Website Style Guide
Index
Content
Architecture
Graphic Design
Writing for the Web
- Presenting Text on
the Web
- Inverted Pyramid Style
of Writing
- Plain and Clear Language
- Sentence and Paragraph
Length
- Hyperlink Text
- Error Message and Form
Validation Text
Microcontent
- Alt Tags
- Page Title Standards
- Meta Tags
- Headings
- Introductory Paragraphs
- Image Filenames
Miscellaneous
- Standardised Text
- Website Directory
Guidelines
- Accessibility Guidelines
- Text as Images
Glossaries
- Glossary of Style
- Glossary of Terms
Inverted Pyramid Style of Writing - Writing for the Web
Updated: 23rd July 2001
Make headlines, sub-headings and opening sentences (i.e. topic sentences) as clear, accurate, concise and summative as possible, so that users know at a glance what the rest of the web page is about. That is: conclusion first, then detail. This method of presenting information is known as the 'Inverted Pyramid' style of writing. In short, place all the important information at the start of the copy. Remember that 79% of users scan websites rapidly to find the information they're interested in. For more detailed information regarding this issue, refer to the Jakob Nielsen web usability website.