/ Public Affairs and Marketing

Easy to Scan

Good web writing is easy to scan. 

Start with a clear page title 

The page鈥檚 title should reveal exactly what the page is about and reassure users that they鈥檙e in the right place.

Lead with your best material 

Get straight to the point. Readers should know the most important information on the page after reading the first two sentences.

Keep it short 

Users don鈥檛 want to sift through too much information, especially if it鈥檚 unnecessary or overly wordy. Do your best to keep your content 鈥 words, sentences, paragraphs, pages 鈥 as short as possible.

Break up and organize text into digestible sections 

Try to limit paragraphs to 70 words and make sure they contain only one idea. One-sentence paragraphs are okay. Use (short) lists whenever possible and (simple) tables where appropriate. 

Use headings to label those sections 

Each block of text should be introduced by a clear heading. Readers should be able to get the gist of the whole page just by reading these headings. Make sure sections are ordered logically.

Write simple sentences 

Use active voice and common, conversational language. In developed countries, the average adult reads at a 9th grade level, so write bold, clear sentences. Avoid jargon and cleverness. Don鈥檛 use long or confusing words unless it鈥檚 absolutely necessary.

Cut unnecessary words

Remove anything trivial, irrelevant or redundant (e.g., 鈥淗is past history鈥,鈥 鈥淭his is the reason why鈥,鈥 鈥淓ach and every鈥,鈥 鈥淲hether or not鈥︹赌).