Ryder Ross - Cambria Real Estate Agent

In my technical writing class last year, my professor said our job was to write so that readers don’t have to read. As crazy as it sounds, its very true. A large part in writing for the web is whitespace. Whitespace can do a lot for an article or online page, but make sure to use whitespace and not ‘huge gaps’. So what is this whitespace? I’m talking about separating your content into distinguishable sections/topics and using sub-headings, bold keywords, bulleted lists and images to increase readability. The main goal is to make your page "scannable." 


Let’s say someone was reading your page titled "Everything About Cambria." If you use a combination of sub-headings, topic paragraphs, bold keywords, images, and bulleted lists, that person will have an easy time scanning your content to find the information they want (for example, the "Current status of Cambria Water Permits" as a sub-heading and the topic paragraph below).

Sub-Headings

Readers don’t really read a whole lot. They scan. Headings and Sub-headings will allow readers to scan your page faster and help them find what they actually want to read. Give some margin to your H2’s and H3’s. Make sure your page looks nice but that it is still easily scannable.

Topic Paragraphs

Separate your content into sections and then topics in those sections. Try to only use a single topic in a paragraph. Relating topics between paragraphs is fine, but the bulk of a topic should go in it’s own paragraph. Don’t talk about Cambria Real Estate and Cambria Water Permits in the same paragraph if one of them is the bulk of the paragraph. Split them up into two.

Bold your keywords

Don’t forget about <strong>. Along with helping your SEO work, bolding or highlighting your keywords will help scannabilty.

Images/Graphs

If you can find a photo or graph that is relative to a certain topic paragraph, float (CSS for align) it on the left or right. A little bit of whitespace around the image will help as well but not a whole lot is needed. While images and bulleted lists are not technically whitespace, they serve just the same purpose by breaking up your page and allowing for more scannability.

Bulleted Lists

If you have 3 or more items you want to list, use a bulleted list. BL’s are very scannable because each item is on its own line.

So if there is only one thing you take away from reading this is to design your articles/pages to be SCANNABLE. Using the above tips and your readers will thank you for helping them not read.