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website articles rules

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10 Rules for Writing Articles for your Website

Content is king! Keep it unique, high in quality, relevant - this blog post will help you make sure that your content sets you apart!

website articles rules

Cover image: Susan Sontag by Annie Lebovitz

When it comes to online marketing, text is a powerful weapon. But if you want it to have the desired effect ( to attract and convert customers, for example), you need to know how to use it correctly. This means you need to focus on creating valuable content.

The stages involved in crafting articles and texts Before you start writing, you need to define your immediate and long-term goals and your target audience. A short-term goal is, for example, attracting traffic to the website, increasing the number of sales, or gaining new subscribers . The long -term goa l takes a deeper look at why you’re writing this particular text : are you trying to solve a problem, or are you trying to entertain? When it comes to identifying your audience, you need to know who you’re writing for , as that will define your tone of voice. For example, veterinarians will easily understand the terms “ auscultation ” , “ abduction ” , “ papula ”, while regular readers will need to search for the definitions . If the target audience is too broad, it is worth writing simply and clearly , in a way that a 7-year-old can understand.

The second step when writing a text is to determine its form . F igure out where exactly your content will be placed. Based on all the information you have collated , determine what type of content you want to publish: is it a commercial, an info graphic , a social media post or a landing page copy ? Think about what matters to the reader, and what they want to find out . Make a detailed plan f o r the article, featuring plenty of research and bullet points. You should also think about its structure. The article you produce should have subheadings, lists, and quotes , and it is advisable that the audience can “ read diagonally” through your text. Next, choose a few interesting points and study them in more detail. Finally, when writing, try to stick to the following rule: one paragrap h, one thought.

website articles rules

.ART Website Builder — New & Free!

This tool is free to use and accessible to all .ART domain holders who purchased their domain through get.art...

A s a rule of thumb, an article can serve different purposes:

Now that you have been introduced to the different purposes that your text can serve, let’s look at 10 rules for helping you write effective content for your website. How to link your .ART domain to your website Read More

10 rules for writing effective content for your website Informative texts – knowledge-based for example company blog

website articles rules

Sales purpose texts, for example, landing page

Grab the reader’s attention. Ask a provocative question and write a powerful headline. Don’t cut and run with platitudes like “ Do you want to change your life? ” . The reader needs to understand quickly and easily what you’re offering, and why they need it. For example, start the text with something like: “ We teach you how to make websites in a span of six months . M oney back guaranteed. ”

website articles rules

How to choose the perfect domain name for your art website

One of the hardest things in life is to name something or someone. When it comes to your website, the task of naming...

Descriptive texts, for example, company websites or online stores

website articles rules

Bonus: good design Articles that are designed well usually have higher conversion rates (given that they’re written well). Use a common font and a font size 10-16, depending on your website’s format. Try to incorporate subheadings and lists. Supplement the text with illustrations and h ighlight important thoughts or tips in a distinct colour , italics, or quotes. Just before you publish, make sure to have a final edit and proofread.

website articles rules

.ART Domain Name: Your Digital Business Card

In the age of total information overload, creating and sustaining a creative image or a personal brand is an art. Having...

9 rules of web writing that really matter

website articles rules

Dan Brotzel

Co-founder and content director, sticky content, 6 minute read.

Interviewed by:

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A Guide to Content Production Planning

How to develop a process that ensures content is high quality and delivered on time.

website articles rules

Founder of Lagom Strategy

Many of the so-called rules of writing don’t really do what you’d want such rules to do – make you a better writer.There’s nothing really wrong with splitting an infinitive, for example – as linguist Steven Pinker explains , not to do so often ends up betraying your intended meaning, and is a hangover from Latin grammar. There’s nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition, as Language Log explains , and Churchill never actually said as much. And for decades the passive voice has been unfairly maligned and overlooked by so-called writing experts too.One could go on. There are rich pickings for the experts in debunking these peeves.Instead, in this post, I want to share 9 useful copywriting principles that will help you write more effective digital copy. These are not rules to be obeyed with extreme prejudice but, taken singly or together, they should help to create a more intuitive and engaging reading experience for your users.

1. Make it all about ‘you’, not ‘we’

When we see a piece of content that is all focused on the brand or the company – all ‘us’, ‘we’ and ‘our’ – the effect is quickly off-putting.Great digital copywriting puts the user first at every opportunity, in every way. This isn’t easy since, as content guru Gerry McGovern argues, writing for the other person and not for our own ego goes against the grain of millions of years of human behaviour. But that’s how you get to the good stuff.An obvious way to make the reader feel your content is about them is to use the word ‘you’ or ‘your’ wherever you can. ‘Get’ is another good one. Both pointers will force you as the writer to keep thinking about what the reader needs to get out of your content.

2. Be specific

User testing shows that when titles, labels, links and other signposts are vague or abstract, they become almost invisible to the reader. A link to a piece titled ‘Counting the cost’ will just get looked past – retitling it ‘How to build a business case for migrating your business to the cloud’ will get lots more attention.The latter may sound prosaic and functional, but that’s not a bad thing online. Scan readers need information cues that make sense out of context and are drenched in specific meaning - that reek of information scent . Specificity, not sizzle, is what sells and engages and influencers users online. (If you can do both in one, of course, even better – but not if personality or humour comes at the expense of usability).

3. Avoid ambiguity

I recently saw some travel copy which said something like, ‘Little Venice is easily missed’. Does this mean that Little Venice is easy to miss but worth seeking out, or does it mean that Little Venice is easily missed off a list of London sights to see because it’s not worth the trip?In context, it was surely the former, but the ambiguity is likely to give the reader pause, which is something we want to avoid at all costs. Online readers are time-poor scanners: anything that could trip up their processing of your words means a vital message could get missed. In print, ambiguity can spell playfulness and intrigue; online, it just gets in the way.

This principle also applies to dangling modifiers . While the harm they do is much overstated, they can at times cause unnecessary and avoidable confusion. The classic example is the sort of coldish email which begins, ‘As someone with an interest in flooring solutions, we thought you might like to know about our new…’ Is it me or you whose interest you’re talking about here?

