Writing Guidelines

[Web Advisory Group]

Writing for the Web:
Guidelines for MIT Libraries

Make links descriptive

Users are more succesful following links than searching. (Jakob Nielsen)

Links that are descriptive are more useful than links that name categories.

• Links that are 7 - 11 words long are most useful.
• Words must be informative - not fluff.

No (too vague):

Resources Subjects Services

Yes:

Search Our Collections: databases you can search for books, journals, e-journals, theses and more Subjects + Courses: pages related to specific subjects & courses at MIT Borrowing + Ordering: borrowing FAQ, ordering articles from other libraries, requesting books from remote storage, and more

Examples of descriptive links:
Donations & gifts page

 

 

  hennig@mit.edu