Copywriting for the Web: The Rules of Text Read on Screen

Text written for a printed brochure and put on a web page as it stands usually gives a poor result. The problem is not the quality of the translation; it is the medium itself. A user reading on screen behaves differently from a reader reading on paper, and the text has to be built to suit that behaviour.

Contents

The founding figures of the usability field say that plain text is the foundation of information on the web (Nielsen and Tahir 2002: 49). For that plain text to be effective, though, it has to be written in a particular form. Copywriting for the web is the body of rules that describes that form.

Below we set out what reading on screen changes, which rules are recommended at the level of length, word, syntax, register and structure, and how these bear on Turkish. The rules feed directly into translation work as well: the measure of the target text is not accuracy alone but whether it works on screen.

Why is reading on screen different?

The first difference is speed. Research shows that users read about a quarter more slowly on screen than on paper (Nielsen and Loranger 2006). That slowing means the same text is more tiring on screen, and it bears directly on decisions about length.

The second difference is behaviour. Users generally do not read web texts; they scan until they find the information they are after or come across content that catches their interest (Nielsen 2001). This scanning behaviour invalidates the assumption that a text will be read from beginning to end.

The third difference is the variety of screens. The same text will appear on a wide desktop screen and on a narrow telephone screen alike. On a narrow screen a long paragraph turns into a wall. Decisions about structure are therefore taken with the smallest screen in mind.

Copywriting for the web is a skill of its own

What is expected of the localiser is not merely an accurate translation but text suited to the medium. The source speaks of four kinds of resource that can be turned to in this area and lists them as the localiser’s standing reference material (Jiménez-Crespo 2024, pp. 188-189).

1. Monolingual style guides prepared for copywriting in the source language.
2. Guides specific to a company or a project; the guides of volunteer translation projects belong to this group as well.
3. Style guides specific to localisation.
4. Publications on web usability and user experience that focus on effective copywriting.

Two further headings are added to these. The first is the adaptation of writing technique on account of the particular qualities of the medium. The second is the idea of plain language, which makes the text accessible to everyone. Accessibility is treated here not as an added feature but as a quality of the writing itself.

Length: cutting by half

The general principle is clear: web texts should be short, concise, clear, accessible and concrete. Brevity has directly to do with reading on screen, and it is recommended that text produced for this medium be cut by half against its printed counterpart (Nielsen and Loranger 2006).

This rule produces a particular difficulty for translation. If the source text is already short, the room for shortening the target text further narrows. Turkish, moreover, shows a certain tendency to expand in texts coming from most Western languages. The result can be a text the design will not carry.

The solution is to plan the compression at the translation stage. Dropping unnecessary conjunctions, turning noun phrases into verbs and pruning repetitions gain space without loss of meaning. This is not free translation but a decision about transfer that answers what the medium requires.

Choice of words and consistency of terms

Terms should be easy to understand and consistency of terms should be attended to. Avoiding high-flown, ornate words is recommended. The same concept should be met by the same word everywhere on the site; using synonyms is richness in a literary text and confusion in an interface.

The list of things to avoid is clear as well: informal abbreviations, ambiguous constructions, slang and professional jargon. Irony and humour are particularly not recommended in interface text. In texts reaching a global audience, regional differences of dialect are kept clear of too (Jiménez-Crespo 2024, p. 189).

These rules do not mean a dry text. The aim is that the user should move on without hesitating. Every hesitation produces a small cognitive cost, and that cost can build up as far as the decision to leave the page.

Consistency of terms also produces a technical requirement. When a concept has a single equivalent, the translation memory and the termbase work efficiently. When different equivalents accumulate, the tool cannot bring up the right suggestion and quality control starts producing the same warning on every version.

Syntax and the inverted pyramid

The syntax recommended is plain: sentences of between fifteen and twenty-five words, complete and ideally carrying a single idea. Avoiding long sentences strung together, the passive construction and the use of a noun phrase in place of a verb is recommended (Jiménez-Crespo 2024, p. 189).

Because users scan the first sentences of every paragraph and every section, the inverted pyramid structure should be used. That structure begins with the conclusion and puts the important information right at the start. In the words of one source, the reason the inverted pyramid is effective is that the reader takes in the key information quickly from the outset (Mill 2005: 11-12).

Reference also calls for care. References within and outside the text, demonstrative pronouns and expressions of time and place should be used carefully, because there is no telling in advance whether the user will read the rest of the hypertext (Price and Price 2002).

Register: direct address and positive language

Web texts should speak to the user directly. This rule is held to apply even where the communication passes between institutions or units of government and the register is quite formal. Direct address is all but without exception in interface and interaction elements.

