On the web, whether on the job or at home, we usually want to grab information and use it quickly. We go to websites to get answers to questions or to complete tasks, reading only what we need. We are all too busy to read much whether we are on a mobile, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. We want to navigate or search quickly and easily because we’ve really come for the content.

Letting Go of the Words, 2nd edition, is about creating great content for websites, mobile apps, and social media by thinking of content as conversation. In Letting Go of the Words, you’ll find lots of easy-to-read guidelines for having great online conversations with your site visitors.

The 2nd edition of Letting Go of the Words offers strategy, process, and tactics for creating or revising content for websites and apps. It helps you plan, organize, design, write, revise, and test content that will make your site visitors come back again and again.

Features

• Full-color throughout
• Clearly explained guidelines
• Examples throughout from actual websites
• Easy-to-read style with many “befores” and “afters”
• Case studies showing how designers, writers, and developers improved websites

Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introducing Letting Go of the Words

Content! Content! Content! (pdf, 3 Mb)

Planning: Purposes, Personas, Conversations (pdf, 2 Mb)

Interlude: Content Strategy (pdf, 238Kb)

Designing for Easy Use

Starting Well: Home Pages

Getting There: Pathway Pages

Breaking up and Organizing Content

Focusing on Conversations and Key Messages (pdf, 7 Mb)

Interlude: Finding Marketing Moments

Announcing Your Topic with a Clear Headline

Including Useful Headings

Interlude: The New Life of Press Releases

Tuning Up Your Sentences

Using Lists and Tables

Interlude: Legal Information Can Be Clear

Writing Meaningful Links

Using Illustrations Effectively

Getting from Draft to Final Web Pages

Interlude: Creating an Organic Style Guide

Test! Test! Test!

For More Information – A Bibliography

Subject Index

Index of Web Sites Shown as Examples

About Ginny Redish