Writing for the Web
A Guide by Internal Communications
Contents
In Summary
Page 2
Scannable Text
Pages 2 to 3
Concise Text
Pages 4 to 5
Factual Text
Pages 5 to 6
Overall Structure
Page 7
Other Things Worth Noting
Page 7
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In Summary
Clarity is what writing for the web is all about. It’s an exercise in stripping away everything that is
unnecessary. Removing all obstacles between the user and the facts. You can do this by:
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Writing scannable text – flagging up what information is where on your page at a brief
glance
Writing concise text – reducing your word count, keeping your language simple and sticking
to the point
Writing factual text – avoiding the use of marketing-speak and over-enthusiastic hyperbole
Starting with the conclusions – keeping the most important information at the start of your
text to make it easier to access.
Scannable Text
Rapidly harvesting facts is what people use the web for. People are not going to sit there and read
every word you’ve written. They are going to scan the page to pick up the information they went
there for. This idea should remain at the front of your mind whenever you sit down to write for the
web.
Facts should leap out at the reader from your page, requiring minimal effort to take in. Let’s look at
ways we can make this happen.
Ways to Create Scannable Text
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Start each paragraph with the most relevant bit of information. Users will not read to the
end to find something out.
Highlight things of importance. You can make them bold (not italic, it’s difficult to read) or,
if appropriate, you can make them links to another page.
Use short paragraphs. This helps to break the text up, making it less intimidating. There
should ideally be one central point per paragraph.
Use headings. These help to flag up to the user what each section of your page is about.
Use lists. Numbered lists for things in order, bulleted lists for things in no particular order.
Try to keep the number of items to a minimum and start each point with something that
makes it clear what’s being talked about.
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A Bad Example
Welcome to the web page for module DN104 – “The Development of Technologies for
Business Use”. We aim to keep this webpage up to date with information for those on
the module and those considering taking the module. During this module we’ll look at a
range of methods to test the business-readiness of a new technology, and we’ll study
texts from the most renowned academic voices on the subject including Alan Briefcase,
David Conference and Synergy Matthews. If you’re thinking about taking the course you
can find out more by clicking the “About” link on the left hand side of this page. If you’re
already registered, you can find details of reading lists, lecture and seminar times and
information on the course tutors by clicking the relevant links on the left hand side.
Why is this bad?
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The first two sentences are irrelevant – the user already knows where they are, and the
idea of any web page is that it should be kept up to date with relevant information.
There are no facts in the first two sentences – we have to wait until the third sentence to
actually find anything out.
There are no paragraph breaks, so the user is presented with an intimidating wall of text,
which they are probably not going to read through.
No attempt is made to highlight the relevant information
Lists are given as part of the text without the use of bullet points.
Fixing the Bad Example
About the Module
We’ll look at a range of methods to test the business-readiness of a new technology and
study several academic texts on the subject including:
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“Businesses and Technologies” by Alan Briefcase
“Making a Thing for a Business” by David Conference
“What Business People Want from Your Thing” by Synergy Matthews
Read more about the module
Current Students
 Reading lists
 Lecture and seminar dates and times
 Course tutors
Why is this better?
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Those pointless sentences have gone.
We’ve broken the page into two clear sections – one for people who want to know what
the module is about, and one for current students of the module.
We’ve used headings to clearly identify which section is for which group.
We’ve bullet pointed the lists that were formerly buried in the text.
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We’ve added links to the text, instead of telling people to look to the navigation on the left.
Concise Text
Your text should be brief, to the point, and it should take minimal effort to understand. Words
should only ever be added where to not add them would actually create a barrier to the reader’s
understanding (i.e. by using jargon, acronyms, or obscure words that require the user to actively
look for more information to understand).
How to Create Concise Text
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Keep your word count low. The user will not pick through vast amounts of text to find what
they’re after. They will leave an intimidating page.
Use the simplest words possible. If the user has to check a dictionary, or search for an
acronym to find out what you mean, they will rapidly tire of your page.
Avoid jargon. As with the above point, you can’t afford to assume that your user knows the
same terms you do.
Use simple sentence structures. The same principle that applies to the page as a whole
applies to individual sentences: keep them short and avoid complex structures.
A Bad Example
The CSR came out this month prompting speculation on a range of issues generated in
the HE sector meaning that many institutions are now in the process of giving serious
consideration to how they could be more prudent in their fiscal strategies to ensure that
the student experience they offer is not impacted when the necessary cuts to the central
budget are implemented.
Student experience is a central driving force given the power of students as a source of
revenue for HE institutions; we cannot afford to reduce investment in our pedagogies
which have been of proven benefit to student satisfaction scores on the NSS.
Why is this bad?
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There are too many words used to get across a basic point.
There are obscure words/jargon that users may not understand (“fiscal”, “pedagogies”)
There are unexplained acronyms (what do “CSR”, “HE” and “NSS” stand for?)
There are only two sentences here – the text needs to be broken up.
