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Write to your readers

Whenever possible, write directly to your audience, not about them. Never write 鈥渙ur students鈥� when 鈥測ou鈥� will do instead. This does three things:

• Keeps writing conversational
• Keeps the conversation focused on others and their needs
• Helps people figure out what applies to them and what to do with it

Use lists for instructions

• Use numbered lists when the order matters.
• Use bulleted lists when the order doesn't matter.

Write meaningful links 

People use links to navigate the site. This has two important implications:

Links should say where they鈥檒l take you.

Links should be unique, descriptive and easy to understand.

Never use an entire URL as a link (e.g., 鈥�/academics/natural-applied-sciences/index.html鈥�). Links should always be text (e.g., Natural and Applied Sciences Division).

Avoid writing links that use words, terms or names that may be unfamiliar to our audience (e.g., 鈥淪HARP,鈥� 鈥渕yHope鈥�) unless they鈥檝e already been clearly defined in context.

Never link words like 鈥渃lick here鈥� or 鈥渓earn more鈥� on their own, since they give users no clue about what will appear if they click them. Instead of writing, 鈥淭o learn more about our philosophy honors program, click here,鈥� cut words and add clarity by writing, 鈥淟earn about our philosophy honors program.鈥�

Links should take you where they say they will. 

The linked words should match the title or headline of the page you linked to, so people know they got where they thought they were going.

Keep in mind that links are invitations to leave a page. Also, because people scan pages and jump to act, links stand out. People will often read links first and, if they see something interesting, click on one without reading further. 

If you want people to read your entire sentence or paragraph, don鈥檛 invite them to leave by embedding a link into the text. Doing so essentially gives them two tasks at once: reading and moving on. People may not come back once they鈥檝e been enticed away by a link. That may be okay, but make the decision intentionally.