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Great writing guidelines and advise
February 07, 2003: "If you’re looking for a cybertized version of the Chicago Manual of Style, this isn’t it. But if you need to migrate your writing and editing skills to the Web, there’s no better place to start than the Web Content Style Guide."

"I frequently lecture on content development, usability, and information architecture. This book is always on my list of recommended reading.

"In addition to great writing guidelines and advice, there’s also valuable information about the related issues of usability, navigation, and design. This is particularly important since many writers ignore these subjects thinking they are too technical or outside their area of responsibility (think again!). Keep the WCSG close at hand and your work can’t help but improve."
Eric Reiss, author of Practical Information Architecture (Addison-Wesley, 2000)


Reliable principles and guidance founded on insight
Ben Hawes, Training Zone

June 10, 2002: The Web Content Style Guide aims to fulfill several functions for the writer or editor of online content, and it succeeds. With an introduction, alphabetical listing and notes, it looks like a reference work - and it is - but it also provides strategic insights, thorough explanations, argument and sound business advice.

At one level, this is an easy-to-use reference work giving examples of good practice in the online layout of text, and providing translations of technical and e-business terms. There are also the clarifications of common problem areas of spelling, grammar and punctuation, and differences between US and UK English, that you would find in a standard textual style guide. Quoting the advice of George Orwell and Samuel Johnson, and illustrating some common issues with examples, the book lays out brief but very effective principles for good clear writing of any kind.

All of those functions are united through clear instruction on those areas where web content does and should differ in style from print media. These differences are explained by through an examination of how people behave when visiting websites. Crucially, the authors insist on talking about “readers” of websites rather than users. They maintaining very convincingly that visitors need to be satisfied by their reading experiences before they will be engaged to buy, interact or respond in any other way.

The authors emphasise repeatedly that online readers scan for information, and that enabling and rewarding this scanning are the primary duties of online editors and writers. This book can make you very aware of how easily you may lose the attention, and so the visits, of these readers. As the authors explain, this focus on the reading experience is relevant across web businesses, with very few exceptions.

There is much sensible and practical advice here on accessibility and ease of use. There are, for instances, straightforward warnings against, splash pages, excessive capitalisation and long downloads, and suggestions promoting clarity, integrity, effective navigation, headings and short paragraphs.

Editors may take issue with a few points where they have made their own different decisions in forming a house style, but in general the examples are convincing and appropriate. More importantly, they reflect what is largely common practice. The authors make clear that web readers are already familiar with certain standards of page-layout, navigation and textual style, and that they will often leave a site that surprises, confuses or misleads them. You could argue that a lot of this is common sense, and it is. But that's why it works, and sometimes we all need a guide to help us keep to common sense when working in a medium which can still make us feel like novices.

This is a book to keep to hand and to share for all kinds of reference purposes. It is probably of most use to a relatively inexperienced creator of online content, because the stylistic tips and examples are interspersed with notes on bits, bytes, bricks and clicks, and other jargon. However, it will also be very useful for those who know a lot about the technical or business side of their work, but need a grounding set of principles to standardise their content and increase its effectiveness. Writers of offline content who are moving online will find this a valuable resource for finding out why they will need to change a few habits.

The Web Content Style Guide was an unusual book to review, as it’s not often that you read a reference book from cover to cover. I’m glad I did, and would recommend doing so. Of course, from whatever position you come to this book, you may well know some of it already. But if so, skip those bits. In between almost any reader will find reliable principles and guidance founded on insight, which will help towards producing effective and consistent content.
Ben Hawes, Training Zone

Valuable resource for anyone involved in creating content for the Web
By Janette Young, Managing Information magazine
June 2002: The  Web Content Style Guide is a valuable resource for anyone involved in creating content for the Web. It is written clearly without the unnecessary use of jargon, making it suitable for those unfamiliar with technical terms. It would be useful for lecturing/teaching staff involved in creating or editing online learning material, and students studying webpage design, as well as those involved in creating commercial websites.

The first two chapters 'Writing for the Web' and 'Designing for the Web' provide useful guidelines, for beginners, to creating content. The first chapter describes use of language, sentence and paragraph structure and editing your own material. The second chapter offers useful tips on page layout and organizing content. Although the first two chapters are mainly aimed at the beginner, the extensive glossary which follows could be of use to the expert as an aide memoire of accepted usage.

