Copywriting tips

Write for your audience

When writing web copy, think about who you are addressing. Make sure you always write for your reader – not yourself, your manager or your head of department. 

Use the same terms and phrases that your reader would use. For example, refer to ‘courses’ rather than ‘programmes of study’. Write about ‘graduations’ not ‘degree ceremonies’. 

Keep your copy accessible by avoiding jargon, slang, acronyms and unfamiliar words. These can sound stuffy and unapproachable.

Always be clear. Avoid overblown language and make sure there’s no ambiguity. Establish trust with your reader through clarity and by sounding professional and logical. 

Be aware that content written for an academic audience may be more complex than content aimed at a general audience.

Write for short attention spans

Web users have short attention spans. While they may carefully read printed text, they scan web copy quickly, so we must help them to find the information they need easily. Think about the key messages you want to get across. These should:

• Be contained early on in your text.
• Show the benefit of your course/event/service/etc.
• Be focused on what is genuinely useful to your audience – what essentials do they need to know?
• Be written clearly and concisely.
• Where relevant, contain a clear call-to-action – what do you want people to do once they’ve read your copy?

Support SEO

Don’t duplicate sections of copy on our website. This is bad for SEO (search engine optimisation) and can result in our pages being listed lower down in search results. It’s fine to repeat one or two sentences across different pages, but for larger sections of copy, either rephrase or link to the page with the original version. 

Use internal links. Take regular opportunities to hyperlink to other pages on our site. Having high numbers of internal links supports SEO.

Create task-oriented content

People visit our website with specific tasks in mind, so make it easy for them to accomplish what they came to do.

Understand why someone has visited your page. Are they looking for information? Do they want to make an enquiry? Are they trying to book a place on an event? 

Structure your content accordingly. Put the most relevant information and call-to-action at the top and everything else underneath. If necessary, repeat the call to action at sensible intervals throughout the page.

Less is more

Long copy can be off-putting and difficult to read on screen. To make your copy more reader-friendly:

• Use short, succinct paragraphs and stick to one idea per paragraph.
• Use headers and subheadings that tell readers what to expect in a section.
• Bullets or numbered lists are useful for communicating must-have information.

Be CMA compliant

We have a responsibility to make sure that the content on our website complies with Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidelines. Amongst other things, this means making sure that all content is honest, accurate, timely and consistent, so that students have clear and unambiguous information to help them make informed choices when applying to university. The CMA keeps the HE sector under scrutiny to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws. If we breach these laws, we could be subject to fines, enforcement or legal action, and suffer damage to our reputation. Detailed guidance about CMA compliance can be found on SharePoint.