Book Review: Letting Go of the Words, Writing Web Content that Counts

Do you know what information should appear on a Home Page?

How do headlines break up text to give readers what they need?

Why do people typically log on and search the web?

These questions are foundational in the book "Letting Go of the Words." A programmer with the interactive firm where I am currently writing, marketing and managing web projects bought the book recently. He thought it was well written with important facts and an easy-to-scan layout.

I recommend this book to any writer, manager, or company who's going to work with a web design firm and have them create the content. I also recommend it for web designers who need to have their clients gain an understanding of developing a web site.

In addition to clarifying what information should rest on a home page, and how users flow more deeply into web sites, there is also a section on writing meaningful links. This is an element of writing for the web I never considered until I started writing on Associated Content and began developing my own blog where I saw the advantage of linking to older posts.

"Links can be headlines and titles that are full sentences, either statements or questions; phrases; action phrases with verbs; category labels, usually single nouns or short phrases."

Examples are given and then an entire chapter is dedicated to describing meaningful links in detail.

Author Janice Redish wrote the book in a way that is easy to scan and move to chapters that are most helpful. You can easily skip around within the book. The use of headlines and narrative is such that a reader can skim for a small amount of information and then go back and read further if necessary. You can get the information you need to apply right away. Grabbing information is why most users go to the web and your web site, blog or AC article. They scan for how-to facts they can easily apply in their business or home life.

Letting Go of the Words, published by Morgan Kaufman Publishers, should also be used as a reference if a committee is sitting down to give input on the building of a web site. A facilitator should be knowledgeable and use the contents so the conversation and planning becomes as objective as possible.

A creative process is subject to feelings and viewpoints. Often, a writer or someone trying to stake a position for why a web page should have specific content has little framework for their position. This book could serve to educate decision-makers who may have strong opinions on what they want to see, but little experience actually writing the content that will be shown.