Rewriting Digital Content for Brevity

Summary: Writers always get the advice to be concise, but doing so is easier said than done. These tips and tricks help reduce your word count.

People often get the advice to be concise when writing for the web. Less common is the knowledge of how to do it. This skill is critical, however, and honing it can significantly improve your website’s content. Our research shows that, on average, users read about 20% of the words on a web page . And that’s if they stay to read at all! Long text can intimidate your users , making them likely to click away or skip your content entirely. Learning to edit down your content increases the chance that your words get read. Use these tips and tricks to get started.

Tip 1: Kill Your Darlings

There are few things more personal than the writing process. Even when writing for a professional environment, your words may feel like they’re a part of you. That’s why the first step of the revision process is to distance yourself from your work and “kill your darlings.”

Traditionally advice given to creative writers, this saying applies to all manners of writing, including UX. The expression means to separate yourself from the emotional aspects of your work and get ready to let go of specific phrases, words, and paragraphs you love. Writers often get attached to a particular element of their work and edit around it, ignoring the problems it causes.