4. Front-load with the bit the user cares about – follow the Rule of 2s

Eye-tracking research underlines the importance of getting the first two words right in headings, intro lines, standfirsts and other content elements that are crucial for scan-reading.

‘People read the first few items in a list but read less and less as they continue down the list, eventually passing their eyes down the text's left side in a fairly straight line,’ found Jakob Nielsen . ‘Users see only the very beginning of the items in lists such as search engine results pages (SERP), news items, FAQs, bulleted or numbered lists, checklists etc.’

So the Rule of 2s means getting the most useful and distinctive bit of info – that could be the topic, the benefit, the context – into the first 2 words of any signposting element.

5. Tap into the power of threes

The classic three-act structure. Three wishes. The Holy Trinity. Three little pigs. Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Faith, hope and charity. Location, location, location. Liberté, egalité, fraternité…Things that come in threes just seem to have sort of primal power to them that things in twos and even fours can never quite match. There are lots of split tests in which sales copy with four benefits or two gets trumped by the version with the three bullets.

Visually, one is just a dot, two is a mere line, but three is a triangle. The rhetorical deployment of three related elements is known as a tricolon. As Mark Forsyth points out in The Art of Eloquence , this device is so powerful that even when people don’t use it, we like to think they did. So Churchill actually promised ‘blood, toil, sweat and tears’ – a dull foursome – but all anyone ‘remembers’ him saying is ‘blood, sweat and tears’ – an elegant tricolon.

Three benefits. Three simple steps. Three sections to your speech. Whether at the level of an entire campaign or within the syntax of an individual sentence, three is structural gold.

6. Avoid topic seepage – make sure each content item is about just one thing

Writing for online means breaking your thoughts down into modules. Each page, each content item, is a self-contained unit of meaning as much as it is a stand-alone visual element.

But when you’re writing lots of web pages, it’s easy to forget this, and to allow one page's content to drift into another.

Say you’re writing a site about a new kind of loyalty card. You’ve written pages called ‘How the card works’ and ‘Getting started’.

Now you turn to ‘Why choose our card?’ – and because you’re proud of the card and brimming with knowledge, it’s easy for this benefits overview to slip into a recap of how to get started, how the card works etc.

Don’t. Just add a link instead. This is exactly what hypertext can do for us, neatly bracketing off chunks of related but not-currently-priority information so we don’t have to reiterate them, and allowing the user to make their own way through our content.

7. Be clear about who’s doing what

In his excellent book on technical writing , Style: Toward clarity and grace , Joseph Williams dispenses a very helpful way of making sure that our sentences feel like they have agents.

He proposes seeing each sentence as a story, with characters who carry out actions. To tell the most compelling story, the trick is to make sure that you identify the real characters – and turn them into your subject and object, and also surface the key actions they’re carrying out – and make those your verbs.

‘Readers are likely to feel they are reading clear, direct text,’ Williams writes, ‘when (a) the subjects of the sentences name the cast of characters, and (b) the verbs that go with those subjects name the crucial actions those characters are part of.’

Take this sentence: ‘Sorry – system upgrade work could mean extended call wait times.’ The real characters here are ‘we’, ‘our system’ and ‘you’. The real actions are the upgrading work and the waiting, and the implied action of answering calls.

So following Williams’ formula (and tweaking the tone of voice ), we might end up with something more like: ‘Sorry, you may have to wait a little longer for us to answer your call at the moment, as we’re upgrading our system.’

8. Avoid heavy punctuation marks

For my money, the best punctuation marks for online copy are stops, commas, dashes, question marks and ellipses. The ones to avoid are semi-colons and brackets, which tend to slow down your sentences and which are also often a sign that your syntax is getting too complex.

9. Go for cat-sat-on-the-mat syntax

In his essay, Politics and the English Language , George Orwell makes fun of our need to stop sentences coming down with a bump by bolting on some ready-made bit of waffle at the end.

If a sentence feels a bit too crudely definite to our delicate ears, he writes, we’re tempted to add on a phrase like ‘to a certain extent’ or ‘at least in some ways’ to cushion the blow.

In this way, padding and waffle debase political discourse, Orwell argued. They’re not great in online copy either, where we need everyday English and simple cat-sat-on-the-mat syntax to reduce the user’s processing load.

So have no fear of a short sentence. Just don’t make them all short. Don’t forget tempo and rhythm. Vary sentence length within sensible limits. Read your stuff aloud for rhythm. Too many short sentences together jar. As here.

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A template to help you plan for and ensure your content projects are successful..

About the author

Dan Brotzel is co-founder and content director at Sticky Content , a Press Association company.

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The 11 Golden Rules of Writing Content for Your Website

Capturing readers’ interests with good website content can be really challenging. Most visitors will spend just a few seconds on a web page before deciding what to do next.

Good website writing is the key to beating these odds. Well-written content that’s optimized for the web rises to the top of search results and holds readers’ attention.

Some writing tips apply regardless of whether your text appears on screen, in print, or carved into a pyramid wall. Other tactics are especially relevant for professional writer/author websites and online stores . Follow these 11 principles to make sure your website content gets the attention it deserves.

Learn how to start your website today!

1. know your audience.

It sounds simple, but so many writers put pen to paper—or finger to keyboard—before thinking about who it is they’re trying to reach. Before drafting content, ask yourself these questions: Who is my primary audience? What about a secondary audience who can influence and inform my primary audience? How will they find my site online?

For example, say you’re creating a coaching website or an online portfolio . Your primary audience might be existing clients. However, your secondary audience is much broader and could include other professionals, reporters, or anyone who might need your services in the future. You’ll need to make sure your content is both accessible and interesting to all of these audiences. What kind of questions might these groups ask about a particular topic? Where are they most active online? What kind of information do they need?

Audiences find web content through many different paths—social media sharing, links from other websites, email sharing, and search engines . That last method is especially important when you write for the web. Text could be extremely well-written and informative, but if it’s not optimized for search engines, chances are few people will find it. Think of your audience again: what search terms would they type into Google? If you’re posting a resume online or making a website for your freelance work , what kind of jobs are you looking for? Make sure to include those terms in headlines and sub-headers.

