Writing well for the web

People read differently on the web than they do on paper. This means that the best approach when writing for the web differs from writing for print.

When you write for Qualistery you should:

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

Meet the user’s need

Publish only what you believe people need to know to complete their tasks or gain valuable and useful knowledge. 

People usually read text only if they want information. When you write for the web, start with the same question every time: what does the user want to know?

Meeting that need means being:

• specific
• informative
• clear and to the point

Finding information on the web

An individual’s process of finding and absorbing information on the web should follow these steps.

1. I have a question
2. I can find the page with the answer easily – I can see it’s the right page from the search results listing
3. I have understood the information
4. I have my answer
5. I trust the information
6. I know what to do next/my fears are allayed/I do not need anything else

A website only works if people can find what they need quickly, complete their task and leave without having to think about it too much.

Good content is easy to read

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.

Writing well for specialists

• 80% of people preferred sentences written in clear English – and the more complex the issue, the greater that preference .

• the more educated the person and the more specialist their knowledge, the greater their preference for plain English.

People understand complex specialist language but do not want to read it if there’s an alternative. People with the highest literacy levels and the greatest expertise tend to have the most to read. They do not have time to pore through reams of dry, complicated prose.

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.

Style and tone of voice

Blogging offers a personal way of engaging with people. Blog posts are mostly linked to named authors, who put a face to what might otherwise be perceived as a faceless organisation. It’s this personal dimension that, for users, adds credibility and a sense of openness.

This means you should write as you speak. Write as an individual, not as an impersonal organisation or team. You should still follow the style guide but this does not mean you cannot be warm or personal.

Blogs can – and should – spark conversation. This means being accountable for the things you write and responding to comments that meet your comment and moderation policy. If you engage in dialogue, both on your blog and on other social networks, it’ll improve your reader’s experience and help you learn more about them.

Writing in Qualistery Voice

Active Voice

Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.

In active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.

• Yes: Marti logged into the
• No: The account was logged into by

Words like “was” and “by” may indicate that you’re writing in passive voice. Scan for these words and rework sentences where they appear.

One exception is when you want to specifically emphasize the action over the subject. In some cases, this is fine.

• Your account was flagged by our Abuse

Positive Writing

Use positive language rather than negative language. One way to detect negative language is to look for words like “can’t,” “don’t,” etc.

• Yes: To get a donut, stand in
• No: You can’t get a donut if you don’t stand in

After you have written a blog post, read it out loud to check it’s written the way you speak. Once you’re happy, always have someone else review it and request feedback on the overall style and flow of your piece.

Creating and editing blog posts

Qualistery blogs should follow these style guidelines to make sure there is a consistent user experience across the blog platform.

Post Outline

Outlines help you cover every detail to make sure you publish comprehensive content that solves all of your readers’ challenges with the topic. They make sure you don’t miss anything while also keeping you from going too detailed. Writing without an outline is like driving without a map (or to use a more modern metaphor, your smartphone).

In most cases, this simply entails listing your introduction, and then your subsequent section headings. Each heading should represent a main point you want to elaborate on. It doesn’t need to complicated. It just needs to be quick to put together and effective in guiding the flow of your writing. Here’s what a simple outline structure could look like:

Introduction

Main Point 1:

• This is one reason this is interesting
• This is one reason this is interesting
• This is one reason this is interesting

 

Main Point 2:

• This is one reason this is interesting
• This is one reason this is interesting
• This is one reason this is interesting Additional research and recommended reading Conclusion

Call to action

 

Titles

Titles should clearly tell readers what the post is about and entice them to read it. Although it’s a blog, do not try to be clever or play on words – the title should make sense in search results or when read out of context.

A blog post title should be 65 characters or fewer. This is so Google and Twitter display the full title and the user knows what to expect.

Good examples:

• Hack the North is back, and this year it’s bigger and better
• How we worked together to prepare for GDPR
• Tips on how to set up and maintain your own community Bad examples:
• End of an era
• The 4 magic ingredients to cook up success
• We’re hiring
• Weaving magic with innovation

Here are two title generators that can help you with title ideas:

1. SEOPressor Blog Title Generator

This title generator allows you to put in your keyword and choose its category. The tool generates hundreds of title options for you to choose from.