A positive attitude gives better results. Avoiding double negatives and words with a negative charge is recommended. An informative register, moreover, works better than a promotional one; it raises both readability and the user’s capacity to remember.

Clichés are kept clear of as well. Formulas such as “Welcome to our site”, “Under construction” or “Click here” give the user no information and take up space. Link text should be a concrete expression describing the place it leads to.

Not all of these rules apply to every type of text to the same degree. There are differences between interface text, content text, a landing page and promotional text. Guides give a general frame; how far a given rule is stretched and where is settled together with the function of the page.

Structure: paragraph, table and image

Paragraphs should be short so as to make scanning easier, should carry a single idea and should consist of no more than three to five sentences. The most important information is given in the first two sentences. Repeated or numerical information is moved into tables and charts. The table below compares the printed habit with the recommendation for the web.

Element	Habit of printed text	Recommendation for the web
Length of text	Until the subject is finished	Half its printed counterpart
Sentence	Long and full of conjunctions	Fifteen to twenty-five words, a single idea
Paragraph	No limit	Three to five sentences
Order of information	Introduction, development, conclusion	Inverted pyramid: the conclusion right at the start
Numerical information	Inside the sentence	Table or chart
Image	May be there for decoration	Only if it serves the purpose

With images the measure is clear. The tendency to fill the place of text with an image is widespread; images, though, are static and without hierarchy, whereas the human mind prefers structure and hierarchy (Jeney 2007: 28-29). Images should be used only where they contribute to the communicative purpose of the page.

Hyperlinks are part of the structure too. Because links organise the whole of the hypertext, link texts need to be chosen with care (McAlpine 2001: 33). Link text should say where the user is going before they click. This makes a measurable difference in terms of both usability and accessibility.

Lastly, it is possible to measure the readability of a text with automatic tools. Usability and accessibility checkers control whether the content is legible and efficient. These tools are no substitute for human assessment, but they are useful for a quick scan before publication.

The Türkiye context

In Turkish the tradition of corporate writing favours the long sentence. Noun phrases of the type “gerçekleştirilmesi planlanmaktadır” (“it is planned that it be carried out”), which come from the language of official correspondence, produce problems of both length and intelligibility when they are carried into web text. Turning those constructions into verbs lowers the average sentence length markedly.

The second matter is the form of address. The rule of direct address raises the question of person in Turkish. On corporate sites the second person plural is common and safe; the singular may be preferred in products speaking to a young audience. What matters is that a single choice is sustained across the whole site.

The third is the practical problem the agglutinative structure brings. Button and menu texts grow with suffixes in Turkish; “Kaydet” (“Save”) is short, while “Değişiklikleri kaydet” (“Save changes”) may not fit on a narrow button. Taking the decisions about design and about text at the same time largely solves this problem.

What does this mean for you?

Looking at accuracy alone is not enough when you are assessing the translation of your site. Whether the text works on screen is a criterion of its own. The steps below make that measurable.

1. Add concrete criteria such as average sentence length and a paragraph limit to your translation brief.
2. Require that the most important information on each page appears in the first two sentences.
3. Include the moving of numerical and repeated information into tables within the scope of the translation.
4. Have link texts written so as to describe where they lead rather than saying “click here”.
5. Read the text you receive on a narrow telephone screen and make your final check that way.

When these criteria are given to the translation team at the outset, rounds of revision fall off markedly. You can reach our articles on similar subjects from our knowledge centre, and the current tariff from our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Does web text really have to be shorter?

Yes. Usability research shows that reading on screen is about a quarter slower than reading on paper. Text produced for this medium is therefore recommended to be cut by half against its printed counterpart.

What is the inverted pyramid structure?

It is a construction that comes from journalism. The text begins with the conclusion, the most important information is given right at the start, and the details come afterwards. Because users scan the first sentences of a paragraph, this structure lets the reader take in the key information quickly.

How long should sentences be?

The syntax recommended for the web is plain: sentences of between fifteen and twenty-five words, complete and carrying a single idea. Avoiding long sentences strung together, the passive construction and the use of a noun phrase in place of a verb is recommended.

Can humour and idiom be used?

They are not recommended in interface text. The source says that informal abbreviations, ambiguous constructions, slang, irony and humour should be avoided. In texts reaching a global audience, regional differences of dialect need to be kept clear of too.

Sources

• Jiménez-Crespo, M. A. (2024). Localization in Translation. Routledge, pp. 188-191.
• Nielsen, J. & Loranger, H. (2006). Prioritizing Web Usability. New Riders.
• Jeney, C. (2007). Writing for the Web. Pearson, pp. 28-29.