2. Follow the “inverted pyramid” model

Web readers have short attention spans—they’ll decide whether your site has the information they need in seconds. Structure your content like an upside-down pyramid or cone. The most important messages go at the top of the page. Then, gradually drill down to the more specific, supporting information.

For example, say you’re creating a web page about a conference. The most pertinent details—a description of the theme, date, and location—would appear at the top of the page. Supporting details like speakers and their lecture topics would follow. The less important information—such as conference organizers, the history of the conference series or a list of related resources—would appear at the bottom of the page.

Bring your business online with Jimdo.

These two graphs helped guide our own website makeover and can help you conceptualize the structure of your site.

The Cone Principle of Organizing Content on a Website

3. Write short, simple sentences

Long sentences are for Charles Dickens—the short attention span of today’s reader demands sentences of 35 words or fewer. So website content that’s accessible and easy to read will naturally reach a wider audience.

Focus on using nouns and verbs. Use adverbs and adjectives sparingly. Don’t use words like “equanimity” or “obfuscate” when words like “calm” or “confuse” will do.

If you’re not sure how to judge your own writing, then it’s useful to check how your texts score with an online readability tool. Most of the popular models are based on the length of words and sentences in a text. Your text’s readability is then scored by a number or an education level. These three tools will scan your text and score its readability:

Can your text be easily understood at a 7th to 9th-grade reading level? Check how it scores on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level to find out.

4. Stick to active voice

Use active rather than passive verbs, and specify the subject of the sentence. For example, rather than writing “products can be ordered on our website,” say “You can order products on our website.”

Active voice helps create succinct, reader-friendly sentences. It’s also more direct; when you speak directly to the audience (“You can do it”) it’s more engaging than saying “It can be done.” This is important on your website FAQ page as well.

5. Show, don’t tell

Don’t limit your prose to generalities and high-level statements. Specific, real-world examples help readers better understand and visualize your messages. Consider these two descriptions:

This is the best dog toy money can buy.

We made the “Rough Rover” dog toy from durable, 100 percent natural rubber, designed to resist punctures and tears from even the most dedicated of chewers.

Which version gives you a clearer picture of the type of toy you’re buying? Specific details in the second description show readers the dog bone rather than tell them about it.

As an added bonus, more specific, descriptive product information helps your website’s SEO and gives customers the information they need to make those purchases.

We love the product descriptions on Zingerman’s website—they explain in mouthwatering detail why their gourmet foods are the best choice. Here are more tips to writing great product descriptions for your online store .

Example of a detailed product description

6. Nix the jargon

The web is for everyone—not just technical experts. So make sure information is understandable for the educated non-specialist. Spell out acronyms on first reference. Avoid insider language. Explain complex or niche terms. And provide hyperlinks to other articles where readers can get more background information on a particular topic.

Consider this sentence:

The journalist grabbed a SOT from the MOS, drove back to the station and put the story in the can.

Many of these terms are comprehensible only to broadcast journalists. A reader-friendly revision would be:

The journalist interviewed a bystander about the incident, and recorded her statement to include in the story.

This tip is especially important if you work in a technical industry, but want your website to attract non-expert customers. Remember that you need to write for your audience (see point #1) and not for your colleagues. Using accessible language will help you come across as approachable and open—just what you want to convey to future customers.

7. Mix up your word choice

Words are like cookies—we all have our favorites. But when it comes to keeping your visitors interested, variety is key! Word clouds are fun to use and can help you vary your word choice by visualizing which words you use the most. Just copy and paste your text into a free word cloud tool to generate your cloud. The more you use a word, the bigger it will look in your cloud. Have you overused a certain word? Type it into Thesaurus.com to find new synonyms to enhance your text.

Negative words standing out in your cloud? Now you know exactly what to tweak for a more positive tone. Keep an eye out for your website keywords as well: these should appear several times in your text, so it should be easy to recognize them in a word cloud.

Here’s the exception: keep key terms consistent across your site to avoid confusing your visitors. For example, if you’re a photographer, don’t offer “photoshoots” on one page then call them “photography sessions” on the next.

Make a list of terms that describe your company and group together any words you use to mean the same thing. Pick your top choice and stick to it everywhere on your website. Like this:

Use: photoshoot

Not: photography session, photo appointment, shoot

Do you call your customers clients, patients, or users? Do you refer to services, packages, or plans? Once you have this list or glossary, you can use it to review any text before you publish it.

8. Make text scannable

In addition to putting the most important information up top, make sure text is easy to skim. Most web readers will scan the page to find the specific piece of information they’re looking for—if they don’t find it easily, they’ll move on .

Don’t believe it? Try paying attention the next time you open a webpage you haven’t seen before. Are you reading every word beginning to end? Or is your eye jumping around, looking for the information you want?

Example of using headings to break up text on the page

These sub-headers not only help readers navigate the page, they’ll help search engines find your content.

9. Incorporate multimedia

Research shows that most the human brain is visual, and people process visual information many times faster than text.

An easy-to-read chart or graph can also do a better job of explaining a complex topic than text alone. If you’re not a graphic designer by trade, there are lots of ways to use visuals on your website and some great services out there to help you make graphics yourself, like Canva and Piktochart.

Images also help break up text, making your page easier to read. We recommend having at least one image on each page of your website. Here are more tips for how to optimize your website images .

10. Layer website content

The great thing about a website is that it’s easy to direct readers from one page to another. Help readers find more great content by hyperlinking certain words or phrases to other relevant resources, especially those on your own website. This will help keep people engaged with your content and moving through your site.

For example, say this sentence appeared on your cooking website: Ratatouille is a low-fat dish that consists of seasonal ingredients like eggplant, squash, and tomatoes. You could hyperlink “low-fat dish” to a page with other blog posts on healthy eating.

Building these internal links within your own site also helps your SEO, but keep in mind that links should always be relevant and helpful. Visually, if you overload your text with links, people won’t know what to click on. Google recommends keeping the amount of hyperlinks on a page to a “reasonable number.”

