Web Content
Content
Writing for the Web means writing in a more concise, shortened style. Site visitors do not read Web pages, they skim (see Jakob Nielson’s Alertbox article, How Users Read on the Web ). People scan materials or see in small “chunks” of words on the Web.
- Avoid long, scrolling pages. Pages should be no longer than two screen heights.
- Determine key ideas make those descriptive sub-heads.
- Bulleted information stands out for Web users
- Communicate one main idea per paragraph.
- Highlight key words.
- Avoid using italics (difficult to read on some monitors).
- Don't underline for emphasis-underlined text is assumed to be a link.
- Use action verbs.
- Stay focused on the essential ideas.
- Use concise headlines to communicate.
- Keep writing simple—follow a more journalistic style of writing rather than an academic style of writing.
For more information, see John Morkes and Jakob Neilsen's Writing for the Web.
For information specific to WMU, see Writing For and About Western Michigan University.
Proofread and Keep Your Content Current
Remember, your site reflects upon not only yourself and/or your department, but also Western Michigan University. Before releasing your pages, be sure they are grammatically and typographically correct. Look for inconsistencies, ambiguity, factual errors, missing words, easily confused words (to, two, and too, their, there, they're, your, you're, etc.), and formatting problems. Have someone besides yourself proofread as well. Keep your content current and assure that you are using an automatically updating date stamp, so the last update date is visible.