Be Concise

Good content is:

• Specific
• Informative
• Easy to understand
• Short, but not too short
• Friendly, but not vague or wordy

Write like a real person—not like a robot or a legal document. Be serious, but not stiff or overly formal.

• Use contractions (like can’t, won’t, you’re)
• Say you can instead of you may be able to
• Use words people actually search for
  • Try tools like Google Trends to find common terms
• Use short sentences
  • Aim for 25 words or fewer
  • Sentences under 14 words are easiest to understand

Avoid turning verbs into long nouns (like implementation instead of implement). These make sentences harder to read.

Mix short and medium-length sentences to keep your writing interesting. Too many short sentences can sound choppy. A longer sentence now and then adds flow and warmth.

Example

Too long:

Due to privacy and logistical considerations, passes cannot be replaced if lost or stolen; a new Paper Voucher must be accessed by going to the everykidinapark.gov website and completing the same activities to obtain a new Paper Voucher.

Better:

Unfortunately, we can’t replace lost or stolen passes.
Get a new pass by visiting everykidinapark.gov and signing up again.