2. Title Generator

Input a key word and get hundreds of title ideas with one click

Writing an Introduction

Hook readers with your Introduction. The introduction will be something you’ll revisit when you are all through with your draft. But writing it first helps you put into words what you’re going to say in your post. It might be clunky, but it’ll launch you into the writing of the actual copy. You can go back and make it amazing and full of hooks later, once your full draft post is done. Here are some tips to build your introduction:

1. Value: Think of your unique angle for the blog Like your headline, share the value your readers will get if they continue to read your blog post. One way to think about this is with the classic marketing technique, WIIFM, otherwise known as what’s in it for me?

2. Fact: Start with an interesting fact or stat about the content within your blog post. Alternatively, you could start with a fact or story that may seem unrelated, but tie it in through the introduction.

3. Anecdote: What is a personal opinion you hold as true that could catch your readers’ attention?

4. Question: Ask a question to help your readers understand the answer is covered throughout your blog post. What if kinds of questions work well for this: What if you never had to worry about {something} ever again?

Breaking up text

To make posts easier to read on a screen, break up the text with paragraphs, headings or relevant images to create more white space on the page. Paragraphs no more than about 5 lines long are easiest to read.

Keep paragraphs down to two or three sentences for crispness and clarity (and avoid more than five at the most). This will keep your writing easy to read and skim through.

Headings

You can use headings to break up the post, but make sure they describe the section beneath them. People use headings to scan a page, so make them meaningful.

You can also use subheadings to break up bigger sections that already have a heading. In WordPress / Google Doc / Word:

• use Heading 2 for headings
• use Heading 3 for subheadings

Only use Heading 3 when you are creating a subsection within a section that already has a Heading 2.

Beneath each heading, you should have several sub-points that support the section’s theme or idea.

Take each bullet point you put beneath each heading in your outline. Then, add a few paragraphs on each one in the appropriate section. If you get on a roll and uncover more relevant information, add it into your post.

Let’s pull this all together to ensure you’re equipped to write awesome body content for your blog post. This simple yet effective process will ensure your post follows a logical structure:

1. Each main point in your outline is a sub-heading. This is an easy way to map your outline to your actual post.

2. Each sub-heading should be supported by facts and relevant information. Consider adding at least two or three paragraphs for each bullet point, beneath each sub-heading, from your outline.

3. Where appropriate, use links to other posts and research materials to support your

Conclusion

A good conclusion should tie your blog post together. At the most basic level, your conclusion should do the following:

1. Resolve the

2. Summarize what you

3. Suggest action that the reader can

Take some time on your conclusion. It doesn’t have to be the amount of time you spend on your introduction, but do make an effort to tie things up and prompt a response or resolution.

Technical Guidance

Images and featured images

Choosing the right images for blog posts can make them more effective and engaging. Every blog post should have at least one image. If you only have one, it should appear at the top of the post.

Images should all be at least 1,000 pixels wide to ensure they are displayed correctly in different places, including social media. They should not be wider than 3,999 pixels.

All images should also be in landscape, rather than portrait.

Once uploaded into WordPress and into a blog post, you should set the size of the image to ‘large’, which is 620 pixels wide.

You can crop pictures using free tools like pixlr.com if you do not have image editing software.

Every post should have a featured image. This is displayed on your blog’s homepage and on social media. The image should clearly illustrate what your blog post is about. It is usually easiest to use the same image you have put at the top of your blog post.

Featured images should not be larger than 1MB. All images should:

• have alternative text (“alt text”) that describes the image for people who cannot see it or use a screen reader.

If you do not have access to a photo library, try using:

• https://www.pexels.com/
• https://pixabay.com/
• https://stocksnap.io/

Link text

Text in links should be self-explanatory when read in isolation to make them accessible for those using a screen reader. Avoid link text that says ‘click here’ and phrase the link text in a way users will know what website they will be taken to if they click on the link.

