Formatting

How to format your content

Everything you need to know about how to format your content. Includes links, bullet pointed lists, heading styles and punctuation.

Structuring your content

Research shows that on average a reader will only read around 20% of the text on a page. The way you structure your content can influence how your readers perceive, use and understand your message.

How people read online

People read differently online to paper. Most online readers scan content quickly to find the information they want.

Usually they will look along the top of the page, then down the left hand side. When they find information they are interested in they’ll read across. This pattern ends up looking like a capital “F”.

However, this means if readers are unable to easily scan your content, they’ll move on.

This is true for all types of online content, including documents and emails.

For more information, try the LinkedIn learning course: learning to write for the web.

Reading order

The reading order of your document or webpage should be logical and make sense to the reader.

Think of your content as a set of instructions to reach an end goal.

For example: you would not explain to readers how to buy from an agreement without first telling them what the agreement is for.

The inverted pyramid

You must put the most important information in the first couple of paragraphs. This is called front loading your content and helps to ensure that most readers will get the main information. This is because only a small percent of users make it to the bottom of a page.

The inverted pyramid structure is:

  1. Most important information.
  2. Important details.
  3. Other general or background information.

Page length

There is no minimum or maximum page length for. However, you should remember that:

  • people only tend to read about 20% of text on a web page
  • cognitive overload increases for every 100 words on a page, which means every additional 100 words reduces a reader’s ability to understand
  • you should only include what someone needs to know to complete their task: nothing more

The quicker you make your point, the greater the chance that your target audience will see the information you need them to.

Headings and subheadings

Headings and subheadings help to organise your content. Most readers scan online content until they find information that interests them. Increase the usefulness of your text by using clear, descriptive and meaningful headings that will guide your readers.

Meaningful titles, headings and subheadings

Meaningful headings help to break up the text on the page and make your content easier to read and scan.

As a general rule, a good heading is concise and should tell the reader what they’ll find or learn in the text below.

When writing good headings you should:

  • aim for 65 characters or less
  • ensure your page titles and headings are unique: duplicate page titles makes your content harder to find
  • front load your headings: this means to put the most important words first
  • avoid using brackets in headings and subheadings
Do this Not this
Acronyms and abbreviations How to use acronyms and abbreviations
How to become a supplier Crown Commercial Service: how to become a supplier
Sentence and paragraph structure Find out how to structure your sentences and paragraphs

Do not use acronyms in section headings or subheadings 

Only use acronyms in the body text of your web page, document or email.

Heading styles

Heading styles organise your headings and subheadings into a logical structure. They help readers to know when a new section or subsection starts or ends and provides a way for screen reader users to navigate your content in a consistent, linear way.

You should use:

  • heading 1 (H1) for document titles (there should only be one H1 per document)
    • for webpages the name of the page would be the H1
  • heading 2 (H2) for the most important headings, that introduce a specific section
  • heading 3 (H3) (optional) for subheadings within a section
  • heading 4 (H4) (optional) for sub subheadings within a section

Heading styles 3 and 4 are optional because not all documents or pages will have sub or sub subheadings.

The order of headings should follow a sequence.

For example:

Do this: H1, H2, H3, H4, H2, H3

Not this: H1, H4, H2, H3, H2, H4.

Writing headings and subheadings

When writing headings you should:

  • put the most important information first:
    • “procurement: everything you need to know” not “everything you need to know about procurement”
  • make them short and easy to read and scan
  • use sentence casing:
    • “Writing headings and subheadings” not “Writing Headings and Subheadings”
  • use the correct heading and subheading styles

You should not:

  • use bold, italics or underline
  • use long sentences
  • start each word with a capital letter

Sentence and paragraph structure

Text alignment and font

Do not justify or centralise your text. All text in your document should be left aligned, including your headings. The only exception is numerical data (numbers) in tables which should be right aligned.

Font and text size 

Using different text sizes and fonts can be distracting and will make your text look cluttered. Some fonts are also harder to read than others.

Always use a simple font that is easy to read. Your body text should be at least 12pt in size and you should aim to use black text on a white background. If you must use coloured text, check your colour contrast.

We recommend you use the following font and text sizes in your documents:

  • heading 1: Arial and 22pt
  • heading 2: Arial 18pt
  • heading 3: Arial 16pt
  • heading 4: Arial 14pt
  • body text: Arial and 13pt

Paragraph length

Long, complex paragraphs can be intimidating and difficult to read.

