Writing for the Web

Follow University style

°®¶ą´«Ă˝ has its own style, based on Associated Press (AP) style and the Chicago Manual of Style, but with some customization. When writing for °®¶ą´«Ă˝'s website, it’s important to follow University style because it helps reinforce the University’s brand and professionalism. 

Explore the °®¶ą´«Ă˝ Style Guide, and for guidance on how University style dictates use of a large group of commonly used words, visit the Preferred Words List.

Guidelines for good web writing

Use the active voice

  • “Passive sentences are some of my challenges” is not as powerful as “Passive sentences challenge me.”

Focus on the reader

  • Your content should be about the reader.
  • Write as though you are writing to one person, not a group of 80,000.
  • Focus on the benefits to the readers.

Make your pages quickly scannable

  • Break text up with headings, subheads, bullet points, callouts, as appropriate.
  • User headings to highlight topics on a page. Headings should be descriptive to help readers find the information they're looking for.
  • Use one — and only one — H1 heading per page to describe the main topic of the page. 
  • Think of headings as an outline for your page content. Heading levels should only increase by one. Example:

One H1 per page

Use H2 headings for each section of your page's content.

H3s nest inside H2 sections.

H4s nest inside H3 sections.

Use H2 for a new section. Not every section needs an H3 or H4. 

Keep it simple and easy to read

  • Put the most important information first.
  • Use subheads that summarize key information and break up text.
  • Use bullets, highlighting and boldface to draw attention to key messages.
  • Use short headings, sentences and paragraphs.

Eliminate unnecessary words

  • Avoid complex words or jargon.
  • Focus on one key topic per page.
  • Use contractions.

 Don’t welcome readers to the page

  • You don’t open a phone book and read “Welcome to the phone book.”

Be clear first, then catchy

  • Top stories, breaking news work well as subject headers.

A good picture can be worth 1,000 words

  • Use good photos and videos to stand in for text if appropriate.
  • Always fill in alt text fields with descriptions of what's in the image.

Provide useful information

  • Include a call to action of where the reader can/should go next, if appropriate.
  • Include links to additional, relevant information.
  • Avoid sending readers to a "dead-end "page — if you have a "thank you" page, for example, include information and links that may be of interest to your audience, so that they continue to engage with your content.