10 Essential Tips for Writing Web Based Projects 1 Know your audience Before drafting content ask yourself these questions Who is my primary audience What about a secondary audience who can influence and inform my primary audience How will they find my site online For example say you re creating a coaching website or an online portfolio Your primary audience might be existing clients However your secondary audience is much broader and could include other professionals reporters or anyone who might need your services in the future You ll need to make sure your content is both accessible and interesting to all of these audiences 2 Follow the inverted pyramid model Web readers have short attention spans they ll decide whether your site has the information they need in seconds Structure your content like an upside down pyramid or cone The most important messages go at the top of the page Then gradually drill down to the more specific supporting information 3 Be Concise and Organized Ensure your content is as concise as possible Take out the red pen to determine which words you can delete place emphasis on and highlight what is actually important Using lists accordions tabs and different headers to break up sections and organize content will make for a more friendly user experience on desktop and mobile 4 Stick to active voice Use active rather than passive verbs and specify the subject of the sentence For example rather than writing products can be ordered on our website say You can order products on our website Active voice helps create succinct reader friendly sentences It s also more direct when you speak directly to the audience You can do it it s more engaging than saying It can be done 5 Don t limit your prose to generalities and high level statements Specific real world examples help readers better understand and visualize your messages Consider these two descriptions This is the best dog toy money can buy Or We made the Rough Rover dog toy from durable 100 percent natural rubber designed to resist punctures and tears from even the most dedicated of chewers Which version gives you a clearer picture of the type of toy you re buying Specific details in the second description show readers the dog bone rather than tell them about it Tip 6 Nix the Jargon The journalist grabbed a SOT from the MOS drove back to the station and put the story in the can Many of these terms are comprehensible only to broadcast journalists A reader friendly revision would be The journalist interviewed a bystander about the incident and recorded her statement to include in the story Tip 7 Make text Scannable Make sure the material is easy to read in addition to presenting the most critical information at the top Most web users will scan a page for the information they re looking for and if they can t find it quickly they ll go on Use bulleted or numerical lists Always include white space Divide content into sections Topic Climate Change What Is Climate Change Drivers of Climate Change Current and Projected Impacts of Climate Change Solutions to Reduce Emissions Learn More Tip 8 Incorporate Multimedia An easy to understand graphic or graph can also explain a hard topic better than text alone If you re not a professional graphic designer there are a variety of ways to incorporate visuals into your website as well as some wonderful sites to assist you create graphics yourself such as Canva Tip 9 Layer website content The beauty of a website is that it s simple to move readers from one page to another Help readers find more great content by hyperlinking certain words or phrases to other relevant resources especially those on your own website This will keep online service in your information and moving throughout your website Tip 10 Leave them wanting more Keep these calls to action short and simple with action verbs like Download Share Join Sign Up Learn More or Watch at the beginning And of course make sure to include a link that allows readers to complete the action you re requesting