This page contains some examples of best practices when writing content for your site.
Brief, Informative Titles & Headlines
A good rule of thumb for content titles is 70 characters. It’s more readable and brevity makes it easier to find. Focus on keywords and terms that the user might be looking for or that might catch their attention when scanning a page.
Examples:
Our New Chair, John Doe, Awarded 2015 James B. Pendleton Award for Completion of Cinematic Works for The Hard Way
This headline isn’t bad but it’s very long, difficult to skim, and doesn’t fit easily in a single line with 114 characters.
Chair John Doe Awarded 2015 Pendleton Award
This headline looks great on the front page, quickly tells the reader what the article is about, and hits all the important keywords. The user can get more information from the article if they’d like. 43 characters total.
Using Headings (Heading 2)
Headings make it easy to organize a lot of content on the page visually. Search engines love it because the headings are used as guidelines for organizing content. Treat them like headlines and titles and respect the hierarchy.
Heading Hierarchy (Heading 3)
Heading 1/H1 is always the title of the page and you do not need to use it. Always follow a Heading 1 with Heading 2, etc. to maintain the hierarchy. The title of this section is in a heading 2 and this paragraph is under a heading 3.
Links
A good link is attached to text that tells you about what the hyperlink is taking you to. Avoid just using the URL as text or using Click Here or other non-descriptive link text when it is within copy.
Examples:
BAD: Learn more about this and other topics by clicking here.
BAD: The extensive paper on this scientific breakthrough can be found in the University of Washington digital library resources. http://www.lib.washington.edu/science/breakthrough-paper.pdf
GOOD: Department Chair John Doe finished the original script for The Hard Way in 1985.