The three minute version...

We're often asked about web copywriting. This is designed to be a very brief and practical reference for people who are generating content (text) for website presentation.

Computer screens are low resolution compared with paper (and other issues exist including backlighting, radiation and flexibility of viewing placement) and therefore are not as good for thorough reading of large amounts of text.

Without consciously choosing to do so, most website users scan rather than read thoroughly. Accordingly text generated for web presentation should be authored differently from text generated for paper presentation.

The main characteristics of good screen text are:

•      brevity
•     use of (bulleted) lists
•     judicious use of highlighted keywords (e.g using bold fonts or colours)
•     meaningful headings and subheadings
•     breaking text into smaller paragraphs (one issue/idea per paragraph)
•     leading early presentation of the key issue/idea (on the page, within the paragraph).