Some of the tips on language could have been gleaned from a general writing style guide, and the majority of the text consists of the glossary rather than the style guide as the title suggests. There is, however, further information on style under the headings within the glossary, e.g. under color/colour you will find accepted usage of the alternative spellings along with guidelines on use of colour for readability. The glossary also includes American and English accepted usages and spellings.

The glossary format makes it more of a reference tool, as indicated by the subheading, than the type of material to be read from cover to cover. This format does, however, make it easy to access specific information as you are working. Within the glossary sequence there are useful see/see also references, which help to address the problem of using alphabetical order, i.e. similar terms are not grouped together. There is also a quick find index at the back. Screen images are also used within the text to facilitate understanding.

This resource provides guidance on grammar, terminology, acceptable usage, structure and design in an accessible format. In one source it provides the type of information normally found in a range of sources. It can provide the reader with confidence in the quality, accuracy, accessibility and consistency of their entire materials.
Janette Young, Managing Information magazine


I was waiting for a style guide - here it is
By Mark Crompton, London, United Kingdom
January 30, 2002: For years I was an enthusiastic users of the Economist style guide - it is very crisp. It doesn't tell you how to write - just sets out some issues about commonly misspelled and misused words, helps you avoid cliché and pomposity. It quietly makes you a better writer.

The Web though was different. It pulled you into all kinds of cod-cool flourishes and pointless-demotic. Now McGovern, who also has a useful email column, has filled the void and helped set us straight, providing for the web what the Economist did for print.

He points out that the style and quality of our writing is as important on the Web as it is in print, because whatever you are told, people come to the Web and whatever they think they do, they read.

The way you write is different, and McGovern makes some useful pointers about how to do it, but he also points out how to screw it up, with all the usual web stuff - odd and changing colors, excessive flash - achingly slow intros - and tells you how to avoid it.

It isn't as if he wants all sites to look like the front cover of the Wall Street Journal - just acres of windy prose - but he knows how to make a site readable - and that's what we want.

I think it worth every tax-deductible penny - and I'm tight.

A must for content authors or managers
By Dennis Deacon, Chicago, Illinois United States
January 17, 2002: As an intranet administrator, I was looking for some guidance for communicating best practices for presenting content online. I stumbled across Gerry McGovern's website and the book "The Web Content Style Guide." Intrigued with the table of contents, I purchased a copy. It is definitely worth purchasing for anyone dealing with content, or charged with communicating best practices to other content authors, editors and producers.

Besides the A to Z sections of style (a book within it's self), the book also includes best practices for presenting text, headlines, etc., akin to the preachings of Jakob Nielsen.

Again, I strongly recommend you consider this style guide as part of your reference collection.

Dennis Deacon, Chicago, Illinois United States


University of Regina, Canada, selects Content Critical and The Web Content Style Guide as course material
January 14, 2002: Prof. Curt Schroeder, who teaches web design at the university, stated that, "Every serious webmaster, web designer, online editor, web developer or student-in-training will find these books will make them stop and critically think about their web design work. There is so much useful information here, and it's very readable. Content Critical and The Web Content Style Guide must become part of every professional's personal library. My students are now required to read these textbooks."


Web publishing with ease
By Colin Ong, CEO, MR=MC Consulting, Singapore
December 23, 2001: "This book is an essential guide in helping people plan an effective web-publishing presence through a simple A-Z format. The reader can use this book as a good source of reference. On a personal note, the book has encouraged me to rethink my portals' attractiveness to my target audience.

"I strongly believe that this book is the best of its kind around. A must read from novice to expert."

Colin Ong, CEO, MR=MC Consul


It's worth your time and money
By Phil Matous, CEO, Taylor Community Credit Union, Michigan, USA
December 18, 2001: "The first chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Great ideas on writing for either traditional or web viewers. Easy to read and insightful."


I will certainly be recommending this book to others
By Malcolm Davison, CEO, Writing For The Web
December 23, 2001: "This comprehensive and authoritative overview of content management starts with useful guidelines to writing and designing web material. If only most webmasters would heed the sound advice given here, then web surfing would be a much happier experience for us all!

"Following this, the glossary of terms and definitions also deserves thorough reading. Even the more obvious terms are defined to encyclopaedic depth that clearly has benefited from the authors' wealth of experience in content management. I will certainly be recommending this book to people who attend our writing for the web courses."

Malcolm Davison, CEO, Writing For The Web, England


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