Website Usability Guidelines

Writing Content Copy (3 of 3)

Follow these usability recommendations:

Chunking - Splitting text into smaller chunks not only makes it easier to read, but also helps users quickly locate their needed information. They are less likely to get lost in the page's content. When chunking, you break your material up into segments of not more than 100 words (often much less), so that every word within a chunk is visible on a monitor screen.

Key Point: Realistically, users' memory capacity in a website is only about 2 or 3 chunks. Put another way, as your users navigate and digest your site, they are actually only able to keep track of about 2 or 3 things. Your users might not be able to remember information from just a page or two back.

Inverted Pyramid Because web users don't take the time to read through a lot of material, it is important to start each page with the conclusion. Present the most important material up front. Users should be able to tell in a glance what the page is about and what it can do for them.

The broad base represents the most newsworthy information and the narrow tip represents the least newsworthy information.

On the Web, the inverted pyramid becomes even more important. Several user studies have revealed that users don't scroll. So they will very frequently be left to read only the top part of an article.

Scrolling Pages - Users will do not like to scroll pages. Limit content to no more than two screens. The two main key points are to make pages relatively short and to make sure that the most important links will be visible on most common monitors without scrolling.

Tip: If your content goes beyond two screens, you may want to consider an topic index.

Website Search Rules - Search is one of the most important elements of a website with numerous products. Our recommendations are straightforward: make it visible, make it wide, and keep it simple. Here are some rules to follow:

• Users now expect and look for an input box with a search button next to it. If they don't see it, they assume that the site does not have a search function.
• Allow enough space for at least 25-30 characters in the font size used by most of the users. Eight character equal one word.
• Don't label the search area with a heading. Instead use a Search button to the right of the box. Go is also acceptable as the action button.
• Place the search box at the top center of page.
• If you have advanced search do not put it on Homepage if it is used infrequently. Instead offer the users the option to use the advance search when you present the normal search results. This will reduce cost and save server resources.
• Each search should search the entire website. Users always assume they have searched the entire website. If they don't find what they want they will move on.
• Don't offer the feature to search the web from any web page. You don't want the user to exit your site before he or she make a buying decision.

Content Design Conclusion - Writing for the web is not the linear, sequential process that is writing for print. Web users, through the use of hyperlinks, enter a site from many different access points. They do not usually begin with the table of contents and end with the index. More often, they start at a point comparable to the middle of a chapter. They print or download their information and then hurriedly move on to a new website.

These responses to the web demand a kind of writing that is different from other media - not better or worse, just different. Effective website creation doesn't mean only cool video, graphics, and sound; it also means text that will halt impatient surfers and make them read what you've written.