Understanding how to write for websites can make a big difference to the readability of a web page. It’s surprising how much an online page of text can be improved by following some simple guidelines.

Reading text on a screen is different to reading print. People tend to scan content online, only reading a proportion of the words. A study by usability guru Jakob Nielsen discovered that:

“on the average webpage, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely”.

Here are some simple guidelines to help you make your writing easier to read on websites.

Short paragraphs

One of the simplest yet most effective ways to make a page easier to read is to use paragraphs – and lots of them. As a rule of thumb, try to avoid paragraphs longer than two or three sentences.

To maximise readability for things like blogs, consider one sentence paragraphs. Just look at a BBC news story, they mostly consist of one sentence paragraphs.

Keep it short

As text is less likely to be read online, be as succinct as possible.

Sub headers (like this one – a header 2 title)

Breaking up a page using sub-headers makes it easier to jump to the section of interest. It helps break up text visually, making it easier to scan.

It’s also useful for visually impaired users and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), as it adds structure to a document that can be used by text reading software and puts context to the content when search engines index the page.

Just make sure you are using the proper HTML header tags in your website text editor (e.g. header 2, header 3) and not just bolding the text or manually adjusting the size, or the accessibility and SEO benefits are lost.

Bullets, number lists and blockquotes

HTML, the website markup language, allows for bullet points and number lists that are similar to those found in Word Processors like Microsoft Word.

• They are great for making online content more scannable.
• They also draw attention to important information.
• Blockquotes can also be a great way to add visual impact to the text.

Images

Research has shown that adding an image, even if it has no relevance to the content, makes it more likely that visitors will read the page.

Know your audience

I’ve focused on tips for website content, rather that writing in general. There are many who are much better qualified to do that.

But one rule that is key for both is to ensure you make it both accessible and interesting for your target audience.