Writing for the web
Text should be
- Written for the reader, not the writer
- In Plain English
- Concise
- Easy to scan.
Think about
- Who is your audience? (e.g. students, prospective students, staff etc)
- What do they want from this page?
- What is the purpose of the page?
- What words would your target audience use?.
Use Plain English
- Simple, familiar words.
- Short sentences (maximum 20 words).
- 'you' and 'we'.
- Use the active voice (reduce passive verbs).
- Use positive language.
- Structure content for your intended reader.
- Use University Editorial Style Guide (staff only).
Create white space around your text
- Plenty of headlines.
- Short sentences.
- Short paragraphs (occasionally just one line).
- Short lists or bullet points.
Say it concisely
- Don’t waste words but be generous with information.
- Aim to reduce text by 50%.
- If a page needs to be long, make sure it is concise.
- Reduce background,’ history’ and hype. People want information or action on every page.
Create content that can be easily scanned
- Relevant, consistent and meaningful headings with a logical hierarchy.
- Content is well organised and easily to navigate.
- Use easy-to-read text styles (text is left aligned, no italics or solid capitals).
- Put key ideas at the top of the page and at the start of each paragraph.
- The first three or four words in a paragraph should be the most important.
- Use short lists or bullet points.
- Make sure images have captions.
Communicate within a few seconds
- Specific, explanatory headings.
- Write small blocks and use bullet points well.
- Meaningful image captions and alt-text.
Front load information
People are scanning and searching for information. Put your main point first.
- At the top of the page.
- In sentences.
- In each paragraph or block of writing.