tips for writing web content

When writing for a website you should know that 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word. And since reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper, web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent. [Jacob Nielsen]

Regarding Style:

• be concise in your writing. Get to the point quickly.
• choose words appropriate for your readers. Avoid using technical lingo, and if you do, add an explanation.
• use short sentences (30 to 40 characters), 3 or 4 sentences per paragraph, adding a subheading announcing the topic or main point.
• include the reader by using 'you' and 'we' when appropriate.
• whenever possible summarize and link to full-length treatments as supporting documentation.

Regarding format:

• underlining is for hyperlinks, so don't use that for emphasis.
• don't use all caps, except for acronyms.
• reserve bolding for headings and subheadings, for the most part.
• use bullet points for lists. They are easy to read and add some white space to the page.
• use centered text only for short headlines.
• make headlines short.
• justify left all of your text, except, perhaps, the headline of the page.
• move detailed info to secondary pages.

Regarding structure:

• use an explanatory headline at the top of each page so the reader knows where they are.
• follow that with a summary of the topic they will be reading about on that page.
• use frequent subheadings throughout the page to help the reader along and so the reader can immediately find the information they want to read.
• if the page is long, put subheadings at the top of the page linking to the anchor points further down the page.
• restrict each page to just one topic, briefly mentioning the topics to be found on other pages, and adding a link to those pages within the text itself.

Regarding content:

• keep each page current, removing all redundant and outdated content.
• rather than duplicate content within the website, link to it.
• if content is of a timely nature, add a date.
• if your content will remain on your site for some time, use dates rather than relative time, such as 'soon' or 'next year'.
• refrain from mentioning a particular person's name and use their title to avoid outdated info.

Regarding images:

• photos must be totally relevant to the text around them. As they are a barrier to reading use photos sparingly.
• color photos get more attention than black and white photos.
• a sequence of photos that tells a story gets more attention than a single photo.
• photos of people or of action get more attention than photos of objects.
• photos of close-ups of faces get the most attention.

Links

• links within your own site should open in the same browser window.
• if the link will take the reader to another site, tell them so, and have it open in a separate browser window.
• use [brackets] after the link to explain where the reader is being taken, if not already self-explanatory within the text.