Visual, Technical, Editorial — and Superman
Visual, technical, editorial: the trinity of web marketing. I’ve been thinking a lot about the latter of the three, so I’m going to write about writing. I stumbled upon this insight from Susannah Ross: “I argue that making Web sites is just as much an editorial job as it is a visual job: at least I would like never to be presented with a pilot site where all the important decisions about content, layout, organization, and navigation have already been taken, and then to be asked to write the copy—in effect, to fill in boxes.”
Right on, sister. While Andy’s working away at design, I’m constantly thinking, “What do we have to say? How are we going to say it? Where are we going to put it?” I’ve come up with a few tactics when writing for the Web. I’m feeling generous, so I’ll share. I start by telling a story. I go for descriptives, verbs, and a conversational style. I aim to break up the information by doing exactly what I just mentioned. This is my newest thing: I try to anticipate users’ questions - in a sense, I don’t pose the question at all, yet I answer it before someone has to even ask. A bit of function comes in to play, too, of course. I always, always, always write with search engines in mind… which brings me to — use a blog! The value of relevant, updated information is huge. Contact Dark Oak Studios for more of this stimulating informational wisdom.
P.S. Speaking of great writing — Fresh Ink (those quirky cards from Hallmark) has it down! It’s like they had us in mind when they wrote this one. It came in the form of the perfect birthday card for Andy, which I gave him over the weekend, reading something to the effect of “you’re always on the right side of the fine line between cool and dorky,” boasting a kid in a faux-Superman suit. Priceless.
Kate
April 13th, 2007 at 10:39 am
The thing about that birthday card though… If I’m on the <em>right</em> side of the thin line between COOL and DORKY… Does that mean I’m dorky? Kinda ambiguous. I think it;s up for debate.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:42 am
There is a bit of a pun in there, huh?! For the record, our version of dorky can be defined in a brilliant, masterful, designer kind of way. Therefore, cool. (and you’re definitely more cool than dorky).