Excerpt text

Write a summary of up to about 50 words for your blog post and insert it in the ‘Excerpt’ field. The excerpt should tell readers what the post is about and it should be written in a way that encourages them to read it.

The excerpt text will be displayed on your blog homepage and on social media. It will also be featured in email notifications sent to your blog subscribers. If you do not write an excerpt text, WordPress and Twitter will automatically display the first words of your post. This will likely give readers an incomplete experience so it is important to write this text.

You should not use the ‘read more’ tag to generate excerpt text.

Grammar and Mechanics

Adhering to certain rules of grammar and mechanics helps us keep our writing clear and consistent. This section will lay out our house style, which applies to all of our content unless otherwise noted in this guide. (We cover a lot of ground in this section—the search feature will help if you’re looking for something in particular.)

Basics

Write for all readers. Some people will read every word you write. Others will just skim. Help everyone read better by grouping related ideas together and using descriptive headers and subheaders.

Focus your message. Create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content, in sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages.

Be concise. Use short words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers. Be specific. Avoid vague language. Cut the fluff.

Be consistent. Stick to the copy patterns and style points outlined in this guide.

Abbreviations and acronyms

If there’s a chance your reader won’t recognize an abbreviation or acronym, spell it out the first time you mention it. Then use the short version for all other references. If the abbreviation isn’t clearly related to the full version, specify in parentheses.

• First use: Network Operations Center
• Second use: NOC
• First use: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
• Second use: UTC

If the abbreviation or acronym is well known, like API or HTML, use it instead (and don’t worry about spelling it out).

Active voice

Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.

In active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.

• Yes: Marti logged into the
• No: The account was logged into by

Words like “was” and “by” may indicate that you’re writing in passive voice. Scan for these words and rework sentences where they appear.

One exception is when you want to specifically emphasize the action over the subject. In some cases, this is fine.

• Your account was flagged by our Abuse

Capitalization

We use a few different forms of capitalization. Title case capitalizes the first letter of every word except articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. Sentence case capitalizes the first letter of the first word.

When writing out an email address or website URL, use all lowercase.

• freddie@qualistery.com
• com

Don’t capitalize random words in the middle of sentences. Here are some words that we never capitalize in a sentence. For more, see the Word List.

• website
• internet
• online
• email

Contractions

They’re great! They give your writing an informal, friendly tone.

Emoji

Emoji are a fun way to add humor and visual interest to your writing, but use them infrequently and deliberately.

Numbers

Spell out a number when it begins a sentence. Otherwise, use the numeral. This includes ordinals.

• Ten new employees started on Monday, and 12 start next
• I ate 3 donuts at Coffee
• Meg won 1st place in last year’s Walktober
• We hosted a group of 8th graders who are learning to

Sometimes it feels weird to use the numeral. If it’s an expression that typically uses spelled-out numbers, leave them that way.

• A friendly welcome email can help you make a great first
• That is a third-party
• Put your best foot forward with the all-in-one Marketing Platform that grows with

• After you send your newsletter, Freddie will give you a high-five. Numbers over 3 digits get commas:
• 999
• 1,000
• 150,000

Write out big numbers in full. Abbreviate them if there are space restraints, as in a tweet or a chart: 1k, 150k.

Dates

Generally, spell out the day of the week and the month. Abbreviate only if space is an issue in the app.

• Saturday, January 24
• , Jan. 24

Decimals and fractions

Spell out fractions.

• Yes: two-thirds
• No: 2/3

Use decimal points when a number can’t be easily written out as a fraction, like 1.375 or 47.2.

Percentages

Use the % symbol instead of spelling out “percent.”

Ranges and spans

Use a hyphen (-) to indicate a range or span of numbers.

• It takes 20-30

Money

When writing about US currency, use the dollar sign before the amount. Include a decimal and number of cents if more than 0.

• $20
• $19.99

When writing about other currencies, follow the same symbol-amount format:

• ¥1
• €1

Telephone numbers

Use dashes without spaces between numbers. Use a country code if your reader is in another country.

• 555-867-5309
• +1-404-123-4567

Temperature

Use the degree symbol and the capital F abbreviation for Fahrenheit.

