Creating web content

Here are a few things to consider when creating pages on your website to ensure they look good and your visitors easily understand the content.

Simple and clear text

When writing content for your site, use simple language that's easy to read.

Readers on the web often scan content rather than read it in full, so getting to the point quickly can make sure they understand what you want them to. Cut out any unnecessary information. 

Check your pages for any spelling errors - web browsers have spell checking built in. Ensure you've selected the correct version of English for your intended audience.

Break sections down into concise sentences and clear paragraphs, and use proper formatting for elements such as lists. For longer pages, breaking them up into sections with headers can increase readability.

Engaging content

You can use images to make a page more visually appealing. Your images should be used to support the text; too many meaningless stock photos can make a site look generic. 

The WYSIWYG Editor used across Aiir also makes it easy for you to embed audio and videos from websites like YouTube into your content. Effective use of media can increase the time people spend on your pages.

Use formatting where relevant for headers and emphasis, but avoid overusing font styles. 

Connecting pages

Make sure everything's up to date. Give prominence to new content - if people are visiting your site multiple times and can't easily spot updated items, they may not realise there are new things to read and return to the site in the future.

Link to other relevant pages within the content. This can help people find things they might not otherwise, and increase the time spent on your website.

This can also help you make the most of your archive by linking to older content, allowing people to rediscover the great things you've done in the past.

Avoid phrases like "click here" or "find out more" for links. They're not ideal for accessibility, and people can't click on them from a phone or tablet. Instead, apply the link to the title of the page you're linking to.

Consider writing pages as though they're timeless, to avoid having to go back and edit or delete them later. For example, "Coldplay's album X&Y, released 6 June 2005" rather than "The new Coldplay album, X&Y, released next Monday".