CMS Style Guide

The single most important thing you can do to improve your website is have audience-centered content that follows web writing guidelines and best practices. No other strategy has greater potential to positively impact the effectiveness of your website than good web writing.

• Users of all levels of education want and expect clear and concise text on webpages that allows them to quickly scan the available content
• Effective web writing improves the user experience across the board – increasing the effectiveness of your website
• Effective web writing is an essential strategy for improving your search engine optimization (SEO)

Usability of Text

• Copy uses simple/plain language
• Copy uses clear, positive and active language
• Copy is clear and concise
• Copy is accurate and not outdated
• Copy avoids jargon
• Headers and sub-headers are free of acronyms
• Acronyms are defined on first use in paragraphs
• Copy is written for 8th-grade to 10th-grade reading level

Make Pages Easy to Scan

• Users scan webpages - they do not read them like a paper or book. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, “On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.”
• Pages have a clear and logical organization and flow
• All copy is purposeful and concise. There are no lengthy and/or flowery intros or paragraphs.
• Bulleted lists are used whenever possible instead of dense paragraphs
• Paragraphs have no more than three sentences in length (exceptions: news/blog articles, etc.)
• Paragraphs have one topic per paragraph
• Headers and sub-headers are well-written and follow guidelines and best practices, including correct use of header classes. See Headers and Sub-Headers
• Headers and sub-headers are written to be easily scanned with the most important words (i.e., search terms) are located first in the header
• Users can find what they are looking for on your site using only the headers and sub-headers

Writing for Specific Audiences

• Once you have identified your primary and secondary audiences are, you can tailor your content to meet their specific needs. Every piece of content and aspect of design on your website – text, images, graphics, colors, layout, formatting, organization, etc. - should be passed through the filter of audience.
• All copy is written with the specific intended audience in mind
• Copy uses the words your audience would use in conversation
• Copy uses the words your audience would use to search for the information
• All copy adds value for your intended audience(s)