Define these 3 elements:

1. My intended audience is __________ (prospects, grad students, alumni...)
2. This group of website visitors is looking for __________ (key words)
3. With this audience, the tone of my content needs to be __________ (conversational, instructional, formal...)

Ignore your high school English rules and embrace these TWO instead:

1. Use short, simple, easy-to-understand words and phrases.
2. Make bullet points, numbered lists, captions, headings, sentences, paragraphs, and pages as short and concise as possible.

Make your text easy to scan.

• Be concise
• Keep sentences short and simple—aim for less than two lines long
• Limit paragraphs to the amount of text you can read aloud in one breath
• Use bullet point or numbered lists for brevity and scannability
• Break up long paragraphs and insert more white space on the page
• Use bold text—sparingly—to highlight key words and major points
• Make format choices that are easy on the eyes regardless of device used
   

Give your readers direction.

• Put the most important information in headings
• Match headings to what people are actually searching for
• Give additional guidance with clear subheadings
• Add clarifying text immediately below the appropriate (sub)heading
• Use a numbered list if steps must be taken in a specific order
• List contact information in the footer
• Include links to other information sparingly
   

Include a call to action.

• Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do next
• Use action verbs: contact me, call this number, view the complete list…
   

Keep your readers and lose the confusing punctuation.

• Break a sentence with multiple semi-colons into shorter sentences
• If you have 5 or more punctuation marks in one sentence, consider using a numbered or bullet point list
   

Be consistent and considerate in how you address your audience

• Write as if you are talking to a new friend
• Avoid writing in the third person—use “you” and “we” instead
• Be very clear the first time a word appears on your page—a newcomer won’t understand acronyms and buzz words so spell out both. Example: THC (Templeton Honors College).
• Go for a more conversational style when writing about events, and be more formal when writing about campus rules or graduation requirements
   

Beware of the link labyrinth

• Make your content as concise as possible to avoid “read more”
• Use headings and subheadings to guide viewers down the page
• Make sense in context without sending your audience elsewhere
• If you must direct your readers to another page, be as specific as possible in the linking text—“view the athletic schedule” instead of “click here”
   

Remember more is not always better

• Use bold text, not bold and italics and underlining
• Say what you need to say in as few words as possible
   

Think like an editor and format your text like the professional you are

• Capitalize the first letter of sentences, list items, and subheadings
• Capitalize each word in headings
• Add only one space—not two—at the end of a sentence
• Place end punctuation marks within closing quotation marks
• Only use an apostrophe in a contraction or to show ownership

• Proofread and recheck spelling, grammar, and punctuation
• Double check your facts
• Include correct linking information for the Web team