News & Views Marketing on the World-Wide Web:
How to Get There and What to Do
News & Views Feature Article


by DiAnn Byrne, President
Words Worth Publishing and All Digital Advertising

Originally published in News & Views September, 1995 issue.

Copyright 1995 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter. For permission to reprint this article, contact the Managing Editor.


Be honest. When was the last time you heard about a technical writing position that didn't require--assume, for that matter--that applicants would be computer literate? We've all had to learn how to work with computers. We've had to submit text electronically for publication. We've had to learn page layout software, presentation software, or applications for developing online help as part of our jobs.

This type of a stretch, from writer to pseudo-programmer, is a natural evolution of the technical writer's job description. As you may have noticed, evolution seems to happen faster these days. Case in point: the Internet's World-Wide Web. As the World-Wide Web sends the world of publishing into a virtual tornado, technical writers must become as adept in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) as they are with their favorite word processor.

Why not leave the programming to the programmers, you ask? The answer is content. Have you ever read software documentation written by a programmer? That's why someone hired you. We need to learn HTML now because our future lies there. Think about it. We've been writing about technical things for years, and we're true craftsmen with the English language. Who do you think would be better qualified to create a world-class Web site--a computer programmer or a technical writer?

The World-Wide Web is a frontier we are poised to conquer. My own Web site (online since October 1994) has shown me that buyers view the Web as the proving ground for technical talent. If you're on the Web, you obviously know how it's done. Picture this: You're surfing the Web trying to find someone who can develop a Web site. You need someone who can write HTML code, make it eye-appealing and easy to navigate, and sell your products successfully. You find a Web site that looks great, works great, and sells its services so well you want to pick up the phone or send an e-mail immediately. Whoever developed that site is the person for you.

I learned HTML authoring and Web site development on my own by downloading a Windows-based Web authoring tool and experimenting. Within days I was ready to post my Web site online. (See sidebar on Web authoring tools for suggestions on finding HTML editors.)

Elements of a good web site

After experimenting with HTML code and browsers, it's time to polish your code into a world-class Web site. Be sure to follow these basic rules when developing your Web site:

  • Make your purpose clear. Get out your message quickly. If you are offering Web site development, say so in no uncertain terms.

  • Make it easy to reach you. You can set up your Web page so that clicking your name will open an e-mail dialog box. All the viewer has to do in this pre-addressed box is type in a subject and a message, then click the Send button. Be sure to offer a variety of ways to reach you, including e-mail, phone, fax, and regular mail.

  • Offer some benefit to the viewer. Some Web sites have contests, some offer useful information, and others are just plain fun. This is an interactive medium, so try to get the viewer to interact with something.

  • Make your site easy to navigate. If your site has several pages or layers to it, make sure the viewer can easily get from one to another. Specifically, you may want to put a graphic image for each page at the top of each page. When viewers are on page one, they can always get to page two or three quickly by clicking the graphic link to that page.

  • Make your site easy to find. You can link your site to dozens of free online search engines, including Yahoo, Webcrawler, Lycos, and many more. With several links established, you will enable viewers to type keywords into a search engine and find a link to your site. (See sidebar on linking to search engines.)

  • Don't overdo the graphics. While eye-popping graphics can make a site look more professional and attractive, some viewers will be irritated by how long the graphics take to load. Try to keep the graphics to a minimum without looking boring.

  • Give the viewer enough information. Surveys show that people are using the Web to gather information before making purchases. Be sure to provide enough facts to urge the viewer to want to contact you.

  • Don't let your site get stale. Web viewers will get bored and write you off if your site never changes. Major companies completely overhaul their Web sites every few months, and the content, but not the look, changes at least monthly. This can encourage viewers to return so that if they're not ready to buy the first time they visit your site, perhaps they will be when they return to see what's new.

While you experiment with HTML authoring, remember this: Because HTML is an open platform, you can easily mimic the great things you see on someone else's Web site. Maybe you've found a fill-in-the-blanks form that would be great for your site, or an automatic counter that is incremented by one each time someone accesses a site. You can copy both the HTML code and graphics from another Web site and customize them to your needs.

Getting your site on the web

Once you've created your Web site, your local Internet access provider can place it on the Web for a fee (usually from $15 to $50 per megabyte of data per month). This fee is like rent: they have space; you need space. They have a direct connection to the Internet; you don't. When you compare this fee to running a printed advertisement, Web fees seem microscopic.

If you develop a Web site for your own business, chances are pretty good that one megabyte will be more than enough. The graphic formats used on the Web (GIF or JPG), make relatively small files, and the rest of your document is mainly ASCII text. To get your site on the Web, you locate an access provider that will give you space on their Web server. (Not all Internet providers offer Web space.) If you're not sure where to start, try a local computer publication, such as The Delaware Valley Computer User. Call providers and ask them what you get for the monthly fee. Ask them about setup charges. If you have associates who are online, ask about their providers.

Spend more time online

To keep your Web site current, locate opportunities, and respond to inquiries, you've got to spend more time online. You should check your e-mail at least once or twice a day and respond to questions about your site. When someone requests information or samples of your work, have a packet of items ready to send.

Locating opportunities means discovering new search engines to which you can link your site, or finding sites with information that is complementary to yours. If you put a link to this information in your site, you will provide better service to your visitors.

To keep your site current, be on the lookout for Internet trends. One such trend is using Adobe Acrobat to make documents portable with their fonts and layout intact. Not only do the awareness of trends keep your Web site fresh, but the knowledge of these trends can make you money. If you can speak intelligently to your prospects about what's happening on the Web, your chances of landing a project increase dramatically.

Making money with HTML authoring

If you follow some of my suggestions, you can learn to create a Web site and get it posted on the Web. Apart from giving you a wonderful feeling of "Wow! Look what I can do," learning how to develop a Web site can also give you another way to earn money. Especially now, the ability to create a Web site is highly desirable.

I have found that customers, whether they are presidents of small companies in need of Web sites or members of organizations trying to sell Web sites, are won over by the fact that I can program for the Web, write about technical products, and explain the latest Internet marketing trends. Since many of us have more in common than our STC membership, I feel strongly that all of you belong on the Web, can learn the programming language, and can make money with HTML authoring.

Web Authoring Tools

Since HTML documents are composed of ASCII text, they can be written with Notepad in Windows, Teach Text on a Macintosh, or Edit in DOS. However, Web authoring tools can save you lots of time. Here is a list of some of the more well-known Windows tools and the Web addresses where they can be found:

The Macintosh crowd can try these:

Some of these editors are free, some are shareware, and some are demo versions--it pays to download and try them before you buy them. After trying four Windows-based HTML tools, I decided on HTMLed by Internet Software Technologies. HTMLed sets up a basic template for you with essential tags. It has many buttons for automating HTML tags, and it lets you customize a floating toolbar for less conventional tags.

Linking to Search Engines

The two most frequently asked questions about the World-Wide Web are "How do I find what I'm looking for?" and "How do people find me?" Both questions have the same answer: By using search engines.

There are many popular and well-linked search engines for navigating the World-Wide Web. To find Web sites discussing the subject of computer software for genealogy, for example, I would navigate to a search engine, type "software genealogy" in the search field, and click the Search button. The engine then retrieves a list of hypertext links to sites including one or both of these terms.

Therefore, if I have a Web site I want people to find easily, I can use the engines' fill-in-the-blanks forms to register my site in their databases. This greatly increases the chance that other viewers will find my Web site when searching for whatever terms I have defined.

Here are the addresses of some of the more popular search engines and directories:


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Last updated: November 8, 1996 (rst)