Writing for the web is a completely different animal than writing for other mediums. But, being aware, upfront, concise, scannable, and consistent can help you get off to a good start. 

Be Aware

Before you write the first word, you need to be aware of who your audience is. You need to know how they behave, what they’re interested in, and how they speak. Once you’re familiar with their behavior and interests, you can tailor your writing to catch their attention and answer their questions. Once you know how they speak, you can use the same terms and phrases that are in their vocabulary.

Your writing will be most effective once you understand who you’re writing for. And, if you’re writing for more than one audience, making your content as easy to read as possible is key.

Be Upfront

Most visitors won’t read more than 25 percent of the content on your page, so get to the point quick! You should structure your content using the inverted pyramid approach, with the most important information at the beginning. Remember that the more words you put on the page, the harder it becomes for your audience to understand what you’re saying. When you get to your main point quick, your audience is most likely to see and understand the information that you want them to.

Be Concise

Don’t waste your audience’s time. Be as clear and concise as possible in addition to getting to your main points quickly. You can keep it simple by using:

• Active voice
• Shorter words and contractions
• Words instead of symbols
• No more than 25 words in a sentences
• No more than five sentences in a paragraph

When your content is concise and understandable, you’re more likely to keep your readers’ attention.

Be Scannable

While most visitors won’t read all of the content on your page, many may scan the page to find the exact information they need. Breaking up your text with subheadings and lists can help facilitate scanning.

You should use descriptive subheadings, but your text should still make sense without them. Don’t use a subheading before the beginning of your content. And, definitely don’t use “Introduction” as your first subheading. Be sure to structure all of your subheadings similarly throughout the page.

When using lists, you should also construct all of your items similarly—don’t combine sentences and fragments in the same list. And, only use a numbered list to indicate order or importance. While you can choose your own style to follow, I recommend:

• Introducing lists with colons
• Always capitalizing the first word of each item
• Not using punctuation at the end of any item unless they are all complete sentences

Be Consistent

Speaking of choosing your own style, following a style guide is essential for consistent writing. Being consistent not only makes it easier to read your content, but it also helps instill trust in your readers by setting expectations. With a style guide, you’ll have a reference for consistent capitalization, spelling, punctuation, and more. The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook are great places to start.

When you write good content, your audience will be able to find what they need quickly and understand it effortlessly. But, don’t forget to regularly confirm that your content works for your readers by checking analytics and any feedback mechanisms you have in place.