Make your text easy to read

When using short words, you may need to break up long compound words. Examples:

• Exam enrolment period →  the period during which you must enroll for the exam

• Rights protection → protection of rights

‘That makes the sentence longer,’ the observant web editor might object. And yes, it does. In each situation, you must decide which is easier to read and understand: short words and longer sentences or long compound words and shorter sentences. Often the first method is the easiest.

Using short phrases means finding shorter versions of phrases that are probably second nature to you. For example:

• You have the option to → you can
• So that → so
• Regarding → about
• Be aware → (unnecessary; we only write things to be aware of!)

Short sentences are easier to read. Avoid too many clauses or interposed sentences. However, keep in mind that variety makes one’s language vibrant, so sometimes writing slightly longer sentences is OK.

The user scans our pages for answers, and it’s easier to get an overview of multiple small chunks of text than one long, dense chunk.

Even if readers of news and articles aren’t looking for an answer to a specific question, paragraphs still make the text easier to understand and read, so it’s a good idea to use many small paragraphs. 3–4 lines per paragraph is often appropriate.

Sentences with an active verb and clear subject are easier to understand and respond to. Avoid passive verb constructions; use active constructions instead. For example:

• be unsubscribed by→ you unsubscribe
• is postponed by → he postpones
• is investigated by → we investigate

Headed sections make it easier to navigate a page and find what you’re looking for. Make sure the headline contains keywords significant for the paragraph – preferably the entire message if possible.

You don’t need a new subheading for every paragraph: only when you have a new message.

• Bullet points make a text more manageable.
• Bullet points are easy to scan.
• The points must be consistent.
• Keep your bullet points short.

And a little grammar: Add a full stop after each bullet point if it’s a complete sentence. Add a full stop after the last bullet point if the bullet points are not complete sentences.

If your bullet points are rather long, perhaps a fold-out box (accordion) is a better alternative?

Avoid marking up single words in sentences as links – links in the middle of the text disrupt the reading flow and rarely give a complete picture of where one ends up when clicking something. Instead, your link should be on separate line below the paragraph so you can write a thorough link text.

‘Read more’ or ‘Click here’ are not adequate link texts. When we scan the page to find what we’re looking for, links stand out, so the link text should be clear even if we haven’t read the rest of the content in the section or on the page. Link texts can be full sentences.