How To Write for Users

A better writing for web guide.

Learn about basic steps to create and deliver great website content. Making the content as easy to understand as possible makes it better for everybody and makes content more accessible.

Step by step guidance on writing new content for your website

  • 1

    Know what to write about

    Digital Commons platform offers state agencies cohesion and best practices for website management, putting the content in the hands of communicators and subject matter experts. Learn how to create good content with this checklist.

    Writing for Web training

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    Users skim pages. Like it or not, most users skim pages by the headings and link titles. Being able to understand and navigate a page based on its structure is critically important for people with visual, reading, and attention disabilities.

    Break up your text with brief but descriptive headings and subheadings so users can find information faster. Screen readers navigate content based upon how the text is tagged, not how it looks. Logical heading order and unordered lists are meaningful. Selecting a header out of order because of size preference is not meaningful. 

  • 2

    Understand your website audience

    Analytics Is Content’s Best Friend. Analytics data helps you find most popular content on the site as well as top search keywords and phrases. Visit Google Analytics FAQ section to find insights about some of the most useful features.

     

  • 3

    How it all fits together?

    There are some free tools that could help you improve readability. Remember to use short sentences and employ active verbs. If your audience is the general public, a 6th or 8th grade reading level will ensure your message is clear. Always use spell check and clean formatting when pasting in the text editor.

    Grammarly

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    Hemingway App

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    Rewordify.com
     

Still not sure how to write content? Visit Nielsen Norman Group website to check Writing for the Web Articles