11. Leave them wanting more

Here’s an example of what a call-to-action button can look like on your website.

Good websites end each page with a strong call-to-action (or CTA for short). Is there a person a reader should contact for more information? An interesting video they should watch? How about a related blog post they can read or a report they can download? This strategy helps direct readers to other areas of your website and encourages them to promote your content to their friends and family.

Keep these calls-to-action succinct, and start them with action verbs like “Download,” “Share,” “Join,” “Sign Up,” “Learn More” or “Watch.” And of course, make sure to include a link that actually allows readers to fulfill the action you’re asking them to take.

Writing, in general, is hard work—writing content for your website, even more so. But remember, you don’t need to write perfect texts first time around! Once your content is live, you can do monthly website checks to monitor and optimize its performance. With these tips, you’re prepared to create effective content that resonates with even the most flighty and time-pressed of internet readers.

And once your content is written, read this checklist for designing easy-to-read text on your site.

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Break grammar rules on websites for clarity.

Summary: Web writing differs from print writing to emphasize scannability. Some grammar rules are worth breaking if they improve fast comprehension.

By Hoa Loranger

Hoa Loranger

on 2014-03-23 March 23, 2014

Grammar rules exist to help us communicate clear and meaningful messages. Many grammatical rules are sacred and should never be violated, such as misusing homonyms and idioms, or choosing the wrong word (e.g., “there” instead of “their”). Such mistakes make us sound incompetent (when we’re not) and damage credibility. Writing for online is different than writing for print :

Some grammar rules are worth breaking if you have good reason. But before I give you my list of top rules to break, it’s important to emphasize that I’m not advocating that writers break rules with abandon or become sloppy. You must first know the rules before you can break them effectively.

The rules that you can violate depend on the context , the target audience , and the brand or tone of voice . For example, the tone applied to professional publications is usually more formal than the tone of blog posts from the same company. Formal tone usually requires adhering to traditional writing conventions more closely, whereas conversational tone allows for greater flexibility.

With that said, the following list applies to almost any website. With balanced usage, breaking these rules can result in better scannability and comprehension.

Break Rule #1: Never use sentence fragments

Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences, usually missing a subject or verb. Complete sentences are important because they express a complete idea. While it’s advisable to write complete sentences, when applied sparingly, fragments can add impact. Help readers feel what you feel.

For web readers, snippets are a plu s because they allow users to scan without having to read the full body copy. When sentence fragments are done correctly, readers can borrow words from the previous sentence to make the fragment whole. Context fills in the gaps.

Be succinct . Web users will love you.

website articles rules

Dosomething.org breaks writing rules purposefully for a casual conversational tone. Fragments add rhythmic interest and emphasize information.

website articles rules

Lift.do: While these sentences are short, they don’t contain enough information to communicate what this product does. Beware: Short is not always better if critical information is missing or context is not established.

Break Rule #2: Spell out small numbers

A common writing rule for numbers is to spell out whole numbers less than 10; reserve the numeric format for numbers 10 or greater.

Compare the two following phrases. Version A is grammatically correct, but more difficult to process than Version B. Spelling out the numbers makes them harder to spot and remember than writing them numerically.

Version A: Our solar system consists of eight planets. There are four planets that have rings around them.

Version B: Our solar system consists of 8 planets. There are 4 planets that have rings around them.

Version B makes it easier for people to scan and identify the numbers. (Particularly if they were trying to find out something like "what percentage of planets have rings," which is a typical reason a search might have led the user to that page in the first place.) When reading online, users scan the page for clues that may answer their question. If the answer that they seek is a number, then numeric format usually gets more attention than the written version. The numeric format also makes it easier for people to compare numbers because they stand out. For example, if readers must figure out the percentage of planets that have rings, Version B would make the process easier.

In general, when numbers need to stand out, show them as numerals . Our eyetracking studies show people fixate on numerals when looking for facts.

(Get more in-depth information in our report: How People Read on the Web: The Eyetracking Evidence .)

Break Rule #3: Paragraphs should contain 3–5 sentences

Traditionally, instructors have encouraged young students to write paragraphs with at least 3-5 sentences. Sometimes the point that you need to make will require several sentences and sometimes it won’t. If you can get the job done in one sentence, do it. One-sentence paragraphs can provide impact and draw attention to key points that might otherwise be buried .

This technique facilitates scanning because it gives readers a break. It’s much easier to read small paragraphs than large blocky ones.

website articles rules

Nytimes.com: Small digestible paragraphs like these feel inviting and facilitate scanning.

Ignoring all writing rules is not going impress anyone. However, some rules are worth breaking to facilitate scanning and heighten comprehension and mood. The overarching tenet: Break grammar rules for clarity and speed . In moderation. Learn more about web writing techniques at Usability Week .

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About the Author

Hoa Loranger is VP at Nielsen Norman Group and has worked in user experience for over 20 years. She conducts research worldwide, and presents keynotes and training on best practices for interface design. Hoa has consulted for companies such as Microsoft, HP, Allstate, Samsung, Verizon, and Disney. She authors publications, including a book, Prioritizing Web Usability .

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Grammar: Articles

Articles Video

Article basics, "a" or "an", no article (generic reference), articles in phrases and idiomatic expressions, related resources, knowledge check: articles.

Note that this video was created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

Mastering the Mechanics: Articles (video transcript)

What is an article?

Many languages do not use articles ("a," "an," and "the"), or if they do exist, the way they are used may be different than in English. Multilingual writers often find article usage to be one of the most difficult concepts to learn. Although there are some rules about article usage to help, there are also quite a few exceptions. Therefore, learning to use articles accurately takes a long time. To master article usage, it is necessary to do a great deal of reading, notice how articles are used in published texts, and take notes that can apply back to your own writing.

To get started, please read this blog post on The Argument for Articles .

A few important definitions to keep in mind:

Please see this webpage for more about countable and uncountable nouns .

When to Use "A" or "An"

"A" and "an" are used with singular countable nouns when the noun is nonspecific or generic.