Aim to keep your paragraphs around 5 lines long to improve the readability. This is usually between 5 to 8 sentences.

You should also aim for 1 key point or message per paragraph.

Sentence length

Short sentences are easier to read. You should aim for your sentences to be between 15 and 20 words long.

This does not mean all your sentences should be the same length. Your writing still needs to have rhythm and flow.

You can write a slightly longer sentence here and there, provided the sentence makes sense, reads better and clarifies the meaning.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for 1 point or idea per sentence. Of course, some concepts are trickier to explain than others. But, most sentences can be edited to make them shorter and clearer.

Word choice and plain language

Avoid using complex, long or formal words where short and simple will do. Our readers should not need to spend time translating what we write. If you need to include technical terms, you must explain what the term means in plain language or link to our glossary if relevant.

Find out more about words to watch and words not to use.

Bold, italics and block capitals

Do not use bold, italicised or capitalised text to ‘break up’ your content.

Many readers with low visibility or dyslexia read by recognising the shape of the word instead of reading each individual letter.  These readers will struggle to read block capitals, bold, italics or underlined text because it changes the usual shape of the letters.

When writing your text never:

  • use italics to emphasise words
  • use bold for more than four words in a row or more than twice in a paragraph
  • underline text (unless it is a link)

use capitalisation for emphasis and do not use BLOCK CAPITALS for text

Bullet points and numbered lists

Lists are great for breaking up block text which can make your content easier to read and understand. However, you need to make sure that you are formatting lists correctly and not overusing them.

Too many lists grouped closely together can be as difficult to read as large chunks of text.

Bullet points

There are 2 types of bulleted lists: bullet points within text and those that follow headings and subheadings. When writing your bullet points you should:

  • always use a lead in line to ensure your list makes sense within context (this is a line that comes before the bulleted list)
  • make sure that the bulleted list makes sense following the lead in line
  • use only 1 sentence for each bullet point, start another bullet point if more sentences are needed
  • make sure each bullet point is a complete sentence (they do not end with “or” or “and”)
  • use dashes, commas or semicolons to expand your bullet point – if it’s not possible to start another
    • consider using sub bullet points to extend a point where needed if a dash or comma will not work, but use sparingly
  • start your points with a lower case, unless they begin with a name or proper noun
  • not include any punctuation at the end, except a question mark (?) for questions
  • make sure that any links you add appear within the text and not as the whole bullet point

Bulleted lists should have at least 2 bullet points. If your list has less than 2 bullets you should rewrite these as sentences within a paragraph instead.

Numbered lists

Use numbered lists when listing actions that must be completed in a specific order such as:

  • a set of instructions
  • a top 10 list
  • a list of questions that must be answered in a certain order

If the items in the list do not need to be in a specific order, use bullet points.

When formatting your numbered lists you should:

  • always use a lead in line to ensure your list makes sense within context
  • use complete, concise and single sentences for each numbered point
  • have an initial capital letter in the first word
  • end with a full stop or question mark
  • make sure that any links you add appear within the text and not as the whole sentence

For example:

When making a cup of tea you should:

  1. Fill up the kettle with water.
  2. Boil the kettle.
  3. Place a teabag in a mug.
  4. Pour boiling water over the teabag.
  5. Brew the tea for a few minutes.
  6. Remove and dispose of the teabag.
  7. Add milk and drink.

Links

Links can be useful when you need readers to access information from different places. They can help navigate to different pages or files when needed.

However, links interrupt the user journey of your content. It can be difficult for readers to resume that flow or to navigate back, so make sure you only link to the most useful information.

Link text that is descriptive, clear and concise

Screen reader users often read links as a list, without seeing the surrounding context. A document or webpage with multiple “click here” links is not useful.

Readers should be able to easily identify links and know where the link will take them.

For more information, read Webaim’s guide to making links accessible.

Link text should:

  • stand out from other text by keeping the default formatting (underlined and blue in colour)
  • be descriptive and make sense without the context of the surrounding content
  • be at the end of a sentence where possible
  • start with a verb (doing word) where possible

If you are linking to a document, article, blog or report, the link text should include the name of that document or blog. 

Link text should not:

  • use generic words such as “click here” or “read more” or “this news item”
  • use full URLs
  • have quotation marks around it
  • be used more than once in each section when linking to the same page
  • end with any punctuation except a full stop if at the end of a full sentence or question mark if asking a question

Link text and punctuation

Only use punctuation if the link is at the end of a full sentence or is a question. Only use full stops or question marks.