• 98°F

Time

Use numerals and am or pm, with a space in between. Don’t use minutes for on-the- hour time.


• 7 am

• 7:30 pm

Use a hyphen between times to indicate a time period.


• 7 am–10:30 pm

Specify time zones when writing about an event or something else people would need to schedule. Since Qualistery is in Germany, we default to CET.

When referring to international time zones, spell them out: Nepal Standard Time, Australian Eastern Time. If a time zone does not have a set name, use its Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) offset.

Abbreviate decades when referring to those within the past 100 years.

• the 00s
• the 90s

When referring to decades more than 100 years ago, be more specific:

• the 1900s
• the 1890s

Punctuation

Apostrophes

The apostrophe’s most common use is making a word possessive. If the word already ends in an s and it’s singular, you also add an ‘s. If the word ends in an s and is plural, just add an apostrophe.

• The donut thief ate Sam’s

• The donut thief ate Chris’s
• The donut thief ate the managers’

Apostrophes can also be used to denote that you’ve dropped some letters from a word, usually for humor or emphasis. This is fine, but do it sparingly.

Colons

Use a colon (rather than an ellipsis, em dash, or comma) to offset a list.

• Erin ordered 3 kinds of donuts: glazed, chocolate, and

You can also use a colon to join 2 related phrases. If a complete sentence follows the colon, capitalize the 1st word.

• I was faced with a dilemma: I wanted a donut, but I’d just eaten a

Commas

When writing a list, use the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma).

• Yes: David admires his parents, Oprah, and Justin
• No: David admires his parents, Oprah and Justin

Otherwise, use common sense. If you’re unsure, read the sentence out loud. Where you find yourself taking a breath, use a comma.

Dashes and hyphens

Use a hyphen (-) without spaces on either side to link words into single phrase, or to indicate a span or range.


• first-time user
• Monday-Friday

Use an em dash (—) without spaces on either side to offset an aside. Use a true em dash, not hyphens (- or –).

• Multivariate testing—just one of our new Pro features—can help you grow your
• Austin thought Brad was the donut thief, but he was wrong—it was

Ellipses

Ellipses (…) can be used to indicate that you’re trailing off before the end of a thought. Use them sparingly. Don’t use them for emphasis or drama, and don’t use them in titles or headers.

• “Where did all those donuts go?” Christy Lain said, “I don’t know…”

Ellipses, in brackets, can also be used to show that you’re omitting words in a quote.

• “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, […] a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the ”

Periods

Periods go inside quotation marks. They go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

• Christy said, “I ate a ”
• I ate a donut (and I ate a bagel, too).
• I ate a donut and a bagel. (The donut was Sam’s.) Leave a single space between sentences.

Question marks

Question marks go inside quotation marks if they’re part of the quote. Like periods, they go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

Exclamation points

Use exclamation points sparingly, and never more than one at a time. They’re like high- fives: A well-timed one is great, but too many can be annoying.

Exclamation points go inside quotation marks. Like periods and question marks, they go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

Never use exclamation points in failure messages or alerts. When in doubt, avoid!

Quotation marks

Use quotes to refer to words and letters, titles of short works (like articles and poems), and direct quotations.

Periods and commas go within quotation marks. Question marks within quotes follow logic—if the question mark is part of the quotation, it goes within. If you’re asking a question that ends with a quote, it goes outside the quote.

Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes.

• Who was it that said, “A fool and his donut are easily parted”?
• Brad said, “A wise man once told me, ‘A fool and his donut are easily ’”

Semicolons

Go easy on semicolons. They usually support long, complicated sentences that could easily be simplified. Try an em dash (—) instead, or simply start a new sentence.

Ampersands

Don’t use ampersands unless one is part of a company or brand name.

• Ben and Dan
• Ben & Jerry’s

People, places, and things

File extensions

When referring generally to a file extension type, use all uppercase without a period. Add a lowercase s to make plural.

