Preparing Your TextPreparing Your TextPreparing Your TextPreparing Your TextRobert BenardRobert Benard

Mott Community CollegeMott Community College

Generate IdeasText is likely to be the most important part of your

website. When going to a restaurants website, are you interested in what the outside of the building looks like or their location & hours?

When generating ideas, keep audience, message, and purpose in mind.

A big difference between writing for English and writing for the web is that when writing for the web, you want to keep the number of words to a minimum.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Though it may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, websites must have text.

Also, are you aware that Internet Explorer and Netscape have options for users to not view pictures at all?

You must keep those who have slow dial-up connections in mind and NEVER forget those who are disabled.

The Rough DraftJust like in English, websites need a rough draft for review

and modification.

Another view of a rough draft is just like a thumbnail sketch of a drawing of a website.

Organizing Your TextAnother similarity to English is that the first sentence of

your website is the most important. This is where you will be grabbing the viewers attention and telling them what the website is about and leading them to the remainder of the website.

A bad sentence would be: This is Joe’s restaurant website

A good sentence would be: Welcome to Joe’s restaurant, the best pizza place in town!

The BodyThe body of your web page is where the detailed

information is contained. Please do remember that the web is “world wide”.

Refraining from slang is definitely a good thing to keep in mind. Some people may not understand words or phrases such as “home slice” or “pop” or “bee-line”

Editing Your TextEditing your text is just like testing a web page. Items

that should be done are:

• Spell checking and proofreading• Cleaning up your text and weeding out unneeded

information• Spell check and proofread again