Writing for the web

How to write well for your audience, including academics and industry peers.

There is a difference between writing for print or academic journals and writing for the web.

A common desire from website owners and copywriters is to want to share all the information about the University, school or service at once. But the key to writing persuasive and compelling web content is selectiveness.

“People read differently on the web than they do on paper. This means that the best approach when writing for the web is different from writing for print.” – Government Digital Service, Writing for Gov.uk

The Nielson Normal Group have published research on the topic which is summarised as:

“How users read on the web – summary: They don't. People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.”

You can’t afford to be long-winded with your online communication.

Note: Don't confuse long-winded with long-content. It's perfectly fine to have a lot of content if it is engaging to the user i.e. written well with the user in mind.

But keep in mind:

The University is competing with hundreds of similar organisations just a click away. You have a very short time in which to grab the attention of your website visitors, convey your school/service message, offerings, differentiating factors, and compel them to act.

This guide is here to help you understand the basic principles of writing for the web. 

How to write for academics and peer groups

“Government experts often say that because they’re writing technical or complex content for a specialist audience, they do not need to use plain English. This is wrong.” Government Digital Service, Writing well for specialists.

This is also true when we’re writing for academics or industry peers.

Why?

“Research shows that higher literacy people prefer plain English because it allows them to understand the information as quickly as possible.” Government Digital Service, Writing well for specialists

These people often have the most to read. Make their life easier.

Keep sentence structure simple. If there is a technical term you need to use, feel free. But explain what it means at the first mention on a page.

How to write well for the web

Clear writing is good writing.

Content written for the web should be easy to read and understand. So use:

• short sentences
• short paragraphs
• sub-headed sections
• simple vocabulary (plain English)

On the web, being direct about your goods and services has a greater impact than being warm and endearing. There is a time and a place to be endearing – the last thing we want to do is scare our visitors away, however we need to ensure that they are aware of the benefits of whatever it is they are looking at.

Next

Answer these question for great content

1. Who am I writing for?
2. What task are they trying to achieve? Why?
3. Does my content help them complete their task?

Keep these questions at the core of everything you create and you will develop clear, useful content.

For example, if you’re creating a new page or section on a page ask yourself:

• Is this content aimed at my audience?
• Will it help them complete their goal or is it just something we want to tell them?
• Is anyone looking for this information?
• How does it make my audience’s life easier?

Who do we write for?

The University of Huddersfield’s website has 4 main audiences, and each has its own channel (subdomain). They are:

Recruitment* (www.hud.ac.uk)

Research/Industry (research.hud.ac.uk)

Current students (students.hud.ac.uk)

Staff (staff.hud.ac.uk)

If you are unsure where your content should live on the website, please speak with your Web Editor or the Web Content Officer in central marketing.

Examples of good web writing

I've worked with the Student Records team to write content for their webpage. Originally the content was focused on the departments point of view and what they wanted to tell students.

Here's the original introduction to their page.

Page introduction (original)

We look after your student record whilst you are enrolled at the University. This includes making sure your course and personal details are correct and confirming your attendance to Student Finance England (or Student Awards Agency Scotland or Student Finance Wales).

We work closely with your academic school and other support services at the University.

We also take care of your enrolment, when you first join us, and your re-registration as you continue through your course at Huddersfield."

Commentry

Notice how every sentence starts with "we". The point of view is from the team and what they do. Not why it's important to the student (audience) or why they should care about the information.

Here's the rewrite, created in collaboration with the team.

Page introduction (rewrite)

While at University your student record is very important. It makes sure your course and personal details are correct, as well as confirming your attendance to Student Finance England (or Student Awards Agency Scotland or Student Finance Wales).

It is the role of the Student Records team to look after your student record. So if you have any questions about your course details or personal details then please [contact us ][mailto:studentrecords@hud.ac.uk] .

It might also be useful to know that we take care of your enrolment and your re-registration each year. As such we work closely with your academic school, and other support services when needed.

Commentry

Straight away the first sentence tells the student that their record is important. The second sentence goes on to tell them why it's important.

Notice how the rewrite uses "your" a lot. This is a good indication that you are speaking to your audience from their point of view. This is because "your" requires the writer to think about their audience, where as using "we" makes the writer think about themself.

TL;DR

Think:

1. Who am I writing for?
2. What task are they trying to achieve? Why?
3. Does my content help them complete their task?

Use:

• short sentences
• sub-headed sections
• simple vocabulary (plain English)

We have 4 main web audiences:

• Recruitment (www.hud.ac.uk)
• Research (research.hud.ac.uk)
• Current students (students.hud.ac.uk)
• Staff (staff.hud.ac.uk)

Use plain English; even when writing for academics and industry peers.

Notes

*The Recruitment channel is for recruiting prospective students. However, it also contains other sections of the website such as about and legal info.

Do you have content that doesn’t fit into one of the 4 channels?

Use the ‘The University’ section on the Recruitment Channel to publish content that doesn’t fit into the 4 audiences mentioned above.

T4 location: University of Huddersfield > The University

Campaigns should sit in the Inspire section of the Recruitment Channel:

T4 location: University of Huddersfield > Inspire

Your content should be placed in the right channel, so it can be found by the right audience.