Web Word Wizardry a Net-Savvy Writing Guide

by Rachel McAlpine

An easy-to-follow guide to making your Web work, this reference aims to help beginners and experts alike make their Website readable, credible and profitable. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580082238
• ISBN13: 9781580082235
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Web Word Wizardry Works Wonders on the Web

This book helped shape my view of how to write online, and it's done wonders for the web site I manage. The site has boasted about a 50% increase in customers, and I feel a large part of that can be traced back to principles learned in this book.Of special importance is the weight McAlpine places on being International-sensitive, because though it goes without saying, the Web is accessible to the entire world economy. And there are people who speak English in nearly every country in that world economy. So, of course, everyone is taking advantage of this fact, right? Don't count on it.Read this book, and enlighten yourself.

Witty, Practical, Educational

I'm about half-way through the book and love it! It's filled with practical advice that those responsible for Web content or design can put to use immediately. After a few hours, I have a checklist of changes I need to make to the site I manage. I also appreciate the author's witty style, which makes the book enjoyable as well as educational.

One of the best guides available

Writing for the Internet is very different from writing a novel or an article. A reader tends to skim the page looking for words of interest and if they don't find what they want then it is easy to just click an link or hit a search engine and go to another page that might be of interest. In Web Word Wizardry the author leads the reader through the snares and pitfalls of writing for the Web in a style that demands attention and is directed towards a goal - getting the reader to actually examine the page.By far the most comprehensive book that I have seen on this subject, Rachel McAlpine works through not only Web Pages but also writing and style for Ezines, writing for Search Engines, using Keywords and similar items. She ends the book with a checklist for Meta Tags, Title Tag, Description, Body Copy, Links, Optimization, Micro Content, Skim-Reading, Clarity, Adapting for the Web, Credibility, and Profitability. The checklists are well worth the price of the book by themselves. With plenty of examples throughout the book it is clear and concise and a valuable reference to onyone designing a web site, Ezine or other Internet communication medium. If you want your site to be professional and user friendly then use this book as a magnifying glass to evaluate your site. Highly recommended.

Return on investment

Buy this book. With so much free information available now via the web, I expect a book author to inspire and entertain as well as inform. A writer owes a reader a duty of care, to create the greatest possible change in the shortest possible time with the highest possible level of fun. Rachel delivers. Energetic, sassy, mischievous, she explains why content is just as important to your website as to a book, periodical or brochure. Then she trains you to write text that is useful, appealing and available, tailored to its audience, matched to its medium. The section on optimising web sites for search engines alone is worth the purchase price. What would a book that increased your site's hits, your sales or contracts, your transaction value and your industry profile by 10% be worth to you? Don't settle for less expert advice -- get what you deserve.

Enlightening and Useful

Although my copy from the first printing of this book had a lot of typos--which I know she fixed--I found this book to be enlightening and helpful. This book not only covers tips for writing in online media, but advice on other aspects of online writing that a typical writer might not think of or even know exist. Rachel's writing is approachable--I highly recommend this book to those who are thinking of venturing forth into this writing frotier (and it is still that after "all these years") and especially for those whose jobs depend on these kinds of skills.