Project headline. Use short words where possible. Mobile line length ~12 characters

The standfirst is a short sentence that expands on the promise of the headline – make it punchy, and don't put a full stop at the end

This is the main body of the story. Keep paragraphs short where possible. Aim for one idea per paragraph. This is more important than exact word count.

Paragraphs in Guardian news pieces generally range from ~20 to ~60 words, which is a good guide.

This is a level two heading (h2)

Readers will be scanning the page to look for topics of interest. Use headings to help them.

Make your headings more useful by front-loading them with the most interesting or relevant terms. 'Prince William visits Hallam' is better than 'Sheffield Hallam honoured to host HRH Prince William'.

Use preset styles to create headings. Don't use font size or bolding. You can find the preset styles in a drop-down at the top right of Sitecore's text editor.

This is a level three heading (h3)

Headings are also recommended under WCAG accessibility guidelines. They help visitors who use text-to-speech software understand what is on a page.

Finally, search engines use subheadings to help them assess the content and structure of a page. This means that clear, well-structured headings can help your page rank for relevant queries.

Other layout techniques

These have benefits for user experience, accessibility and search. Get into the habit of using them – they will make pages more effective and inclusive. 

Bullet points

User research has shown that bullets can help with information retrieval and recall.

• Use bullets for lists of short, comparable items.
• Don't use them for long, complicated sentences.
• Don't write more than one sentence in a single bullet.
• If points are complete sentences, use a capital letter and full stop.
• If they run on from the lead line, use a lowercase letter and no full stop.

Links

Placing internal and external links in copy is useful, and also contributes to a positive first impression of the page. It's a signal that we know the topic and care about helping people navigate it.

Writing link text

Link text should be descriptive. Never use generic terms like 'click here' or 'the company's website'. Text-to-speech software reads links out before it reads the rest of the page, so visually impaired visitors will not get the surrounding context. They will simply hear, "Link: Click here."

• Bad: To read about our Heart of the Region strategy, click here
• Good: Read about our regional strategy