"A" is used when the noun that follows begins with a consonant sound.

a uniform (Note that "uniform" starts with a vowel, but the first sound is /j/ or a “y” sound. Therefore "a" instead of "an" is used here.)

"An" is used when the noun that follows begins with a vowel sound.

Sometimes "a" or "an" can be used for first mention (the first time the noun is mentioned). Then, in subsequent sentences, the article "the" is used instead.

In the first sentence (first mention), "a" is used because it is referring to a nonspecified house. In the second sentence, "the" is used because now the house has been specified.

When to Use "The"

"The" is used with both singular and plural nouns and with both countable and uncountable nouns when the noun is specific.

Here are some more specific rules:

"The" is used in the following categories of proper nouns:

In general, use "the" with plural proper nouns.

"The" is often used with proper nouns that include an “of” phrase.

Use "the" when the noun being referred to is unique because of our understanding of the world.

Use "the" when a noun can be made specific from a previous mention in the text. This is also known as second or subsequent mention.

"The" is used with superlative adjectives, which are necessarily unique (the first, the second, the biggest, the smallest, the next, the only, etc.).

Biber et al. (1999) found that "the" is about twice as common as "a" or "an" in academic writing. This may be because writers at this level often focus on overall ideas and categories ( generic reference , usually no article) and on specific references (definite reference, the article "the").

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of written and spoken English . Pearson.

Writers sometimes struggle with the choice to include an article or to leave it out altogether. Keep in mind that if the noun is singular, countable, and nonspecific or generic (e.g., book, author), the articles "a" and "an" may be used. However, if the noun is countable and plural (e.g.., "research studies") or uncountable (e.g., "information") and it is being used in a nonspecific or generic way, no article is used.

Here are some more specifics:

Sometimes article usage in English does not follow a specific rule. These expressions must be memorized instead.

Here are some examples of phrases where article usage is not predictable:

There are also numerous idiomatic expressions in English that contain nouns. Some of these also contain articles while others do not.

Here are just a few examples:

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10 Web Content Writing Punctuation Rules to Live By

At The Content Factory , we’re really finicky about using proper punctuation while web content writing, and we like things to be done in a certain way (specifically, the right way). Writing for the web isn’t the same as writing for a magazine, newspaper or community college English paper, you know. This is right from our writing guide, and I figured I'd share it with the world.

Part of writing exceptional SEO content is to write exceptional content in general — we're big proponents of that idea at The Content Factory. If you write informative articles in a way that makes people want to pass them on, you're going to get backlinks like crazy and the post will have real staying power when it comes to driving traffic.

If your content looks like it was written by a cat walking on a keyboard, you're never going to get any real traction. Here are the 10 web content writing punctuation rules we live by:

Graphic by Savcy via Canva

I could go on about how semicolons have no place on te Internet, but I’ll let Kurt Vonnegut do the talking for me: “Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” So, don’t use semicolons in any of the blogs you write — they just alienate the reader and make you look pretentious. Besides, you don't think you're a better writer than Kurt Vonnegut, do you?

2.) Exclamation marks

Really, try not to use them. Most of the time, they only succeed in making the writer look cheesy. When you do use them, never put two in the same paragraph (or at the end of one paragraph and the beginning of another), and limit yourself to a max of two per page.

3.) Quotation marks

"Always put your punctuation inside your quotation marks,” Joanie said. “Leaving them outside of the quotation marks like this”, she continued, “is never appropriate.” Plus, they make people who know better roll their eyes (and wouldn't you rather have them focused on what you're trying to say?).

4.) Parentheses

If you’re writing a sentence and want to use parentheses (like I’m doing now), the punctuation always goes on the outside. Notice where I put the comma in my last sentence? If you’re ending your parentheses at the end of a sentence, the punctuation still goes on the outside (like I’m doing here). Also, don't use too many of them (like I do). I really can't help myself, though.

I realized this has a whole lot of nothing to do with punctuation, but I’m putting this here anyway. If you’re writing a blog and talking about specific businesses or websites, hyperlink to them. Please note, “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink” is not a hyperlink. Don’t be lazy — make it look nice!

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

6.) Hyphenation

If you’re not sure whether you need to hyphenate words, Google it real quick. For the record, e-mail is always hyphenated.

7.) Capitalization

Don’t capitalize insignificant words (the, of, and, etc.) in titles, unless they're the first word, natch. Resist the urge — this is a common error! Also, there's no need to capitalize the keywords that you're trying to incorporate into your copy. If you're trying to target the keyword "social media management," it shouldn't be capitalized awkwardly. "These five Social Media Management tips will help get your Internet public relations campaign off the ground," is not the right way to write it out — it just draws attention to the fact that you're trying to be sly about keyword stuffing while content writing. Instead, capitalize things naturally and the reader will focus on what you're saying, not your poor SEO content writing skills.

8.) Internet and web

Internet is a lot like America, in that it’s always capitalized. Whether it’s the first word or the third, it’s still a proper noun. Unlike Internet, web is not capitalized. Web should only be capitalized when it’s the first word of your sentence.

Don’t be afraid to use them, but don’t use Oxford commas. It’s “red, white and blue,” not “red, white, and blue.” That red comma is of the Oxford variety, and they're outdated and redundant like Uggs in the summertime.

One through nine should always be written out, write out 10 and above in numbers. But you already knew that, right?

So, those are the 10 basic web content writing punctuation rules.

If you write using proper grammar and punctuation, you're more likely to be trusted and viewed as an expert (or at least somebody who knows what they're talking about). Whether you're writing status updates while marketing with Facebook or writing link bait blogs in an effort to get backlinks, the quality of the writing is important.

This is especially true when you're using Twitter for marketing and are limited to 280 characters or fewer. When you have to get a message across in a way that piques the interest of your target market and you don't have a lot of space to work with, good writing skills come in handy (and are more likely to get a positive response). On the other hand, when you're writing 1,000+ word pieces, poor punctuation can turn the reader off by word #50. Nobody wants to suffer through a poorly written article, no matter what kind of information it features.

If your web content writing skills aren't up to par, there's no need to be embarrassed. You can always hire a professional web content writing service — it may be more affordable than you think.

