Once you have chosen and registered a domain name – through your ISP (Internet Service Provider) for example – you will have your own Uniform Resource Locator (URL). This is your Web site’s connection to the Internet and the worldwide network of computers. Start with a site plan for navigating from the entry point, the home page. Then create a site map to provide links to other pages.
PR strategy
Most companies these days have a presence on the Internet.
Advice will be needed on the style of the site in much the same way as it would for a corporate brochure or house magazine.
Moreover, Internet strategy must fit in with the organization’s overall business plan. Making the Web site work for the user in the most effective and profitable way should be the prime objective.
PR objectives must, therefore, be settled at the outset.
You must decide how much information should be freely avail-able, how much should be restricted through a password and, if appropriate, how to handle payments. And you must agree policy on the provision of media information – press releases, biogra-phies, and details about the company structure, history, staffing and contacts.
Working with the designer
Your IT specialist must not be allowed to take charge of the design.
Look for a graphics designer with broad experience of setting up Web sites for a range of companies and products, plus a knowl-edge of print typography.
Ensure that the site is compatible with current browsers and with current sound and video software. Take account of any mate-rial subject to copyright and make sure that your logo and house style are followed throughout. Pay special attention to the home page: if it’s a yawn, the user will give up and go elsewhere. Be wary of the design that looks pretty-pretty at first sight, but with a content so complicated that it is slow to load. That could be frus-trating and a good reason to click off.
The central object is to provide information – but not too much in one go – and with no spelling or grammatical errors. It must be
The words for IT
Getting the pages right
The home page will set the tone. It must explain the site in a few words, preferably in bullet-point form, If there are house colours, use them; put the company logo on all pages.
Every page needs a title, and a link back to the home page.
Headlines must be lively, short and pithy. Look for active, ‘doing’
verbs and put them in the present tense. Don’t overdo the text, concentrate on graphics to tell a story in themselves; use snappy, two/three-word headings, give detail in short paragraphs of not more than two sentences. Susan Wright, a freelance technology journalist, says ‘Devise a menu that stays with you throughout the site so that you don’t have to keep on going back to the home page.
Make the type easy to read and reasonably big and don’t drown the page in words.’
Keep all pages consistent in appearance: if there is a colour scheme, follow it religiously. Style sheets are available for typog-raphy, colours and for formatting different elements of the page, including background sounds, videos and graphics images.
Effective writing skills for public relations
Figure 16.1 Winner of 2000 Communicators in Business Award in employee communications category: Newsday home page for CGNU Plc
(formerly Norwich Union). Written, designed and produced within CGNU
Essentials of site typography
Web site typefaces and styles are as much the ‘voice’ of your company as those for printwork and press advertisements. Correct choice of typestyle is crucial to the link between word and message.
There is no point in, say, an engineering company using a deli-cate, slender typeface when a strong, bold one would be more appropriate. There are hundreds of typefaces available from soft-ware suppliers: only your designer will know which one would work best.
Keep to the typefaces you normally use for brochures, house journals and stationery. However, since type can be manipulated electronically, departure from house style is likely. See that the designer’s zeal doesn’t spoil visual impact and the company’s image. For this very reason, where possible give your usual designer the task of creating the Web site.
Aim for simplicity of layout and ease of navigation. Make the pages lively and appealing: out with the bland page, lacking strong colours. But don’t use combinations that tire the eye:
words reversed white out of black or red, and green on yellow are hard to read. It is better to have more pages and less text;
increased links make the site easier to use. Text looks best black on white, with colours for headings. Don’t set the type too small;
think of the viewer with poor eyesight. But make it attractive, snappy and full of facts. Don’t let it look dated: look up the new sites for ideas.
Basic rules for typesetting
Set your copy ragged right where the text is aligned to the left. If it is justified, or flush on both sides, irregular letter- and word-spacing will result. Do not break words if just two or three charac-ters would go over to the next line (see also Chapter 6). Never use hyphens for dashes; computer keyboards distinguish between the two marks (see Chapter 3).
Avoid over-hyphenation: rewrite or space out. Few designers specify paragraph indents; insert extra space instead. Most other general rules for typesetting as set out in Hart’s Rules should be followed for Web sites.
The reader is looking at a screen, not a printed page; text is easier to assimilate in bite-sized chunks. Aim for brief sentences of not
The words for IT
more than 20 words, and no more than two sentences to a para-graph. Go for short line lengths of 30 or so characters compared with the more usual 65–70 characters.
Susan Wright, who has viewed thousands of sites, says that there’s nothing worse than lines that stretch right across the page.
Put the text two or more columns if necessary – anything would be better than a line of 8pt or smaller lettering going from one side of the screen to the other. Type size should be no smaller than 12pt for ease of readability. Don’t forget that the eye tires after prolonged exposure to the computer screen, just as it does when watching TV continuously.
Use clear language
The language should be clear, plain and to the point. Put important conclusions and summaries at the beginning, so as to attract atten-tion from the start. Avoid slang, but don’t be afraid of humour.
Make sure everything you say is believable. Keep the need to maintain brand loyalty uppermost. Keep strictly to the logo shape and colour: any departure will be immediately noticeable.
Effective writing skills for public relations
Figure 16.2 Another intranet winner in CiB Awards. Front page of e-mag, electronic version of Livewire, staff magazine for employees of
London Electricity, produced by Redhouse Lane Communications, London
Adding pages and graphics
Put in new pages regularly: users will go for good if you don’t update. Your designer will advise you on all aspects of adding pages and graphics; but if you want to have a go yourself, full information will be found in Creating web pages for dummies. In a couple of clicks you’ll have the site up and running. That’s exag-gerating, but you know what I mean.