304 / COMMUNICATING EXTERNALLY
Preparing
content for
the web
THINK ABOUT
LENGTH
AVOID
FRAGMENTATION
16%
Limit the length of
each paragraph
and each page to
about half of what
you might consider
for a printed page.
Don’t arbitrarily
divide a page that is
likely to be printed.
Be careful not to
subdivide your
information into too
many pieces. Your
readers may be
overwhelmed or
frustrated if they
have too many
choices. Ensure that
each segment is
sensibly organized,
coherent, and easy
to scan.
Writing for the web
Engaging your readers
Why is writing for the internet different?
First, people rarely read websites
word for word. Instead, they scan the
page, picking out individual words and
sentences. Rather than starting at the
beginning of a page and reading from
The way that people read a website is very different from the way in which
they read other written information. You must take this into account when
developing content for a website. It is not sufficient to simply repurpose
content written for print; you need to write specifically for the internet,
thinking carefully about your audience and what they need.
start to finish, internet readers will scan
a site looking for relevant items and then,
if they find something useful, print it for
later reference. Guide your reader by
highlighting the most important or useful
points in your document using headings,
lists, and eye-catching typography.
Try to provide
information in
segments or
“chunks,” and use
lists rather than
paragraphs—
this will allow
readers to quickly
find what they’re
looking for
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WRITING FOR THE WEB / 305
ENSURE
EASY ACCESS
USE
SUMMARIES
PREPARE
FOR PRINT
of users read a web page word
for word; most people only
scan the text, picking out
highlighted words, bold or
colored section headings,
and bulleted points
16%
Your principal
goal should be to
provide access
to the information
people are most
likely to want.
Provide easy-to-
follow clues
that will lead
people to chunks of
information that will
be useful to them.
Include brief but
comprehensive
summaries of
longer documents,
so that readers can
easily tell whether
they need to read
more or can move
on to other content.
Make it easy for
your readers to
find, print, and save
information. If some
aspects of your
content are more
detailed or lengthy,
consider linking to
a PDF file that is
both downloadable
and printable.
Navigation aids
Web readers generally do not read
pages in sequence. Instead, they jump
around on a website looking for content
that interests them, navigating back
and forth across images, ideas, and
words. Providing information in precise
segments or “chunks” will allow readers
to quickly find what they’re looking for.
A well-constructed chunk provides
readers with a comprehensive account,
as well as links to related or supporting
pages. When your content lends itself
to such treatment, use lists rather
than paragraphs. Readers can pick
out information more easily from a list
than from a fully developed paragraph.
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