The sentences are too long
The sentences are too complex
Fixing the Bad Example
Details of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) were announced this month. Many
Universities are now looking at how they can reduce their spending without damaging
the student experience.
The student experience is important – students bring a great deal of income to the
University. We can’t afford to spend less on our teaching methods because students
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have said in surveys that they are happy with them.
Why is this better?
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It’s shorter. The original was 105 words, this is 65.
We’ve replaced jargon and obscure words. “pedagogies” becomes “teaching methods”, “be
more prudent in their fiscal strategies” becomes “reduce their spending”
We’ve explained what “CSR” stands for, and removed the other jargon terms, replacing
them with words people know.
We’ve made the sentences shorter by breaking them in to two sentences each.
We’ve simplified the sentence structure by doing the above.
Factual Text
People are not tolerant of marketing speak on the internet. Users are not interested in subjective,
over-enthusiastic phrasing. They don’t want to know how “prestigious” your awards are, they don’t
want to know how “exciting” a development is, and they’re not interested in how “world-leading”
your service is.
Key Points
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Avoid subjective descriptions. Stick to the verifiable facts of the situation.
Don’t tell the user how they’re feeling. If the user is excited about something they already
know it. They don’t need you to tell them that.
Don’t make sales pitches. On the web there’s no place for hooks like “Are you young? Are
you fun? Do you like having fun? Then you’ll love this!” Get straight to the point.
Don’t try to be clever with names. Call your thing what it is. It’s not “Question Mark:
Regeneration”, it’s “Seminar on the Regeneration of Coventry City Centre”.
A Bad Example
Ever fancy doing something a bit different? Want to spend a day getting away from it all
and having a bit of fun? Then why not come along to learn4fun, a fun-packed day of
workshops guaranteed to make you feel alive again!!?
We’ve got exciting, hands-on activities with academics from all over the University!
Laugh and cry with Tracy Writington’s excellent poetry workshop! Gasp as Professor
Martin Neutrino gives an amazing visual demonstration of the incredible world of
quantum physics! Watch with wonder in your heart as Alan Briefcase gives a stupendous
tour of the wacky world of the call centre industry! And if you’re not too tired from all the
FUN, you can get funky and physical with the mad rhythms of the Zumba dance class!!!
learn4fun is taking place on 12 January in the Ramphal Building! Anyone is welcome to
come along – even grandpa!!!
If you want to be part of this awesome day of fun, email Sarah Wow at
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s.wow@warwick.ac.uk. Joy and happiness are just a click away!!!!
Why is this bad?
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It’s full of exclamation marks, so it reads like a middle-aged council worker trying to sound
like one of “da kidz”.
It’s riddled with emotive, subjective words that distract from the facts at hand.
It repeatedly tells the user they will enjoy the event – users can make up their own minds
how they feel about an event based on the facts.
You don’t find out what’s happening until the second paragraph thanks to its silly questionbased introduction.
The details of the event are near the end (date, location etc). This is important information
that people who don’t read that far will miss out on.
Its name means nothing taken out of context.
Fixing the Bad Example
A day of workshops offering you the chance to learn from academics around the University is taking
place on 12 January in the Ramphal Building. The day is open to anyone who would like to attend.
The workshops on offer are as follows:
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Poetry with Tracy Writington
Quantum Physics with Martin Neutrino
The Call Centre Industry with Alan Briefcase
Zumba with instructors from the Sports Centre
If you’d like to attend, please email Sarah Wow at s.wow@warwick.ac.uk.
Why is this better?
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Date and location are listed in the first paragraph.
We say what the event actually is - “a day of workshops” means much more to people than
“learn4fun”.
All the emotive, subjective words have gone, leaving easy to digest facts.
The list has been bullet pointed, with the topics highlighted so they’re easy to see.
It makes no attempt to tell the user how they will feel – it simply offers the facts and tells
them how they can register if they want to.
It uses about half as many words to get its point across.
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Overall Structure
You should start your articles with your conclusion when writing for the web (like I’ve done just
now). When you have something longer and more involved to say, you have to make sure that the
most important point is the first thing users read.
Users, for the most part, don’t like to read lots of text, as we’ve said already. Your piece as a whole
should cater to this, presenting the conclusion at the top for people just dipping in, offering up the
arguments next for those who want to know a little more, and finishing with background and
supporting information for those who are very interested.
“The inverted pyramid” is how journalists have been describing this method of writing for many
years now. It’s the polar opposite of how most academic writing works. In academic writing, you
start with your basic principles and argue towards a conclusion. But, for the many reasons we’ve
covered in this guide, that’s just not an appropriate way to write for the web.
Other Things Worth Noting
Good writing is only half the battle. With web content presentation matters, and even well written
text will go unread if the presentation is dull and ineffective.
The IT Services Web Team have put up some pages advising you on how you can achieve this. You
can find them here:
http://go.warwick.ac.uk/sitebuilder2/goodsites/
The W3C Web Accessibility Guidelines are another thing that would be worth checking out before
you start creating web content. These guidelines highlight a range of issues that the web throws up
that you may well not have considered. You can read them here:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/
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