How to write user-focused content

Owned by Marcella Marino
Last updated: 04 Apr, 2024
1 min read

Content should be structure from most important to least important.

Good writing balances out what you want to say and what your audience needs to know.​

Remember to write like a journalist! Don’t bury the lead or key messages of your content. Users want to get information as quickly as possible. Structure your page in order of:

  1. Need to know or essential information.

  2. Supporting information.

  3. Nice to know information.

Remember only 25% of uses will scroll to the bottom of a page to get more detail.

Plan and write your content

Use the Australian Government content production template to plan, write and check your content.​

  • The first sentence sets an expectation for what’s on the page.​

  • Your main content contains your key message or user need.​

Keep your content concise

Eliminate unnecessary words.​

Make each word work for its place in the sentence. Sentence structure is clearer if each word plays a necessary role.​

Clear sentences improve readability. ​

Remove all the words except the subject, verb and object (if applicable). ​

Make your content scannable

Showing the hierarchy of content makes your page scannable.

  • Heading 1 is your page title.

  • Always start with Heading 2 in the content.

  • Then use H3 for sub-groupings under H2.

This gives visual clues to the readers.

It’s also important to meet accessibility guidelines for people using screen readers. They will scan the page headings and skip to relevant content sections.

Use the Basic text component guide to apply heading styles.

More information

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