Design Template by Anonymous

Introduction and Overview

Introduction

Web writing is a form of writing the content that appears on a webpage. This may seem straight-forward, but there are many factors to take into account and many ways that web writing differs from other writing. For example, “only around 16 percent of site visitors read the content in full. And about 80 percent of site visitors scan web content rather than reading it word by word” (online.csp.edu).
When so few visitors read the entirety of the content written, it becomes very important to make it easy for the visitor to find what they’re looking for and understand what pieces they do end up reading. Web page visitors do not tend to stick around on a page where they are having difficulty finding things, they will simply leave and find a better page. So, in order to keep visitors using the webpage you create, things must be easy to find. Also, it is beneficial to keep the most important information at the top of your webpage, so if a reader is going to read anything it is the most important content.

Making your content easier to read

There are many different things you can do to make your content easier to read. Many of these ways are in the formatting of your content, such as adding whitespace to break things up, but here we will focus solely on the content. Listed below are brief descriptions of these ways, and examples for some will be shown on the next page.

Headings: the use of good, descriptive headings allows your visitor to easily scan the page and find the heading that aligns with the content they are searching for.
Bullet points: using a list of items instead of a big paragraph helps the reader scan. Lists are easier to consume because they are broken into small chunks.
Shorter paragraphs: breaking your writing down into shorter paragraphs makes it more visually appealing and less exhausting to read.
Smaller words: using familiar words (no fancy jargon!) not only makes the reading more accessible and friendly to all users, but also makes your page higher in search results because you are using words that your users are likely to search for.
Shorter sentences: shorter sentences are easier to digest as a reader, as they are easier to follow. All sentences should be “clear, concise, and descriptive” (northwestern.edu), and have a specific goal in mind.
Active voice: using an active voice when writing helps the content feel more friendly and not off-putting. This is done by using words like “you” and “we” to make the content more comfortable and less formal.
Jargon: keeping “jargon” or specialized language to a minimum helps a larger audience understand your content. If using some jargon is necessary (there is no other word or way to describe something), adding a small glossary to your page can be helpful.
Acronyms: acronyms are helpful for keeping your content shorter, but the first time an acronym is used in the content, it needs to be fully written out.