Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

25Be Rabid about Readability

In this book I advocate using a general approach to creating content that's more relaxed and less filled with jargon, buzzwords, and clichés. In general, the best Web writing isn't necessarily short, but it is simple, with…

• shorter paragraphs with no more than three sentences or six lines (and just one is fine).
• shorter sentences with no more than 25 words in a sentence.
• straightforward words—in other words, avoid clichés, jargon, and buzzwords (for example, avoid utilize when you can write use, instead).

So…

• Use bulleted or numbered lists.
• Highlight key points (like this one), either in bold or italic, or as a pull quote.
• Use subheadings to break up text.
• Add visual elements, such as graphics, photos, slide shows, and so on.
• Use lots of white space ...