At the very least, try typing out everything into Microsoft Word (or the equivalent) so you can use the red and green squigglies as a guide before sending a tweet, posting a new status update in Facebook or publishing a new blog.

If you take care to make sure you're always posting good content, you'll eventually reap the rewards in the form of additional traffic and clicks from social media marketing efforts.

Three Additional Web Content and Social Media Management Writing Tips:

1.) If you see an error on your site, go in and change it. Don't leave mistakes on your website or blog -- if you see an error, make a point of going in and changing it. You never know what potential client may be reading the copy, so make sure it's always something you'd be proud to present.

2.) Delete bad tweets. No matter how careful you are, sometimes you're going to send bad tweets while using Twitter for marketing. When you send several a day, it's bound to happen every now and then. Whether the link is broken or there was a critical spelling error, go back and delete the bad tweets.

3.) Keep your Facebook page clean. It doesn't have to be obvious when you're marketing with Facebook. Savvy social media marketers know to keep their page interactive — and clean of blurry photos and spammy comments. Delete FarmVille requests and public offers of "private chats" from mail order brides from Russia.

Okay, so those are the basics. If you can think of any that I've missed, feel free to let me know and I'll add it to the list (and give you credit). I think it might be cool to continually update the list, until it's somewhat of an ultimate punctuation guide for web content writing.

Header Photo by eclipse_images on Canva Pro

By Kari DePhillips

Nice post! Thanks for giving a clear guide. Punctuation errors are rampant on the Internet and I love seeing posts like this that offer some general rules.

To be fair on the comma issue, serial commas are a matter of ongoing debate. The preferred style changes back and forth over time. Personally, I’m generally in favor of the serial comma. I think it adds clarity in many cases.

As far as parentheses, this may be obvious to some but not to others: if the whole sentence is inside parentheses, then the punctuation is too. (Like in this sentence, for example.)

Also, saying that punctuation always goes inside quotation marks is true and not true. More accurately, commas and periods always go inside quotation marks. (And I think that’s a U.S. thing, right? In the U.K. I believe they do it differently?) More importantly, though, people can get confused about ? ! ; and so on and where they fit in with quotation marks. I’m sure the author of this post and most people reading this already know this.

Both of these are correct: She asked “Did you eat the cake?” Did you hear her say “Let them eat cake”?

As for Internet being capitalized, I know it is and I always do it that way but I am ready for it to be lower case. No reason, really. I just am. 🙂

Now I’m getting paranoid about my punctuation in this post! 🙂 Hopefully I got it more or less correct!

Excellent Post.. But i have a doubt to ask. My boss prefers commas to be used as if on a English Text book.. how should i explain it is not a proper marketing or SEO content?… ( i am sure a fat boss is hard to deal with) Furthermore I prefer to use Commas only when mentioning a group. Like you said Orange, apple and Banana.I prefer to use commas, only when I want the reader to pause and I don’t care much about Traditional English Grammar(on Punctuations) is that right?

Thanks for the post! I am constantly disappointed by the lack of effort people put into their writing, from blogs to e-mails to letters.

I’m not a fan of the serial comma, as I think it’s confusing. And I think semicolons, used correctly, are a great way to punctuate. Sorry Mr. Vonnegut! It stops me from using en dashes all the time. Which I love.

And, after living in the U.K. for over 10 years, their punctuation in regards to quotation marks is much different, and more appropriate, in my view.

Lastly, I agree with Pam, above. I am also ready for the Internet to be lower case!

I am very happy to tell you that your entire posts are superb and I really love the way you put each and every sentence. You will be rated 8.75 out of 10. Brilliant work,keep it up. Your sense of grammar is simply outstanding. Continue the good work.

Only 8.75? Surely you meant to hit the 9, right?

Have you considered applying to be a newpaper writer? Extremely nice grammar!

Newspapers don’t pay as well as web content writing does! Plus, there aren’t many jobs to be had in the traditional media biz (unfortunately).

can you offer guest writers to write content for yourself? I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on a few of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome web site!

I have a huge problem about Grammar: Verb pattern, Adjective phrase pattern.

Rule 9 about commas is a tricky one. Seems like in the U.S. we always do it the way you suggested, but in Europe (which is where I live now), the Oxford rule is often applied. Also, tell me more about the numbers rule. This is not something I’ve heard before…

Just to update, the 2012 AP stylebook no longer calls for email to be hyphenated.

Thanks! This article was written before the change.

In one of the sentences, White has been written as ‘What’. I guess it’s a typo 😀

Thanks! It's been changed.

The article gave incredible insights on SEO and its importance in the present day Digital marketing strategy. Loved the content. Thanks.

Thank you so much for such great details about content writing ideas.

Comments are closed.

<article>: The Article Contents element

The <article> HTML element represents a self-contained composition in a document, page, application, or site, which is intended to be independently distributable or reusable (e.g., in syndication). Examples include: a forum post, a magazine or newspaper article, or a blog entry, a product card, a user-submitted comment, an interactive widget or gadget, or any other independent item of content.

A given document can have multiple articles in it; for example, on a blog that shows the text of each article one after another as the reader scrolls, each post would be contained in an <article> element, possibly with one or more <section> s within.

This element only includes the global attributes .

Usage notes

Specifications

Browser compatibility.

BCD tables only load in the browser with JavaScript enabled. Enable JavaScript to view data.

Definite and Indefinite Articles (a, an, the)

TIP Sheet DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES

In English there are three articles: a , an , and the . Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents and are a type of adjective. The definite article ( the ) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader. The indefinite article ( a , an ) is used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known. There are certain situations in which a noun takes no article.

As a guide, the following definitions and table summarize the basic use of articles. Continue reading for a more detailed explanation of the rules and for examples of how and when to apply them.

Definite article

the (before a singular or plural noun)

Indefinite article

a (before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound) an (before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound)

Count nouns - refers to items that can be counted and are either singular or plural

Non-count nouns - refers to items that are not counted and are always singular

For the purposes of understanding how articles are used, it is important to know that nouns can be either count (can be counted) or noncount (indefinite in quantity and cannot be counted). In addition, count nouns are either singular (one) or plural (more than one). Noncount nouns are always in singular form.

