Second in a four-part series, "Rules for the Web"
Inverse your pyramid: Get read; get found
By Rebecca Nero, Educational Technology Consultant
Start each Web page with a one-sentence conclusion. Follow that conclusion sentence with a one-paragraph summary that begins with the conclusion sentence. You'll be writing in the journalist style known as the "inverted pyramid."
Why one-sentence, one-paragraph? Web users hate to scroll. Web users often arrive at your page from a search engine.
Web users may scroll if your first sentence captures their attention. I'm not talking about a flashy, creative statement. People who find your page(s) want immediate information. They will spend only a few seconds to decide if your page has that information. The first sentence determines Web users' responses; therefore, that sentence better be to-the-point.
If Web users like the information in the first sentence, they turn into Web readers. They begin reading your inverted-pyramid paragraph. If the Web readers like what they find in the paragraph, they may follow your links to your other inverted-paragraph pages.
"Links!" you exclaim. Yep. If you have more than a tad of information to present, you need to shape that information into other inverted-pyramid Web pages. You're in cyberspace now. Web users expect information to be available but not in the way.
Web users decide what information they want, what order the information should be in, and when they want to access that information. That's why you want visitors to your site to know immediately what you're up to so they can bookmark the site and continue searching.
Here we are, back at the beginning. Your Web page's first sentence pops up in search engines. Your first few words help determine if and when search engines will reference your page. Your first sentence determines if the Web users will leave the search results to visit your page. Your first paragraph determines if Web readers will bookmark your page for a return visit.
Keep those inverted pyramids linking! Visit http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/ for an online example and http://useit.com/alertbox/9606.html for more pyramid advice.
Oh! you may want to avoid using frames, since they make bookmarking and reading difficult. I'll be writing about page design (and another shape to arrange your Web page by) in the third installment of "Rules for the Web.
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