Links are the grammar of the Web

Gerry McGovern nicely summarises how to change good standard/brochure copy into good web copy. For years now I have tried to teach clients (and indeed myself) not to use the dreaded "click here" phraseology. It can be difficult as we are used to writing for the "real world"; to succeed within the web sphere though we need to embrace the technology properly. Web publishing is not merely about translating paper documents into HTML, it's writing them properly so that they read well on screen and the links work to guide the reader to what they seek. More than reading well on screen, they should perform (interact) well on screen.

What you consider that a paper document may only get a handful of readers whilst a page on your website could get many hundreds of thousands over the years it's online, then it's time to consider that writing for the web should be the priority and the paper versions of documents should take second place, if you bother at all.

Links are the grammar of the Web: Gerry McGovern