Website Writing Tips

According to Jakob Nielsen’s article, How to Write for the Web, website readers do not actually read, they scan. When writing your web content, make it your goal to be concise, clear and (when appropriate) scannable.  

To help in that effort, please consider the following best practices:

• Limit word length. Reducing the word count increases readability.
• Nielsen suggests that when preparing information for the web, the word count should be half what it would in conventional writing. On each page, consider a limit of 300-500 words. But of course, it depends on the material you are covering.
• Write short sentences and provide one idea per paragraph.
• When logical, use lists instead of paragraphs.
• In longer articles, use sub-headings.
• Incorporate hyperlinks to other resources on your website and other sites.