Writing for the Web

Is not 'professional writing'

Create User-Friendly Web Content

Forget everything you think you know about writing. Writing for the web is unlike any other writing you have ever done. It's not like writing for a brochure or poster; it's not like writing a report or a news article; and it's not a place to showcase how cute or clever you are, or how smart you are.

Writing for the web demands brevity, simplicity, and accessibility. It's a unique skill that requires training, even for a communications expert.

Users SCAN. They DON'T READ!

People read differently online than they do when they read print materials, and reading long paragraphs on a screen is time consuming and hurts the eyes.

*Scanning on the web is dictated by the:

• Users’ motivation
• Goals they are trying to achieve
• Layout of the page and formatting of text
• Page content

It’s hard to control people’s motivation or their goals, but you can optimize content and presentation so that users can find what they need quickly.

Do the work for your users instead of forcing them to do it (hint: they won't).

Best Practices

• Include the most important points in the first two paragraphs on the page.
• Use headings and subheadings.
• Start headings and subheadings with the words carrying most information.
• Visually group small amounts of related content.
• Bold important words and phrases.
• Take advantage of the different link formatting (links, buttons, etc.), and ensure links include information-bearing words (instead of generic “go”, “click here” or “more”).
• Use bullets and numbers to call out items in a list or process.
• Cut unnecessary content.