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Writing Better Web Content

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Web users have short attention spans with greater distractions. It's not a bad thing, just adapt your messaging.

Get in, get out

People like getting to the point online, they look for landmarks and bullets. Use the inverted pyramid writing style for reference:

[People Read This] - Say what's important first: dates, times, locations, requirements, critical information
[Some People Read] - Supportive text, background info, purpose of content
[Few People Read] - Extra information or resources

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Writing Examples

Below we have two versions of basically the same content. The first one is text based while the second one really tries to distill the important information.

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This Example Text

If you're planning on using images, videos, or other non-text content on your page then you will need to include a text based alternative format.

This alternative content needs to be on the same page, it can not be a separate page; however, you can create a page with additional content that can be linked to. This would serve both the regular and text based data, it can not be a subsitute.

Videos are required to have accurate closed captions. Many online services offer some kind of automatic closed captions which you are required to review and correct when needed.

A Better Version

If you're using images, videos, or non-text content you need an alternative text based format.

Text equivalent must be on the same page
Equivalent means if image / video is removed same understanding is relayed to users
Video captions must be accurate, review and correct before posting

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Is everything now a bullet point?

No, but understanding tl;dr (too long; didn't read) is real and people will skip over text.

Short paragraphs read better online and in different device sizes. Not everyone is reading content on a desktop computer. People will look for header landmarks and bullet points before committing that they will read it all.

Let space be your friend

Organize your content into parts then use headers to define it. Keep topics on point and use language that makes sense to your users. If you're documenting a task or process, break things down into managable parts or even managable pages.

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Remove Unnecessary Words

It is a learned art to write for the web as you may need to write the whole thing out then go back and remove words that don't really need to be there.

Omit Needless Words

-Strunk & White

Ask A Friend

Review your work with others, make sure you make your critical points.

The average time on a page is very short and few people would even read this line on the page.

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