Properly formatting your word processor is another of those small but overlooked techniques that can improve your Web content and design.

Like metadata, this doesn’t replace or even match careful SEO research and planning, but it also doesn’t require any special training or effort. Along with online content, it’s also useful for nearly any kind of writing (e.g., direct mail, e-mail, letters).

Notice how similar this formatted screen is to the published blog.

Before you start hammering away at your keyboard, take a moment and try to replicate what you’ll see on the screen when your content is published online. This includes:

• Margins: This blog appears in an approximately three-inch margin. The default Word margin is more than twice as wide.

• Fonts: Word usually defaults to a 12-point Times font, which is much different than the 9-point Helvetica that is used in this blog.

• View percentage: Don’t trust that a “100% view” is your copy’s actual size. Here’s a tip: Put your word processor’s view in “page mode,” hold a piece of paper to the screen, and adjust the percentage so the boundaries match the paper. Now you are looking at its real size.

The exact same text in this blog, only in a default format. Looks a lot different, doesn’t it?

Once you’ve emulated what you’ll see onscreen, you can now accurately view:

• Sentence length: A regular-size sentence in a default format may look like a paragraph after your online content is published in a condensed column or larger font (this sentence is a perfect example!).

• Paragraph length: Similar to sentence length, what seemed like a normal paragraph may ultimately look like a massive chunk of copy…something that may discourage readers. Consider breaking up “long” paragraphs, or trim your sentence lengths.

• Overall length: Once your text starts to require scrolling in your word processor, it’s also likely to move beyond the “fold” in a browser, requiring the reader to scroll—and to potentially make them perceive that your content is longer than it is.

One final tip: Don’t copy and paste your formatted content into a Web editor or dashboard. Save it as a plain text file and use your original as a guide for identifying headlines, applying styles, bolding and italicizing text, etc.

Derek Rudnak | Communications Specialist | AVID Design

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 9:33 am and is filed under Best Practices, Writing for the Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.