Writing for the Web

The usability researcher's uncomfortable discovery

In 1997, Jakob Nielsen — a pioneer in web usability research — ran an experiment. He gave participants several versions of the same webpage content: one written as a long essay, one using bullet points, one shortened to half the length, and one combining all three techniques.

He then tracked how people read each version.

The results were startling. People didn't read any of the versions — they scanned. Their eyes darted between headings, picked out bolded words, skimmed bullet points, and largely ignored the paragraphs in between. Even when the content was genuinely interesting.

The combined version — short, scannable, broken up — performed 124% better on usability metrics than the essay version (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 1997). People understood more while reading less.

Nielsen's conclusion: people don't read the web, they scan it. They're looking for the specific thing they need, and everything else is noise to skip past.

This single insight changes everything about how you write for the web.

How eyes actually move on a page

Eye-tracking studies consistently show the same pattern — people scan web pages in an F-shape:

• They read the first line fully (the top of the F)
• They scan a second horizontal line partway across (the middle bar of the F)
• Then their eyes drop down the left side vertically, skimming the first few words of each line

What this means in practice:

• The first line of every paragraph carries most of the weight — if it doesn't signal relevance, the whole paragraph gets skipped
• The left margin is prime real estate — words at the start of lines get seen; words buried at the end often don't
• The middle and bottom of long paragraphs are largely invisible — if your key point is in sentence four of a six-sentence paragraph, most readers miss it

The solution isn't to write less interesting content. It's to structure content for scanning, not reading.

There Are No Dumb Questions

"Doesn't this mean nobody reads anything online?"

Not quite. People scan first to decide whether to read. If the scan signals that the content is worth their time, they'll slow down and actually read. Your job is to win the scan — use headings, subheads, and first sentences that make the content look skimmable and valuable. Once you've won their trust, they'll engage more deeply. But you have to earn that attention first.

"Does this apply to all web content, or just news sites?"

All of it: landing pages, blog posts, about pages, product descriptions, emails (which behave like web pages on screen). The only exception is long-form content where the reader has already committed — like a 5,000-word essay or a report they downloaded specifically to read. Even then, good structure helps.

The 7 rules of web writing

Rule 1: Lead with the conclusion

Newspaper journalists call this the "inverted pyramid" — the most important information at the top, supporting details below. On the web, this means: say what you're saying before you explain why.

Academic writing builds to a conclusion: background → evidence → conclusion. Web writing reverses it: conclusion → evidence → background (optional).

Before: "Given the rising costs of digital advertising, changing consumer behaviour, and the increasing saturation of social media feeds, we believe that email marketing offers a compelling alternative for businesses looking to maintain direct customer relationships."

After: "Email marketing is now your best channel. Here's why."

Rule 2: Short paragraphs — one idea each

On paper, three-sentence paragraphs are normal. On a screen, they look like walls. The eye finds no foothold and skips past.

Web paragraphs: 1–3 sentences, one idea each. White space is not wasted space — it's breathing room that makes text approachable.

Rule 3: Use subheadings every 200–300 words

Subheadings serve two purposes: they help scanners find what they need, and they signal to committed readers that new territory is coming. Every major section of a page should have a subheading. Every sub-section ideally has one too.

Subheading quality test: If someone reads only your H1 headline and all your subheadings in order, do they get the full story? If yes, you have good subheadings. If it reads like random words, rewrite them.

Rule 4: Bullet points for lists — always

Whenever you're listing more than two things, use bullets. A sentence with three items buried in it is much harder to absorb than three clean bullet points.

Before: "The package includes a 30-day trial, unlimited users, priority customer support, and access to all premium templates."

After: The package includes:

• 30-day free trial
• Unlimited users
• Priority customer support
• Access to all premium templates

Rule 5: Bold the point, not the paragraph

Bold text catches the scanning eye. Use it for the most important words in a paragraph — the one thing you most want a scanner to absorb. One or two bolds per paragraph maximum. More than that and nothing stands out.

Rule 6: Write at an 8th-grade reading level

This is not dumbing down. It's respecting the reader's cognitive load. When people are reading on a screen — often distracted, often on mobile — complex sentences require effort. Effort creates friction. Friction reduces comprehension and action.