For example, if we are speaking of water that has been spilled on the table, there can be one drop ( singular ) or two or more drops ( plural ) of water on the table. The word drop in this example is a count noun because we can count the number of drops. Therefore, according to the rules applying to count nouns, the word drop would use the articles a or the .

However, if we are speaking of water in general spilled on the table, it would not be appropriate to count one water or two waters -- there would simply be water on the table. Water is a noncount noun. Therefore, according to the rules applying to noncount nouns, the word water would use no article or the , but not a .

Following are the three specific rules which explain the use of definite and indefinite articles.

Rule #1 - Specific identity not known : Use the indefinite article a or an only with a singular count noun whose specific identity is not known to the reader. Use a before nouns that begin with a consonant sound, and use an before nouns that begin with a vowel sound.

Use the article a or an to indicate any non-specified member of a group or category.

I think an animal is in the garage That man is a scoundrel. We are looking for an apartment.

Use the article a or an to indicate one in number (as opposed to more than one).

I own a cat and two dogs.

Use the article a before a consonant sound, and use an before a vowel sound.

a boy, an apple

◊ Sometimes an adjective comes between the article and noun:

an unhappy boy, a red apple

The plural form of a or an is some . Use some to indicate an unspecified, limited amount (but more than one).

an apple, some apples

Rule #2 - Specific identity known : Use the definite article the with any noun (whether singular or plural, count or noncount) when the specific identity of the noun is known to the reader, as in the following situations:

Use the article the when a particular noun has already been mentioned previously.

I ate an apple yesterday. The apple was juicy and delicious.

Use the article the when an adjective, phrase, or clause describing the noun clarifies or restricts its identity.

The boy sitting next to me raised his hand. Thank you for the advice you gave me.

Use the article the when the noun refers to something or someone that is unique.

the theory of relativity the 2003 federal budget

Rule #3 - All things or things in general : Use no article with plural count nouns or any noncount nouns used to mean all or in general .

Trees are beautiful in the fall. (All trees are beautiful in the fall.) He was asking for advice. (He was asking for advice in general.) I do not like coffee. (I do not like all coffee in general.)

Additional Information Regarding the Use of Articles

When indicating an unspecified, limited amount of a count or noncount noun, use some .

My cousin was seeking some advice from a counselor (not advice in general or advice about everything, but a limited amount of advice).

I would love some coffee right now (not coffee in general, but a limited amount of coffee).

We might get rain tomorrow . Some rain would be good for the crops (a certain amount of rain, as opposed to rain in general).

There are some drops of water on the table (a limited number, but more than one drop).

Noncount nouns are those which usually cannot be counted. Following are some common examples:

◊ Certain food and drink items : bacon, beef, bread, broccoli, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, celery, cereal, cheese, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn, cream, fish, flour, fruit, ice cream, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, wine, yogurt

◊ Certain nonfood substances : air, cement, coal, dirt, gasoline, gold, paper, petroleum, plastic, rain, silver, snow, soap, steel, wood, wool

◊ Most abstract nouns : advice, anger, beauty, confidence, courage, employment, fun, happiness, health, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, love, poverty, satisfaction, truth, wealth

◊ Areas of study : history, math, biology, etc.

◊ Sports : soccer, football, baseball, hockey, etc.

◊ Languages : Chinese, Spanish, Russian, English, etc.

◊ Other : clothing, equipment, furniture, homework, jewelry, luggage, lumber, machinery, mail, money, news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, work

Geographical names are confusing because some require the and some do not.

◊ Use the with : united countries, large regions, deserts, peninsulas, oceans, seas, gulfs, canals, rivers, mountain ranges, groups of islands

the Gobi Desert the United Arab Emirates the Sacramento River the Aleutians

◊ Do not use the with : streets, parks, cities, states, counties, most countries, continents, bays, single lakes, single mountains, islands

Japan Chico Mt. Everest San Francisco Bay

Examples of the Use of Articles

I do not want a gun in my house (any gun). The gun is in his closet (implies there is a specific gun). I am afraid of guns (all guns in general).

She sent me a postcard from Italy (an unspecific postcard - not a letter, not an e-mail). It's the postcard that I have in my office (one specific postcard). Getting postcards makes me want to travel (any postcard in general).

I have a dog (one dog). The dog is very friendly (the dog that I have already mentioned). Dogs make great pets (dogs in general).

Greta needs furniture in her apartment (furniture is a noncount noun). She is going to select the furniture that she needs (the specific furniture that she needs). She hopes to find some furniture this weekend (an unspecified, limited amount of furniture).

We are going to see the Statue of Liberty this weekend (the only Statue of Liberty).

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WCAG 2 Overview

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 is developed through the W3C process in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world, with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.

The WCAG documents explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web “content” generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including:

WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards are stable and referenceable .

WCAG 2.0 was published on 11 December 2008. WCAG 2.1 was published on 5 June 2018. WCAG 2.2 Draft is scheduled to be finalized in April 2023. More information is in What’s New in WCAG 2.2 Draft .

All requirements (“success criteria”) from 2.0 are included in 2.1. The 2.0 success criteria are exactly the same (verbatim, word-for-word) in 2.1.

The 2.0 and 2.1 success criteria are exactly the same in 2.2, with two exceptions :

There are additional success criteria in 2.1 that are not in 2.0. They are introduced in What’s New in WCAG 2.1 . The proposed new success criteria in 2.2 are introduced in What’s New in WCAG 2.2 Draft .

Content that conforms to WCAG 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0 . (This is often called “backwards compatible”.) A website that meets WCAG 2.1 should meet the requirements of policies that reference WCAG 2.0. To put it another way: If you want to meet both WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1, you can use the 2.1 resources and you don’t need to bother looking at 2.0.

WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 are both existing standards. WCAG 2.1 does not deprecate or supersede WCAG 2.0. W3C encourages you to use the most recent version of WCAG when developing or updating content or accessibility policies.

