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On Paper , Onscreen — On Guard

If you want to put your business plan on your Web site, think about its style and appeal. What suits the bankers and VCs might not appeal to surfers and searchers.

Give interested readers access to technical specifications, market research results, and other specific company information through the use of portable document format (PDF) versions of the material. (Review your documents carefully. Confidential agreements or details about proprietary technology should not be included on a website.)

Readers can download the file using the Acrobat Reader program from Adobe. PDFs can be read on any computer with Acrobat. Download Acrobat® Reader® from Adobe's site.

In the mid-1990s, well ahead of the dot-com boom, but in the midst of "multimedia this" and "interactive that," I was part of the documentation development team for an educational software publisher.

One day we received the following directive from the CEO: Put our traditional print material online and don't change a word.

The CEO expected this task to be completed very quickly. "After all," he remarked, "the material is already written." Our print material for the simulation-based software comprised a 100-plus-page notebook of background material and answer pages geared to the teacher, activity worksheets for the students, and installation instructions for the diskette-based product. We explained that the task wasn't quite as straightforward as he believed.

A Critical Eye

The material we wrote and produced for the traditional format needed to be adapted to a new medium. Several rounds of discussions ensued as we examined, dissected, and analyzed the text in the book.

We asked ourselves several critical questions.

		What parts of the book would be appropriate onscreen?
		How would we present the material onscreen?
		How would we adapt or change the printed word to the screen?
		How should it be organized?
		How could we take advantage of the Web's multimedia capabilities (navigation, animations, colors, backgrounds)?

In the end we turned our print material upside down and inside out. The scope of the project involved not just our team, but the graphics, content, and programming teams, too. The online product went through several iterations until we were all satisfied with the new look and feel.

Remember Your Reader

Maybe you are in the same situation. Your business plan is written. Your marketing studies include the latest data and prove the need for your original, innovative, breakthrough technology. You have a color brochure, business cards, an office, and some promising customers, but you lack a presence on the Web.

As the story points out, traditional print material gives you a good start, but requires a thorough review before it appears on your site. At the outset of the project (as with many Web-related projects), the motto to live by: Remember your reader. The Web expands your audience. Unlike your business plan, which spoke to investors, VCs or strategic partners, your site reaches any surfer or searcher.

Reading vs. Scanning

Readers scan the material on the Web rather than read it word for word. One of the most important techniques you can employ to make sure that readers read what you have to say is to keep the writing clear, concise, and accurate. This usually involves reducing the amount of material by a significant amount (somewhere between 35 and 50 percent). There are other effective methods for assisting the reader in getting to the facts:

		Break long sections into short sections (sometimes referred to as "chunks"). Place important facts near the top of the page.

		Break up lengthy descriptions, features, and highlights into bulleted lists.

		Use bolded (or linked) keywords to draw the reader's attention to important points or ideas. Do not overuse links, they become distracting.

		Introduce sections with meaningful headlines.

Once you've boiled down your ideas, you are ready to start writing. There are no shortcuts here. Web pages must follow the rules of good writing and grammar. And now you also need to write for the search engines (but that's for a differnet article.) Readers who spot errors, typos, and poorly written material will not return to your site. If your site is in English, but English isn't your native language, consider hiring professional writers and editors to review, edit, and write the material.

Combined with content is presentation. On the Web, presentation is everything. Many graphic design studios now offer Web design as part of their services. Graphic designers can assist with site architecture, navigation, graphics, and backgrounds to make your site come alive. While the resources are available to design your own Web site, consulting with and hiring professionals can make the difference between a mediocre, lackluster site and one that is appealing and easy to use.