Guidelines for writing for the web and creating content for your website

Is writing for the web the same as writing for print media? The answer is NO. There are major differences since visitors to your website are exposed to multiple stimuli and distractions. On the web, attention is a scarce resource, while content is abundant. Quality content has a better chance to stand out, but for that to happen, some tips and writing advice for optimizing web information must be considered. Therefore, if we want our website to achieve the desired success, we must focus on presenting content that is as appropriate as possible for the environment in which we are working: the Internet.

In this regard, here are some practical tips that can serve as a style guide when writing content for the website.

When writing for the web, always keep in mind the following:

• The visitor accesses the website in whatever order they prefer: therefore, each page must be independent and understandable on its own.
• Text is the first thing seen on a webpage, above the design (especially titles and highlights).
• Reading text on the web is 25% slower than reading in print. So we should try to use half the number of words we would use for a printed medium.
• The user is usually impatient; they do not read a page word by word: they scan, looking for the desired information. This means you need to write to be read: short, clear, and concise texts.
• We must write considering the audience we are addressing, making reading easier with simple sentences. Avoid complex titles, sarcasm, and metaphors.

Writing style for digital media

• Whenever possible, write in an informal language. It is friendlier and easier to understand.
• Use direct, brief, simple, and concise language. For example:

Constitutes => Is
At this moment => Now

• Use half the words you would in printed texts. Short paragraphs (2 or 3 sentences).
• Avoid metaphors or complicated language that forces reading word by word.
• Avoid starting the first paragraph with an introduction to what is on the rest of the page or references to other pages or sections. For example, avoid expressions like:

As we said earlier…
We will see later…

• Do not use adjectives or exaggerated expressions like “fantastic,” “incredible,” or “extraordinary,” as this diminishes the credibility of your content.
• Limit advertising messages to the designated areas.
• Abbreviate text by omitting words that add no meaning. For example:

as we said earlier

• Use the active voice. It is stronger than the passive voice. In these cases, you should swap the agent and the subject. It’s also better to use infinitives rather than nouns. For example:
  The report was issued by the staff => The staff issued the report
  The goal is development => The goal is to develop
• Use precise verbs that eliminate redundancy and reduce text. For example:
  serves to explain => explains
  make use of => use
• Address the reader personally, if appropriate, using words like “you” or “we”.
• The page text should always be independent and understandable on its own. We never know from where the user is accessing.

Facilitate reading. Write for scanning

• Leave sufficient white space on the page.
• Do not use italic text or ALL CAPS as it is harder to read. To highlight text, use bold.
• Do not use underlined text as it can be confused with links.
• Use short paragraphs, subtitles, and lists. Avoid long blocks of text by using bulleted lists (only one sublevel, and numbering if order matters).
• Highlight the most important elements (keywords and main ideas) with bold or lists: mark keywords that differentiate the page from others or indicate the essence of a paragraph, avoiding underlining (which can be confused with links).
• Use graphics and content tables sparingly, only when they add value, as they can distract the visitor’s attention.
• Organize content following the inverted pyramid style: from most to least important, limiting sentences to one idea per paragraph, with the main idea at the beginning of the first paragraph.
• Remember that the visitor will likely only read the first sentence of each paragraph (visual scanning), so the summary of the page (main idea) should be clear at the start.
• Do not write long pages to avoid excessive scrolling: break lengthy articles into several pages or related sections with hyperlinks, trying not to exceed the screen size, and follow the inverted pyramid principle for each fragment.

10 web design trends in 2025

Create clear and impactful titles

A good title accounts for 75% of your content’s success; it is read on average five times more than the rest of the text. You have 3 to 5 seconds to capture your visitors’ attention before they decide to leave your page, which is why headlines are so important and positioned at the top of the page. Once your visitor sees it, it becomes the first indicator of whether they want to stay or leave.

The title of a web page should be understood independently (self-descriptive), be brief, and use only meaningful words (no articles or prepositions).
Remember that the title is the first thing that loads on a web page and what is saved in the browser favorites. It is also what Google sees first, so the better it describes the article, the more easily we will be found.

To convince your target audience, keep in mind that your title must answer these 3 questions.

