Writing your web content

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Focus on your audience

Consider:

• Who are you aiming your page at?
• What's important to them?
• What do they find interesting?
• What language do they use and understand?

Your answers will help you write your content with your audience in mind and enable you to better meet their needs.

Use Plain English

Plain English is a style of writing that aims to make information clear and concise, using everyday language. Plain English is often thought of as just using simple words, but there is much more to it. The Plain English Campaign says, "Plain English is language that the intended audience can understand and act upon from a single reading."

There is more detailed information from the Plain English Campaign Website.

Keep it short

Keep your writing clear, simple and concise. Because people use information differently on the web you should cut information written for print by at least half before publishing it on a website.

Things to consider are:

• if you can cut a word, cut it
• ask yourself what the purpose of each word, each phrase, each sentence is - if it is not essential, cut it
• try reading what you have written out loud - if you find it difficult to read in one breath then it is too long.
• don't duplicate information that appears elsewhere - if it is relevant link to it instead
• be ruthless and question everything!

Structure your information

Well structured information is much easier to scan than a dense block of text. Try to:

• if you can cut a word, cut it
• give a summary at the top of longer pages to tell users what they will find
• use headings, subheadings, bullet points and lists whenever appropriate
• split a long page into several pages, or provide links down the page at the top (and links back up throughout the page)
• make sure that headings and subheadings are short and describe the information they introduce
• avoid using alliteration or puns to make humorous headlines - they can be confusing.

Make it clear who the pages on your site are aimed at. If a diverse audience is likely to read a page, don't use jargon that some people may not understand.

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