Web Team blogMaking delicious readable content

Cut it up into bite-sized pieces

Breaking up content into smaller sections makes it easier to digest. This includes paragraphs and shorter sentences.

Generally, people don’t spend a lot of time on a webpage. Just like how a chef has a limited amount of time to present a dish to a hungry customer, you have a small window of opportunity to get your message across. To make the most of that window, keep sentences concise and prioritise the main message or call to action, like the star ingredients in a recipe. Don't add too many unnecessary details or your reader might lose interest.

In addition, look out for compound sentences. These are longer sentences composed of two independent clauses joined by a comma. If it makes sense to do so, use a full stop instead.

Don’t get lost in the sauce

Use headings and subheadings to make it easy to navigate. This helps readers who visually scan the page for content. It also helps users who are using assistive technology, like screen readers. Headings allow your audience to quickly navigate to the meaty parts of a page without getting lost in the sauce.

Make use of bullet points for long lists, instead of commas and semi-colons to structure your content. To highlight important information you can use block-quotes and stand-out text. These help text stand out and make it more visually interesting. Find out how to use these features by reading our 'uos LHS general' guidelines.

Make it spicy

People love a good story. Using real-life examples is like adding spices to a dish - it takes your content from bland to tasty! Real-life examples or case studies bring your content to life and make it more relatable and engaging.

Use images like a chef uses garnish

Like a chef uses chopped herbs to garnish a dish, you can use images to decorate your content. Consider using imagery to make it more visually appealing and engaging. Be selective with the images you use, and review if they are relevant and of sufficient quality. Find the perfect image on the Strathclyde photo library (Chorus). Remember to consider accessibility when adding these to the mix.

Serving simple dishes

Don't make content too difficult to understand. Try to avoid using over complex words and jargon. By using simple language, we’re not dumbing down the content, just making it easier to understand. Our readers are smart cookies, after all! A useful tool to help gauge your writing’s reading level is the Hemingway App.

Edit & proofread like a food critic tastes the food

Finally, just like a food critic tastes the food to review, make sure you take the time to edit and proofread your content. This will help ensure that it’s easy to understand and flows smoothly. Some useful tools to help include:

• browser extensions:
  • Grammarly (Top tip: remember to set the language to English UK)
  • Language Tool
• T4’s built-in spell checker (get to this in the WYSIWYG (whizz-e-wig: what you see is what you get) editor by going to Tools, then select spell check)
• Microsoft editor tool
• Hemingway app