If you are listing links, including links in buttons or if the link is not a full sentence, do not include punctuation at the end of your link.
Do this:

  • read our terms and conditions
  • download our customer buyer guide
  • view our digital brochure

Do you want to download our digital brochure?

Not this:

Do you want to download our digital brochure

Punctuation and special characters

Addresses written in a single line

Usually you will write an address in this way when including it within the body text of your content or in a paragraph as part of a sentence.

Only use commas when written over a single line to separate building name, street name, county or city and postcode.

For example: 8th Floor, 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PZ, United Kingdom

Addresses written over several lines

You would use this format when putting an address at the top of a letter, form or document when the address is not part of the body text.

When writing an address over several lines you should:

  • write the town and postcode on separate lines
  • not use commas at the end of each line
  • write the country on the line after the postcode, not before

For example:

8th Floor 10 South Colonnade

Canary Wharf

London

E14 4PZ

United Kingdom

Apostrophes

An apostrophe shows that a thing is owned by something. The ownership does not have to be to a physical person, it could be to a month, time period or team.

Only use apostrophes to show possession. If the possessor is singular and ends in an “s”, use an apostrophe followed by a secondary “s”.

Examples of using apostrophes:

  • David Jones’s spreadsheet
  • look at last week’s report
  • use Tom’s dashboard
  • to check your content, refer to the content team’s content checklist
  • only use September’s data

Brackets

Avoid using too many brackets as they can clutter your text and make it harder to read. If you need to use brackets, always make sure you close them and avoid having 2 brackets next to each other.

Always use (round brackets) in body text unless you are referring to explanatory notes in reported speech or placeholder text. In those instances use [square brackets].

Examples of using brackets:

  • we are waiting for the guidance to be issued (the contracting authority have the final say on this issue)
  • [write your name here]
  • as the data shows (annex 1, figure 12)

Colons

Use colons to introduce an idea, a list or bullet points.

For example:

  • there is 1 thing you should know about our buyer guide: it’s great
  • the document includes information on: further competition, direct award and aggregation
  • to make a cup of tea you will need:
    • a kettle
    • a mug
    • a teabag
    • milk
    • sugar
    • biscuits

Exclamation marks

Exclamation marks (!) are generally used to show emotion. You should always avoid using exclamation marks unless you are using them in a direct quote. Usually the tone or emotion of a sentence can be understood from the context of the sentence alone.

Do this Not this
This is important. This is important!
Our buyer guide is great. Our buyer guide is great!
We’ve published a new agreement. We’ve published a new agreement!

Ampersands

An ampersand (&) is a symbol meaning “and”. Avoid using ampersands in all cases, instead fully spell out the word “and”.

Do this Not this
David and I wrote the document David & I wrote the document
You will need to fill out our contract form and application form You will need to fill out our contract form & application form

Question marks

Question marks are used to show the end of a question. The sentence after the question mark always begins with a capital letter.

Do this Not this
What time is it?

Where did you put the report?

Did you leave the spreadsheet on my desk? I am unable to find it.

 What time is it

Where did you put the report?!

Did you leave the spreadsheet on my desk? i am unable to find it.

Percentages

Use % when talking about percentages. For more information, read our decimal and percentages section.

Email addresses

Only use the @ symbol when writing email addresses.

Do this Not this
info@crowncommercial.gov.uk

The meeting is at 2pm

 The meeting is @ 2pm

Explore more of our style guide

Our style guide is designed to help you communicate in a clear and consistent way. Find out more about how to write and design for Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

  • Accessibility

    Accessibility is the practice of making information meaningful and usable for as many people as possible.

    Find out how to make your content accessible.

  • Brand guidelines

    We created these brand guidelines to explain how we use our brand to consistently communicate with our customers visually and verbally. Includes our tone of voice, our brand colours how to use our brand mark (logo).

    Find out more about our brand guidelines.

  • Designing for CCS webpages

    Learn about the design components we use on our website and how you can use them to create webpages. Includes page components such as buttons and hero banner design.

    Find out how to design webpages for CCS.

  • Language

    Everything you need to know about language and spelling. Includes how to use plain language, abbreviations, capitalisation and words to avoid.

    Find out about using language in your content.

  • Numbers

    Everything you need to know about formatting and writing numbers in your content. Includes dates and time, percentages and how to write about ages.

    Find out how to use numbers in your content.

  • Checklist

    When you have finished writing your piece of content, use our checklist to check you have followed the style guide and are ready to publish.

    View our checklist.

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Glossary

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