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Writing for the web
Writing for the web is very different from writing for print.
Everyone who visits your website does so because they want to complete a task. They may want to find a piece of information, or contact someone, or apply for something. The content of your website must be based around helping your visitors to complete their tasks. The web is a user-led medium.
Seven simple steps to writing better web content
- Omit needless words - remove half of the words on a page and then try to remove half of what's left.
- If possible avoid small talk/padding - web visitors want to get at the content.
- Keep your instructions to a bare minimum.
- Use bulleted lists where possible.
- Think about your audience and what they want.
- Links must describe what a user will get when they select them - 'click here' is not acceptable. e.g. See the section on links that work
- Try to avoid dead end pages - pages work best if they end in an action.
- Be clear and unambiguous - avoid jargon and abbreviations.
- Be consistent in your use of punctuation and grammar (see consistency guidelines).
- Use headings correctly - they are the backbone of any web page (see headings and emphasis).
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