Standard: Writing for the Web
A. How people read your content
Most people will quickly scan a webpage initally. From this first impression, they will decide whether or not the content is of interest to them and worth the time it will take to read it in full.
B. Help people scan
Break up and optimize your content so it can be easily scanned and the important points grasped quickly. Use some or all of the following:
- Short sentences
- Short paragraphs
- Subheadings
- Bold and italics
- Bullet points and numbered lists
Also, make use of empty space (or "white space") so your content does not appear too cluttered.
C. Choose your words carefully
Use active words in headings and subheadings that will serve to motivate or entice the reader. Write from the viewpoint of your audience, and make sure each heading is appropriate for the content that follows. Also be aware of how headings play a part in search engine optimization.
D. Colored text
Be careful not to overuse colored text. No more than three colors is recommended: one for headings, one for regular text and one for links. However, if you update your site via Drupal, some CSS classes can be used to color text and links. For information on how to do this, please see the following post on the Web Team blog: Styling text and positioning images in Drupal.
E. General tips
- Don't have every piece of content competing for the reader's attention. When everything stands out, nothing does. Decide on a hierarchy.
- Avoid excessive scrolling where possible. When topics change, consider creating a new page.
- Link to and from related websites and pages. This allows the reader to find out more about certain topics, while also making your content more attractive to search engines.
- Avoid putting content in PDF format and then linking to it from a webpage. Less people will read it and search engines won't be able to index it easily. It is much better to take the content from the PDF, repurpose it for the web (i.e. add links where appropriate, consider using SEO-friendly headings, etc.), and publish it as a webpage.
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