The test: paste your copy into the Hemingway App (free) and aim for grade 6–8. Short sentences. Active voice. No jargon.

Using AI to improve readability: Paste your draft into Claude and ask: "Rewrite this for an 8th-grade reading level. Keep all the ideas, but shorten sentences, replace jargon with plain language, and use active voice throughout." Then compare — you'll often find the AI version is clearer and more punchy without losing any meaning.

Rule 7: One CTA, clearly placed

Every page or section should have one clear call to action — one thing you want the reader to do next. Multiple competing CTAs (Buy Now! / Learn More! / Sign Up! / Follow Us!) create decision paralysis. The reader does none of them.

CTAs on the web should be:

• Specific ("Start your free trial" beats "Click here")
• Action-oriented (starts with a verb)
• Benefit-framed ("Get my free guide" rather than "Submit")
• Visually prominent (button, not link; contrasting colour)

Mobile writing: the added constraint

Over 60% of web traffic is now on mobile (Statcounter GlobalStats, 2023–2024 global aggregate; varies significantly by industry and region). This adds another layer of constraint to web writing:

• Visible line length on mobile: ~6–8 words per line (vs. ~12–15 on desktop)
• One sentence per paragraph often works better than three on mobile
• Longer paragraphs that look fine on desktop look like walls on a 375px-wide screen
• CTAs need to be thumb-friendly — large, tappable, not buried in text

When writing for web, always preview on mobile before publishing. What reads well on your desktop monitor may be completely unnavigable on a phone.

There Are No Dumb Questions

"Doesn't short copy mean less SEO content? Don't I need more words for Google?"

Google ranks pages based on whether they satisfy search intent, not raw word count. A 500-word page that directly and clearly answers the reader's question outranks a 3,000-word page full of padding. That said, comprehensive coverage of a topic does correlate with rankings — the solution is comprehensive AND scannable. Add depth through headers and sections, not through bloated paragraphs.

"What about long-form content? Can blog posts be long?"

Yes — long-form content (2,000+ words) often ranks better for competitive terms because it covers a topic more thoroughly. But "long" and "dense" are different things. A 3,000-word post with 15 subheadings, bullet points, images, and short paragraphs is much easier to consume than the same word count written as 10 walls of text.

The editing pass: cut 20% and the copy gets better

Here's a rule professional copywriters use: your first draft is always 20% longer than it needs to be.

Every sentence has words that earn their place — and words that are just taking up space. The editing pass is where you cut the noise and make the signal louder.

Words and phrases to cut on sight:

The test for every sentence: "If I deleted this sentence, would the reader lose anything important?" If the answer is no — cut it.

Using AI to edit: Paste your copy and prompt: "Cut this by 20% without losing any meaning. Prioritise removing filler phrases, redundant qualifiers, and sentences that don't add new information." The output won't be perfect, but comparing it to your original shows you exactly where the fat is.

Back to Nielsen's uncomfortable discovery

Nielsen's 1997 finding wasn't a quirk of early internet users — it's been replicated in every eye-tracking study since. The F-pattern hasn't changed. The scan-first behaviour hasn't changed. If anything, the competition for attention is fiercer now than it was then, which means the stakes of writing dense, unstructured copy are higher. Every rule in this module — short paragraphs, subheadings, leading with the conclusion, one bold per key point — is a direct response to the same behavioural reality Nielsen documented: people don't read websites, they scan them for the thing they need. Structure your copy to win the scan, and the reading takes care of itself.

Key takeaways

• People scan, not read. Win the scan by structuring content with headings, bullets, short paragraphs, and bold key points.
• Lead with the conclusion. Web writing is an inverted pyramid — most important first, supporting detail below.
• The 7 rules: short paragraphs, subheadings every 200–300 words, bullets for lists, one bold per key point, 8th-grade reading level, one clear CTA.
• Mobile first. Over 60% of traffic is mobile — preview everything on a 375px screen before publishing.
• Cut 20%. Your first draft is always longer than it needs to be. Every word that doesn't earn its place weakens the words around it.