Writing your web content

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Use 'inverted pyramid' style

The inverted pyramid style is used in newspaper articles so that readers can stop reading at any point and still grasp the most important facts. Structuring online information in this way means that users can quickly assess whether a page is relevant to them and can scan the page to find out the most important parts.

The inverted pyramid style applies not only to your document as a whole, but also to each individual paragraph. Use only one idea in each paragraph so that users can distinguish points clearly. They may not take in more than one point if they are scanning the page.

The inverted pyramid has three parts:

1. Main points

The most important information should come at the start of the article. This is usually the subject and the 'conclusion', or the most interesting point for users. If you are announcing some news, give the title, very brief information about the subject of the news item if necessary and the main conclusions or recommendations. If you are asking users to carry out a task, tell them what they need to do.

2. Details

Move on to important details. For example, you could give other information about the news item, or the reasons why users need to carry out the task.

3. Background

Give background information at the very end. This could be information about a related news item, or the background of changes that mean you want users to complete the task. Be very careful only to include relevant information here - don't include it if it's not important. Try to cut as much as you can or create links to other content instead of long explanatory text.

Make searching easy

When you write information for internet sites think about how users would describe it and include those words where you can. Often, users will search for the information using a search engine. These work by listing words on the page and then trying to match them to the words that the user has searched for (often called 'keywords'), so try to imagine what words they would use.

For more information about keywords see the section on search engine optimisation.

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