How we write for the web

When we write for NRW we should:

• use writing for the web best practice
• follow our style guide and writing for the web guidance

How people read online

Users read very differently online than on paper. They do not necessarily read top to bottom or even from word to word.

Users only read about 20 to 28% of a web page. Where users want to complete their task as quickly as possible, they skim even more.

Eye-tracking studies show that people tend to ‘read’ a webpage in an ‘F’ shape pattern. They look across the top, then down the side, reading further across when they find what they need.

Good online content

Good online content is easy to read and understand.

It uses:

• short sentences
• sub-headed sections
• simple vocabulary

This helps people find what they need quickly and absorb it effortlessly.

Use plain English

Do not use formal or long words when easy or short ones will do. Use ‘buy’ instead of ‘purchase’, ‘help’ instead of ‘assist’, and ‘about’ instead of ‘approximately’.

We lose trust from people if we use ‘buzzwords’ and jargon. You can generally get rid of these words by breaking the term into what you’re actually doing. Be open and specific.

Write conversationally – picture your audience and write as if you were talking to them one-to-one but with the authority of someone who can actively help.

GOV.UK has a list of words to avoid.

Be concise

To keep content understandable, concise and relevant, it should be:

• specific
• informative
• clear and concise
• brisk but not terse
• incisive (friendliness can lead to a lack of precision and unnecessary words) – but remain human (not a faceless machine)
• serious but not pompous
• emotionless – adjectives can be subjective and make the text sound more emotive and like spin

Content for specialists

Research shows that higher literacy people prefer plain English because it allows them to understand the information as quickly as possible.

People understand complex specialist language, but do not want to read it if there’s an alternative. This is because people with the highest literacy levels and the greatest expertise tend to have the most to read.

Choosing titles

People who use our website often start with a search engine. Use the same vocabulary as your audience so they can find your content. This begins with your page title and summary.

If people cannot find your page or understand the content, they will not be able to act on it or know it’s for them.

Keep your title short, where possible

Your title should be 65 characters or less (including spaces).

You can use more than 65 characters if it’s essential for making the title clear or unique, but do not do this routinely because:

• Google cuts off the rest of the title at around 65 characters
• longer titles are harder to understand

Make your titles clear and descriptive

The title should provide full context so that users can easily see if they’ve found what they’re looking for.

By being general about a topic, you leave the user asking ‘what is this in relation to?’

Check your title makes sense

Your title should make sense:

• by itself – for example ‘Regulations’ does not say much, but ‘Regulations for environmental waste’ does
• in search results

Titles do not have to reflect any official document title. Make them user focused, clear and descriptive so that users can distinguish if it’s the right content for them.

Find out what the public calls your content by using search tools to look up keywords. Your scheme, organisation or process’s official or internal name may not be what the public calls it. Once you know the most popular keywords you can prioritise them in the title, summary, introduction and subheadings.

Using ‘ing’ in titles

Use the active verb (‘Submit’) if you use the page to do the thing.

Good form title example: Submit your cockles catch return

Use the present participle (‘Submitting’) if the page is about doing the thing, but you do it elsewhere.

Good guidance title example: Submitting your hazardous waste return

Remove the date unless it makes the title unique

Put the date in the title if the page is part of a series that has the same title.

For example, a list of annual reports:

Title: Annual regulation report 2020
Title: Annual regulation report 2019
Title: Annual regulation report 2018

It’s helpful to include the date range if you publish multiple versions of the same information for different periods of time.

Do not use questions

Do not use questions as headings - they’re hard to front-load (putting the most important information first) and users want answers, not questions.

Use sentence case

Do not capitalise each word in the title unless the title includes a proper noun.

Writing summaries

Along with the title, the summary is usually what users see in search results so it should give them a clear indication of what the content is about. Make sure people can see quickly whether the page will have the information they need.

Keep all summaries to 160 characters (including spaces) as Google usually only shows the first 160 characters in search results. If your summary is longer, make sure you cover the main point of the page in the first 160 characters.

Summaries should end with a full stop. It can help people who use assistive technology like screen readers.

Use plain English to avoid confusion

Use plain English to make the purpose of the content clearer, and write like you’re talking to your user one-on-one.

Avoid redundant introductory words

Do not repeat the content type in the summary - for example, do not say “this consultation is about…” or “a form to…”.

Use as few words from the title as possible, and include keywords that you’ve not used in the title.

Use active language

Keep summaries active and include a verb. You can use words like ‘How…’, ‘What…’ and ‘When…’ to introduce active words, for example ‘When applying for a…’.

Short sentences

People with some learning disabilities read letter for letter - they do not bounce around like other users. They also cannot fully understand a sentence if it’s too long.

People with moderate learning disabilities can understand sentences of 5 to 8 words without difficulty. By using common words we can help all users understand sentences of around 25 words.

Create focused body content

Keep your body copy as focused as possible.

1. Do not repeat the summary in the first paragraph.
2. Use the ‘inverted pyramid’ approach with the most important information for the user at the top tapering down to lesser detail.
3. Break up text with descriptive subheadings. The text should still make sense with the subheadings removed.
4. Paragraphs should have no more than 5 sentences each.
5. Includes keywords to boost natural search rankings.

Using headings

Do not use:

• questions - they’re hard to front-load (putting the most important information first) and users want answers, not questions
• technical terms unless you’ve already explained them
• ‘introduction’ as your first section – users do not want an introduction, just give the most important information

Heading levels

Use heading levels (subheadings) to break up your content and give it a sensible navigation structure. Each page title is an H1 (heading level 1), so start at H2 and do not use H1 in your content.

Do not skip heading levels when moving from a higher level to a lower level, for example from H2 to H4. Screen reader users may navigate using a list of headings - a missed heading level can make this confusing.

Do not use bold text instead of using subheadings. This is inaccessible because a screen reader will not recognise it as a header.

You do not always need to have text between headings. Missing text between headings is not a WCAG fail, but sometimes adding text between headings is helpful to provide context. For example, users expect to go from H1, normally the page title, to H2 without any explanatory text. It can be helpful to have content between an H2 and H3 especially when it’s not clear how the H3(s) follow from H2.

Make sure your subheadings are front-loaded with search terms and make them active.

Headings and start buttons

Make sure start buttons are under a related heading. If the start button is nested under a heading, that heading must relate to the start button’s task (for example, ‘Register online’). Otherwise it will not be accessible. You do not always need text between the heading and the start button.

Do not use FAQs

We discourage FAQs because they:

• duplicate other content on the site
• cannot be front-loaded (putting the most important words people will search for), which makes usability difficult
• are usually not frequently asked questions by the public, but important information dumped by the organisation 
• mean that content is not where people expect to find it (content needs to be in context)
• can add to search results with duplicate, competing text

If you write content by starting with user needs, you will not need to use FAQs.

The digital team can help if NRW really is receiving questions that really are frequently asked, so get in touch.

Use the active voice

Use the active rather than passive voice. This will help you write concise, clear content.

Run your copy through the Hemingway Editor to help make your writing bold and clear. 

Address the user

Address the user as ‘you’ where possible. Content on the site often makes a direct appeal to citizens and businesses to get involved or take action, for example ‘You can contact us by phone and email’ or ‘Submit your cockles catch return’.

Using technical terms

Where you need to use technical terms, you can. They’re not jargon. You just need to explain what they mean the first time you use them.