• GIF
• PDF
• HTML
• JPGs

When referring to a specific file, the filename should be lowercase:

• gif
• pdf
• ben-twitter-profile.jpg
• html

Pronouns

If your subject’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, use “they,” “them,” and “their” as a singular pronoun. Use “he/him/his” and “she/her/her” pronouns as appropriate. Don’t use “one” as a pronoun.

For more on writing about gender, see Writing about people.

Quotes

When quoting someone in a blog post or other publication, use the present tense.

• “Using the service has helped our business grow,” says Jamie

Names and titles

The first time you mention a person in writing, refer to them by their first and last names. On all other mentions, refer to them by their first name.

Capitalize the names of departments and teams (but not the word “team” or “department”).

• Marketing team
• Support department

Capitalize individual job titles when referencing to a specific role. Don’t capitalize when referring to the role in general terms.

• Our new Marketing Manager starts
• All the managers ate

Don’t refer to someone as a “ninja,” “rockstar,” or “wizard” unless they literally are one.

Schools

The first time you mention a school, college, or university in a piece of writing, refer to it by its full official name. On all other mentions, use its more common abbreviation.

• Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech
• Georgia State University, GSU

States, cities, and countries

Spell out all city and state names. Don’t abbreviate city names.

Per AP Style, all cities should be accompanied by their state, with the exception of: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington.

On first mention, write out United States. On subsequent mentions, US is fine. The same rule applies to any other country or federation with a common abbreviation (European Union, EU; United Kingdom, UK).

URLs and websites

Capitalize the names of websites and web publications. Don’t italicize. Avoid spelling out URLs, but when you need to, leave off the http://www.

Writing about Qualistery

Our company’s legal entity name is “Qualistery GmbH.” Use “Qualistery GmbH” only when writing legal documents or contracts. Otherwise, use “Qualistery.”

Always capitalize the first “Q”. Refer to Qualistery as “we,” not “it.” 

 

Writing about other companies

Honor companies’ own names for themselves and their products. Go by what’s used on their official website.

• iPad
• YouTube
• Yahoo!

Refer to a company or product as “it” (not “they”).

Slang and jargon

Write in plain English. If you need to use a technical term, briefly define it so everyone can understand.

Text formatting

Use italics to indicate the title of a long work (like a book, movie, or album) or to emphasize a word.

• Dunston Checks In
• Brandon really loves Dunston Checks In.

Use italics when citing an example of an in-app Mailchimp element, or referencing button and navigation labels in step-by-step instructions:

• When you’re all done, click Send.
• The familiar A/B testing variables—Subject line, From name, and Send time—have now been joined by Content, and up to 3 combinations of a single variable can now be tested at

Don’t use underline formatting, and don’t use any combination of italic, bold, caps, and underline.

Left-align text, never center or right-aligned. Leave one space between sentences, never 2.

Overview

Titles must be:

• clear and specific
• optimised for search
• under 65 characters (including spaces)
• unique within the site (check search results on UK)
• in sentence case
• written in plain English (no jargon)

Summaries should:

• expand on the title without repeating it
• explain the point of the page and make sense in search results
• be written in full sentences (with a verb and a full stop)
• be front-loaded with words users are likely to search for
• be written in plain English (no jargon)
• explain any acronyms in the title
• be fewer than 140 characters (including spaces)

Body text should:

• begin with what’s most important to users (not to government)
• be concise and easy to scan (with sub-heads every 3-5 paragraphs)
• be written in plain English (no jargon) and easy to understand
• use short sentences – no more than 25 words
• define acronyms and abbreviations the first time they’re used (with Markdown)
• explain any technical terms
• be shorter than 500 words, if possible Remember:
• bullet points have a lead in line and start with a lower case letter
• numbers are written as numerals (except ‘one’)
• do not use full stops in abbreviations or acronyms
• describe the destination of any links (do not use ‘click here’)
• use ‘and’ rather than ‘&’, unless it’s a department’s logo image

• do not use bold, italics, CAPS, semicolons, underlining or exclamation marks!!!
• check the formatting (Markdown) for headings, bullets and acronyms
• use ‘to’ in date and time ranges, not hyphens or ‘/’
• write email addresses in full, in lower case and as active links