Writing for the Web
Student Web Presence Guidelines
1. Write in the active voice
“Sentences in the active voice (active sentences) describe “who
does what to whom.”” Reddish p208
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Active sentence = The student must fill out the form
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Passive sentence = The form must be filled out by the student
2. Talk to the audience
• Makes it more personal and engaging if you engage your site
visitors directly
• Use your site visitors’ words
3. Be positive
“Your tone will be lighter and you will use fewer words” Felder p85
Negative
Positive
Do not write negative statements
Write positive statements
5 words
3 words
“Negative words, especially two in a row, require more effort for the reader to
understand” Sammons (1999)
not many
few
not the same
different
not strong enough
too weak
did not remember
forgot
4. Use Plain English
The Plain English website has hundreds of plain English alternatives to the
pompous words and phrases that litter official writing.
Not Plain English
Plain English
advantageous
useful, helpful
applicant (the)
you
according to our records
our records show
acquaint yourself with
find out about, read
alternatively
or, on the other hand
anticipate
expect
apparent clear,
clear, plain, obvious, seeming
appropriate
proper, right, suitable
as a consequence of
because
assistance
help
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/alternative.pdf
5. Choose Anglo Saxon words
“If you want strength and brevity, choose Anglo-Saxon words over their
French and Latin or Greek counterparts” Felder p86
Anglo-Saxon
French
Latin/Greek
ask
interrogate
question
dead
deceased
defunct
end
finish
conclude
thin
spare
emaciated
6. Omit Needless Words
Be concise by removing needless words such as:
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very
almost
seems
possibly
rather
sort of
may
generally
pretty
kind of
perhaps
apparently
relatively
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indeed
certainly
obviously
surely
exactly
somewhat
7. Remove redundancies
1.
2.
3.
4.
Meaningless modifiers: (begin) to initiate
Redundant categories: (past) experience
Paired words: (basic) necessity
Wordy phrases: As a consequence of
Avoid
Try
A considerable amount of
Many, a lot
A number of
Some, many
As a consequence of
Because
At the present time
Now
Circumstances in which
When or where
Due to the fact that
Because
Each individual
Everyone, all
For the purpose of
For
In a case in which
When, where
In accordance with
By
8. Write in inverted pyramids
This keeps the important information at the top of the
screen, above the roll, where users can see it without
having to scroll.
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Start by telling the reader the conclusion
Follow by the most important supporting information
End by giving the background
Succinct introduction
Most important parts of the page at the top of the page
9. Change/Remove Vague Phrases
Unnecessary
Better
At this point in time
Now
The reason is because
This is because/The reason is that
In my honest opinion
In my opinion/I think that
To tell the truth
Don’t use this. Was everything else a lie? In fact
Needless to say
Then don’t say it.
Quite frankly
Frankly Also fine to omit altogether
By and large
In general Also fine to omit altogether.
In regards to
Regarding
In spite of the fact that
Although
He is the man who
He
Useful information
Does that mean all the rest is useless information
10. Avoid nominalizations
Avoid nominalizations (turning verbs into nouns)
Avoid nominalisation
Use these verbs
Approval
Approve
Assessment
Assess, review, check, evaluate
Maintenance
Maintain
Demonstration
Demonstrate, show
Revision
Revise, change, edit
Progression
Progress, improve
11. Highlight Keywords
You can highlight keywords in your text by using:
• bold font
• italics
• hyperlink (should be done sparingly and only if necessary)
Paragraphs
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Start paragraph by setting the context
Start paragraphs with strongest sentence
Paragraphs: 70 words (roughly 4 sentences)
Sentences
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One point per sentence
20 words or fewer
Start sentences with keywords
Reduce the number of clauses per sentence
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Remove the clause altogether and turn it into a separate sentence
Transform the clause into an introductory if or when
Move the clause the end of the sentence where people can digest it better because it
no longer distracts for the flow of the sentence
References
• Felder L (2012) “Writing for the Web”, New Riders
• McGovern G (2006) “Killer Content”, A&C Black
• Price J and L (2002) “Hot Text – Web Writing That
Works” New Riders
• Reddish J (2012) “Letting Go of the Words”, second
edition, Morgan Kaufman
• Krug S (2014) “Don’t Make Me Think” 3rd edition, new
Riders