Writing tips for web content
Web content should be clear, concise and well-structured. Here are a few tips:
Relevant content
- For whom are you writing?
- What do you want the text to achieve?
- What is important? What can be eliminated? Rank the content.
Logical outline to help the visitor
- Write the most important item first.
- Use an introduction if possible. An introduction facilitates understanding and should only include the most important points.
- Come up with a good heading. Headings are important for search engines, readability and understanding the content. The main heading on the page should have clear connections to the text content in the menu link that leads to the page. The main heading should be content-rich and indicate what the article is about. Avoid one-word headings.
- Use intermediate headings and subheadings liberally – they will make the page easier to read.
- Intermediate headings should summarise the content of the paragraph and attract reading.
- Address one train of thought per paragraph.
- Preferably, use bullet lists for enumeration.
- Proper outline: Main heading (h1) Subheading (h2) Paragraph heading (h3), Recommended size. 12 points.
- Links assist the eye (and search engines). Write content-rich link text, such as: “How we achieve a better work environment”. Do not use: “Click here”, “Read more”.
- Use bold font for emphasis. Avoid long texts in italics. Never underline text.
- Long text documents should be split into sub-pages.
Fill entry pages with information
Use entry pages (landing pages) to briefly present the subsequent content. Do not forget to link to sub-pages directly in the body text, even if the menu contains the same links. The result will be a higher rank with search engines.
Use plenty of images
Images improve readability!
- Make sure the image quality is adjusted to fit the screen resolution.
- A descriptive, but brief alternate text is required.
- Write captions where possible. For images in their own paragraph, type shift + return and the text will be close to the image.
- Write the photographer’s name where possible.
- Be scrupulous with copyrights when using images from the Internet.
- Uppsala University’s image archive, Image Bank, has images that are free for use for all productions by the university.