Web Writing & Content

Overview

Great web writing is key to creating clear, engaging, and accessible digital experiences. Unlike traditional print, web content should be:

Scannable: Structured for quick reading.
Concise: Gets to the point without unnecessary detail.
Task-focused: Helps users find what they need and complete actions easily.

Well-written content enhances usability, supports accessibility, and ensures users can navigate information quickly. This guide offers best practices for developing content on California Courts websites.

Why Web Writing and Content Matter

Well-structured web content improves the overall user experience by making information easy to find, read, and understand. Clear and concise content helps users complete tasks efficiently, reduces frustration, and increases engagement. Additionally, well-written content enhances accessibility, ensuring inclusivity for users with disabilities. From search engine optimization (SEO) benefits to improved digital communication, effective web writing plays a vital role in creating an accessible and user-friendly experience.

Key Principles of Web Writing

Print is linear, author-driven storytelling. The web is nonlinear, reader-driven, ruthless pursuit of actionable content. Print tends toward anecdotal examples, and the web provides comprehensive data. Sentences belong to print, while fragments rule online.*

To create effective, user-friendly digital experiences, we follow these key principles:

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Start With Your Users’ Needs

When creating web content, always start by considering the user's needs. Ask yourself: What is the person visiting this site trying to accomplish?

If you're unsure, conducting user research—such as surveys, usability testing, or analytics—can help uncover their goals and challenges.

Ensure the information they need is clear, accessible, and easy to find. Structure content in a way that prioritizes what matters most to the user—not just what is important to the organization or the team creating the page. Often, users have different priorities than internal stakeholders, so designing content with their experience in mind leads to a more effective and user-friendly website.

Write for Your Audience:

Identify user needs and tailor content accordingly.
Use plain language to ensure clarity and comprehension.
Avoid jargon and complex terminology unless necessary, and provide definitions when needed.
Use a conversational yet professional tone to engage users.

Scannability

Use short paragraphs and bullet points to break up information.
Incorporate clear headings and subheadings to guide users.
Highlight key points with bold text, but use it sparingly.
Use design elements such as lists and whitespace to improve readability.

Front-loading Information & Concise

Get to the point quickly—users tend to skim rather than read word for word.
Eliminate unnecessary words and keep sentences brief.
Use active voice for direct and effective communication.
Limit each paragraph to a single idea for better comprehension.

Use a Consistent Tone and Style

Maintain a professional yet approachable tone.
Follow established style guidelines to ensure uniformity.
Keep terminology consistent across all pages.
Prioritize clarity over creativity—avoid unnecessary embellishments.
Avoiding Jargon – Keeping language simple and approachable for all users.

Structure Content for Readability

Use the inverted pyramid method—place the most important information first.
Provide supporting details gradually to maintain engagement.
Ensure a logical flow of information.
Break complex ideas into digestible sections.

Checking Readability for Better Content

One way to ensure our content is clear and accessible is by checking its readability score. Tools like the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease or Hemingway Editor help measure how easy a piece of text is to read. Consider that a high readability score is understandable to a larger audience; A lower readability score often means the content is too complex, with long sentences or unnecessary jargon.

While target audiences may differ from site to site, sites that are aimed at the general public should be written in plain language and aim for a reading level of 8th grade or lower, making sure it’s understandable for a wide audience. Note that the Judicial Council's Self-Help Guide aims for a 6th grade reading level.

Best Practices for Content

Writing for the web differs from writing for print because users interact with screens and mobile devices in a fundamentally different way. Instead of reading content linearly, they scan, jump between sections, and seek information quickly.

Web content must be structured with this behavior in mind. Unlike print documents, where reading follows a fixed flow, digital content allows users to navigate freely with just a click or tap. Simply transferring text from a Word document to a webpage without adapting it for digital consumption can result in dense, overwhelming, and difficult-to-read content.

To create effective, user-friendly digital experiences, we follow these key principles:

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Structure Content for Readability

Use the inverted pyramid method—place the most important information first.
Provide supporting details gradually to maintain engagement.
Ensure a logical flow of information.
Break complex ideas into digestible sections.

Headings and Subheadings

Use descriptive and meaningful headings.
Follow proper heading hierarchy (H1 for page titles, H2 for main sections, H3-H6 for subsections).
Avoid using headings solely for styling purposes.
Ensure headings reflect the content they introduce.

Links and Calls to Action

Use clear and specific link text (e.g., "Download the form" instead of "Click here").
Ensure links stand out visually and are easy to interact with.
Use action-oriented language for CTAs (e.g., "Start Your Application").
Provide context for links so users understand their purpose before clicking.

Accessibility

Write in active voice to enhance clarity (e.g., "Submit the form" instead of "The form should be submitted").
Use alternative text for images to improve accessibility.
Avoid large blocks of text that may be difficult for users to read.
Ensure text contrast meets accessibility standards for readability.

SEO and Findability

Use relevant keywords naturally throughout the content.
Write clear and informative meta descriptions.
Optimize for mobile readability by ensuring content is concise and well-formatted.
Structure content to align with search engine best practices, making it easier for users to find relevant information.

Headings

Layout

Content Maintenance

Set a review process to maintain and improve your content. Keep in mind that even though your content is up, the work isn't done. Web Services has developed the following content checklist to help staff focus on common site content maintenance tasks to ensure that the information is accurate, timely, and up-to-date.

1 Check if your content is still relevant.

Content and user needs can change at a fast pace. How relevant your content is to the user relies on you continuously maintaining and improving it. If you do this well, you can be confident your content is up-to-date and is still useful to the user.

2 Check for broken links.

Conduct a Q/A of your pages to ensure that hyperlinks in your content are pointing to the right location. Links pointing to external locations may be more susceptible to breaking, since we do not manage those sites and are not informed when those pages are either moved or delete.

3 Keep a list of the content on your site.

Be sure to note the date of when the content was added and last updated. This will allow you to keep tabs of when your content might need a refresh and also help you avoid posting duplicate content onto the website.

Resources

To learn more in-depth about web and content writing, visit NNg: UX Writing.*