• What is the offer here?
  Often the target audience of a landing page does not find an answer to this question in your title, which in reality does not meet the expectations people have from the moment they enter your page.

• Why does my audience need what I am offering?
  The target audience always wants to know what they can do once they obtain what you are offering, or how they will feel once they have it. That is why it is so important to be clear about the benefit they will get. Once they understand your business offer precisely, they won’t leave your landing page.

• Why is this landing page the only place where they can get what you are offering?
  Your title should describe what makes your product unique to your potential customers compared to the rest of the market. If you are not completely sure your offer is unique, it’s time to add reasons that make it so, in order to achieve your business success.

Keep your target audience’s attention with the subtitle

The second most important thing when writing for the web is the subtitle. This is an excellent opportunity to describe your business ideas that were too long to fit in your title. The headlines and subtitles of a page should clearly indicate the content of the sections they title, directly, briefly, and simply (without metaphors or wordplay).

These are three recommended ways to write your subtitles:

• Keep your target audience intrigued with a clear order
  Statistics are a good way to show that your offer is unique, just like testimonials and case studies. Use them to increase your visitors’ interest by showing how many people have purchased or benefited from your offer, product, or services.

• Guide your visitors to continue reading your page with premises they wouldn’t expect to find
  Use a technique that encourages your target audience to think a bit like “Hmm… Really? Tell me more…” this way captivating them with the content to prevent easy distraction and fuel their curiosity.

• Use calls to action
  Clients often lack that extra push that we provide, for example, through a call to action and a sense of urgency: limited-time offers or products running out. It’s not necessary to do this for every product, but occasionally for certain ones.

Establish exclusive benefits using bulleted lists

Benefits are the solution that makes your offer successful and what visitors expect to find in your commercial offer. That’s why you need to summarize the benefits so people really read them, adding specific details about what and why of your offer

You can find three methods to correctly establish the benefits:

• Include a number with your benefits
  Captivate the visitors to your landing page; it doesn’t have to be a large number, just a noticeable number to spark curiosity

• Cover a “why” or reason for the benefit
  It tells visitors that you know something important that may interest them. It demonstrates expertise on the subject and hints at having discovered the cause of something relevant to your visitors.

• Instruction on the benefit
  Instructions that describe to landing page visitors that they will learn a method that can be executed absolutely necessarily.

It is important to have between three and seven benefits or differentiators planned for your business.

Links and calls to action

Visitors to your page or website must fulfill a goal, which is to complete an action so your potential client makes a decision: fill out a form, subscribe to a newsletter, purchase a product, send an email, or make a phone call, among others. Therefore, you must develop clear and concise buttons and links.

• The text of a link or button should help the user identify where it leads, so you must use the most representative words possible.
• Avoid using “click here”, “press here”, “follow this link” or similar.
• Avoid repeating links to the same destination within the same page.
• Take advantage of the text that appears when hovering over the link (attributes “alt” and “title”) to provide more information about it.
• Links capture attention during page scanning and encourage leaving the page, so it is advisable not to use too many.
• External links to reference sites increase the credibility of the page.

Use credible testimonials or success stories

Example of a web testimonial

The opinions of different users who have used a product or experienced a service will give great credibility to your offer. These are known as testimonials or endorsements. In this sense, the main barrier to overcome is the distrust that they are not real testimonials. The more authenticity we can convey, the better; how to do it? Here are some recommendations:

• Put testimonials in quotation marks.
• Include the name and, if possible, the position and company of the client.
• Include a photo of the person or, even better, a video.

And don’t forget to review your content before publishing

• Always review the content when writing for the web once it is generated. This is to correct possible grammatical or spelling errors.
• Allocate a second review to remove words that do not add meaning.

To be able to understand… => To understand…

• Finally, it is important that another person or others review the final version of the text before publishing it. “Two heads are better than one.”

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If your content is well written and optimized for the web, you will have a higher chance of ranking among the top results on Google search. This will make your website receive more traffic and generate more business opportunities. At PIXELPRO, we can help you optimize your website content and improve your search engine ranking, and why not, get you to be first on Google’s listings. Tell us about your project or request a free web audit.

Luis Angel Camargo