Tips for writing for the web

Best practices to guide your work

Specific requirements and guidelines for your work are included in IU’s Editorial Style Guide. Here are a few common editorial needs and tips with examples to get you started.

• Write conversationally: Use “you” to engage the reader.
• Use short paragraphs and bullet points for scanability.
• Use buttons and contextual links for navigation.
• Approach AI with caution: While AI can help generate ideas, it should never replace human oversight. Content should always be reviewed for tone, accuracy, and bias before publication.
• Write at around an 8th grade reading level to make content easier for users and preferred by search engines.

Words and phrases

Online terms

• Use internet, website, webcam, webcast, webmaster, webpage.
• Use web address, web browser instead of “website address.”
• Use email without a hyphen.
• Use hyphens with e-terms: e-book, e-business, e-commerce.
• Do not include "http://" or "https://" when spelling out web addresses.
• Avoid hyperlinking “click here.” Instead, use descriptive text: Example: Visit IU School of Medicine.

Titles and credentials

• Capitalize formal titles before a name, but lowercase when following:
  • Example: IU School of Medicine Dean Jay L. Hess issued a statement.
  • Example: Jay L. Hess, dean of IU School of Medicine, issued a statement.
• Lowercase “professor” when not part of a title.
• Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, master’s degree but not in Bachelor of Science.
• Do not use periods in degree abbreviations: MD, PhD.

By following these guidelines, we ensure that web content is clear, accessible, and aligned with our brand identity.

Punctuation and capitalization

Composition titles

• Capitalize principal words in book titles, academic papers, journal articles, and lecture titles.
• Capitalize prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.
• Capitalize articles (the, a, an) only if they are the first or last word in a title.
• Enclose titles in quotation marks.

Apostrophes and quotes

Use curly quotation marks and apostrophes instead of straight.

Commas

• Use the serial (Oxford) comma in lists: Example: red, white, and blue ribbons.
• Use semicolons for complex lists: Example: The letters are dated August 7, 1989; May 15, 1990; and January 4, 1991.
• Place a comma before and after qualifiers like PhD and MD: Example: Valerie P. Jackson, MD, set the tone for the conference.
• Do not use commas for Jr., Sr., or III: Example: Martin Luther King Jr.
• Use commas to set off geographical names: Example: Bloomington, Indiana, is home to the university.

Dashes

• En dashes (–): Used in ranges (e.g., 2010–2020) and between university names (e.g., Indiana University–Purdue University).
• Em dashes (—): Used for parenthetical phrases, without spaces: Example: The event—our largest yet—was a success.

Capitalization

• • Use sentence case for web headings: Example: The ideal college experience, two centuries in the making.
  • Capitalize official names but lowercase informal references: Example: The School of Medicine; the medical school.
  • Capitalize course titles: Example: E 201 Introduction to Microeconomics.
  • Capitalize official policy names: Example: Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity.
  • Capitalize holidays and named events but lowercase seasons and academic terms: Example: Thanksgiving, Spring Break; winter term, fall semester.
  • Personal titles before names are capitalized, but lowercase when following: Example: Professor John Doe; John Doe, assistant professor of history.
  • Named academic positions remain capitalized: Example: The Lawrence D. Glaubinger Professor of Business Administration.
  • Do not capitalize a qualifying word that precedes a title: Example: former Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Thomas Gieryn.

Numbers and lists

Numbers

• • • Use numerals for 10 and above, spell out one through nine.
    • Use million/billion for large round numbers: Example: 2 million; 2.8 billion.
    • Spell out first through ninth; use numerals for 10th and above.
    • Use numbers for percentages and dates: Example: 5 percent; March 14, 2024.
    • Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence: Example: Sixteen credit hours are required.

Times, dates, and places

• • • Use figures except for noon and midnight: Example: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 9–11 a.m.
    • Do not use the year unless referring to a date more than a year in the past or future.
    • Spell out numbered streets nine and under: Example: 5 Sixth Ave.; 340 West 10th St.
    • Use abbreviations (Ave., Blvd., St.) only with a numbered address: Example: 1120 South Dr.
    • Spell out and capitalize street names when not used with a number: Example: South Drive.
    • Always spell out Indiana instead of abbreviating it as “IN” or “Ind.”
    • Use healthcare instead of health care.

Lists

• • Capitalize the first word of each item.
  • End each item with a period if at least one is a full sentence.
  • No period if all items are fragments: Example: Financial Aid Application