Who WCAG is for

WCAG is for those who want a technical standard. It is not an introduction to accessibility. For links to introductory material, see “Where should I start?” in the FAQ .

WCAG is primarily intended for:

To meet the needs of others — including policy makers, managers, and researchers — there are many different WAI Resources .

What is in WCAG 2

The WCAG standards have 12-13 guidelines. The guidelines are organized under 4 principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust .

For each guideline, there are testable success criteria . The success criteria are at three levels: A, AA, and AAA .

The success criteria are what determine “conformance” to WCAG. That is, in order to meet WCAG, the content needs to meet the success criteria. Details are in the Conformance section of WCAG .

For a short summary of the WCAG 2 guidelines, see WCAG 2.1 at a Glance .

Supporting material and supplemental guidance

The following resources help you understand and implement WCAG, and improve accessibility beyond WCAG:

Please read about these WCAG 2 resources from WCAG 2 Documents .

Translations

Authorized Translations and unofficial translations of WCAG 2 are listed in WCAG 2 Translations .

WCAG 2.0 is ISO/IEC 40500

WCAG 2.0 is approved as an ISO standard: ISO/IEC 40500:2012. ISO/IEC 40500 is exactly the same as the original WCAG 2.0, which is introduced above along with supporting resources.

The content of ISO/IEC 40500 is freely available from www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20 ; it is available for purchase from the ISO catalogue .

Benefits of WCAG 2.0 as an ISO standard are summarized in ISO in the FAQ . More information on W3C and the ISO process is in the W3C PAS FAQ .

Who develops WCAG

The WCAG technical documents are developed by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group ( AG WG ) (formerly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group) , which is part of the World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C ) Web Accessibility Initiative ( WAI ).

WAI updates Techniques for WCAG 2 and Understanding WCAG 2 periodically. We welcome comments and submission of new techniques .

Opportunities for contributing to WCAG and other WAI work are introduced in Participating in WAI .

WCAG 3 and More Information

WCAG is part of a series of accessibility guidelines, including the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG). Essential Components of Web Accessibility explains the relationship between the different guidelines.

See the WCAG 2 FAQ for more information on:

For information on the early draft of W3C Accessibility Guidelines 3.0 (formerly known as “Sliver”), see the WCAG 3 Introduction .

website articles rules

8 Rules for Using the Article The in English

1. with the names of countries and continents.

2. With the words breakfast, lunch, dinner

3. With the names of jobs and professions

4. with compass directions, 5. with names of oceans, seas, rivers, and canals, 6. with the names of unique objects, 7. with uncountable nouns, 8. with surnames, to be familiar with english means to know the details about the language. how about learning essential tips about an article the usage in sentences let’s discover them.

website articles rules

An article is a word that modifies a noun.

If you are learning English online , there are two different types of articles: the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a/an).

In accord with the designations, the indefinite article is used when we speak about something for the first time, or something non-specific. The definite article is used when we speak about something specific or something that has already been mentioned in the conversation.

Many languages in the world use articles , but just as many languages don’t have them at all. So there is no reason to panic if your native language does not use articles.

The following eight rules regarding the use of the articles in English will help you make fewer mistakes when you speak English.

It is very important to be able to use the articles properly, both when writing and speaking.

website articles rules

When to Use “The” in English

“The” is typically used in accompaniment with any noun with a specific meaning, or a noun referring to a single thing. The important distinction is between countable and non-countable nouns: if the noun is something that can’t be counted or something singular, then use “the”, if it can be counted, then us “a” or “an”.

In these instances we do not use the articles at all, BUT if the country is made up of different parts or if the name is taken from common nouns, for example USA, UK, UAE, then we use the article the and say the USA, the UK, the UAE, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands.

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It is the same when speaking of continents and islands. It is not used at all with the continents. We usually do not use an article when speaking about islands, but if the name is made up of different parts, then use the definite article.

For example, Africa, Europe, Bermuda, Tasmania, BUT the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas

2. With the words breakfast , lunch , dinner

When it comes to eating in general, the article is not used. But if you are speaking about a particular breakfast, lunch or dinner, use the .

In these instances, use the indefinite article a/an .

Compass directions are written with capital letters when they designate definite regions ( the North, the South, the East, the West ), but not when they indicate direction or general location.

If the compass direction follows a preposition or if it designates a definite region, use the definite article the . If it follows a verb , no article is used.

Remember that the definite article is always used with these bodies of water.

For example, the Amazon, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal .

This means that only one of the object or thing exists; it is one of a kind. Specifically, the sun, the moon, the internet, the sky, the earth .

Uncountable nouns are nouns that we cannot count. A way to identify these nouns, in most cases, is that they do not add –s in the plural form.

But remember that for every rule there are many exceptions. If you are speaking about any uncountable noun in general, do not use the article. But when speaking about something specific, the is used.

When speaking about members of the same family collectively, the article the is used before the surname. In this way, you designate a group of people –a family – with one word. Remember, the surname must be in the plural form.

This information does not cover all the uses of the articles in English. However, remember these rules as a start, and gradually increase your knowledge of English grammar .

Larry has been teaching English as a Foreign Language since 2008. Having spent 30 years as a British policeman, he teaches English not as an academic but as a communicator. He has degrees in Psychology, IT, Accounting, and English. Larry has experience in teaching IELTS, CAE, CPE, and Business English (including Accounting, Logistics, and Architecture).

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Although there are some rules about article usage to help, there are also quite a few exceptions. Therefore, learning to use articles accurately takes a long
Web Content Writing Punctuation Rules For Beginners
Really, try not to use them. Most of the time, they only succeed in making the writer look cheesy. When you do use them, never put two in the same paragraph (or
The Article Contents element
A given document can have multiple articles in it; for example, on a blog that shows the text of each article one after another as the reader
Definite and Indefinite Articles (a, an, the)
Rule #1 - Specific identity not known: Use the indefinite article a or an only with a singular count noun whose specific identity is not known to the reader.
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The WCAG standards have 12-13 guidelines. The guidelines are organized under 4 principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. For each guideline
8 Rules for Using the Article The in English
If you are learning English online, there are two different types of articles: the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a/an). In