read while hunting
Case Study 5-1 What people do on pathway pages
3. A pathway page is like a table of contents
4. Sometimes, short descriptions help
5. 3 clicks is a myth
6. Many people choose the first option

Chapter 6 Breaking up and Organizing Content

Think “information,” not “document”
Divide your content thoughtfully
Consider how much to put on one web page
Use PDFs sparingly and only for good reasons

Chapter 7 Satisfying Visitors’ Conversations

6 guidelines to satisfy visitors’ conversations
1. Give people only what they need
2. Cut! Cut! Cut! And cut again!
3. Think “bite, snack, meal” – layer information
4. Start with your key message
5. Break down walls of words
6. Plan to share and engage through social media

Interlude 2 Writing Successful Marketing Copy

Marketing on the web is different: Pull not push
Satisfy the site visitor’s conversation first
Find the right marketing moments
Don’t miss good marketing moments
Never stop the conversation
Other guidelines specific to writing marketing copy

Chapter 8 Announcing Your Topic With a Clear Title

Chapter 9 Breaking Up Your Text with Headings

Good headings help readers in many ways
Thinking about headings also helps authors
Don’t slap headings into old content
Twelve guidelines for writing useful headings
1. Start by outlining
2. Ask questions as headings when people come with questions
Case Study 9-1 Answering your site visitors’ questions
3. Give statement headings to convey key messages
4. Write action phrases as headings for instructions
5. Use noun or noun phrase headings sparingly
6. Put your site visitors’ words in the headings
7. Exploit the power of parallelism
8. Keep headings to one or two levels
9. Make the heading levels obvious
10. Distinguish headings from text
11. Help people jump to the topic they need on the page
12. Evaluate! Read the headings

Interlude 3 The New Life of Press Releases

The old – and ongoing – life of a press release

What has changed?
How do people use press releases on the web?
What should we do?
Does it make a difference?
What would the difference look like?

Chapter 10 Writing the conversation

Ten guidelines for tuning up your sentences
1. Talk to your site visitors Use “you”
2. Use “I” and “we”
3. Write in the active voice (most of the time)
4. Write simple, short, straightforward sentences
5. Cut unnecessary words
6. Give extra information its own place
7. Keep paragraphs short
8. Start with the context
9. Put the action in the verbs
10. Use your site visitors’ words

Chapter 11 Using Lists and Tables

Six guidelines for useful lists
1. Use bulleted lists for items or options
2. Match bullets to your site’s personality
3. Use numbered lists for instructions
4. Keep most lists short
5. Try to start list items the same way
6. Format lists well
Lists and tables: What’s the difference?
Six guidelines for useful tables
1. Use tables for a set of “if, then” sentences
2. Use tables to compare numbers
3. Think tables = answers to questions
4. Think carefully about the left column
5. Keep tables simple
6. Format tables well

Interlude 4 Legal Information Can Be Clear

Make the information legible
Make sure your legal information prints well
Use site visitors’ words in your headings
Avoid technical language
Avoid archaic legal language
Apply all the clear writing techniques to your legal information

Chapter 12 Writing Useful Links

Make the link meaningful – not Click here, not just More

If you use bullets with links, make them active, too
Make both unvisited and visited links obvious

Chapter 13 Using Illustrations Effectively

Illustrations serve different purposes
Nine guidelines for using illustrations effectively

• Don’t make people wonder what or why
• Choose an appropriate size
• Use illustrations to support, not hide, content
• Show diversity
• Don’t make content look like ads
• Don’t annoy people with blinking, rolling, waving, or wandering
  text or pictures
• Use animation where it helps – not just for show
• Don’t make people wait through splash or Flash
• Make illustrations accessible

Chapter 14 Getting from Draft to Final

Accept and learn from the process
Six sets of guidelines for a smooth process
1. Think of writing as revising drafts
2. Review and edit your own work
3. Ask colleagues and others to read and comment
4. Put your ego in the drawer – cheerfully
5. Get help from editors
6.Make reviews work for you and your site visitors

Interlude 5  Creating an Organic Style Guide

Use a style guide for consistency
Use a style guide to remind people
Don’t reinvent
Appoint an owner
Make it easy to create, to find, and to use

Chapter 15 Practicing User-Centered Design

What is usability?
What is user-centered design (UCD)?
What is user-experience design (UX)?
What UX techniques can I use?
Setting usability goals
Asking people to organize the content: Card sorting
Walking personas through conversations: Reviews
Trying out alternatives: A/B testing
Watching users work with prototypes: Usability testing

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