Web Writing Crash Course: 2. Language

The key to connecting with your audience is to speak their language. And no, we’re not talking about English or French. We’re talking about the use of tone, vocabulary, and grammar to engage your readers.

Language Tip #1: Talk to your audience, not at them

Your tone depends greatly on the purpose of the website and who your audience is, but generally, you want to keep it friendly and conversational.

Writing in first and second person (“I”, “we” and “you”) gives your visitors the impression that you are talking to them, and therefore are more likely to get the message you are trying to convey. Meanwhile, writing in third person (“they”) can make the audience feel irrelevant and disengaged.

It is also more effective to use active than passive voice. Not only does passive voice makes sentences longer, but it also makes you sound bureaucratic and unapproachable.

For example, if you want to communicate with students, a statement like

will receive better responses than

Language Tip #2: Keep your sentences short and sweet

Research shows that people scan web text rather than read every word. Short, clear, and simple sentences are easier to scan, and naturally will appeal to a larger audience.

The recommended sentence length for the web is 20 words. If your sentences are longer than 40 words, they may be challenging for many readers to scan.

When you write, try to focus on nouns and verbs, and use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. If your sentence consists of many sub-clauses, consider breaking it into smaller sentences.

Language Tip #3: Stick to simple words

Did you know that the majority of Canadian read at an eighth-grade level? Why “obfuscate” them with complex words when simple words such as “confuse” do just fine!

Writing in simple language allows more people to read and understand your message. It also makes your content easier to scan. Even highly educated people read simple words faster.

Sticking to commonly used words is also better for SEO. If your post uses the same words and phrases which your audience uses, it will be more likely to show up when your audience searches for those words!

Language Tip #4: Avoid acronyms and jargon

Unless your site visitors are in the same profession as you or already know what you are referring to, do not use acronyms and jargon. If you do use acronyms, make sure you spell them out when first used them on the post.

Consider the following sentence, which uses terms a web professional would understand:

To someone who has never worked with websites, this sentence makes little sense. What is a breadcrumb? And how can pages have “parents”?

A more reader-friendly version can be:

Using a more universal language makes your content accessible to a larger audience and helps you come across as approachable.

And those are our tips for this week. Look out for next week’s post when we discuss how to structure your content!