Readers on the web rarely start at the first word and finish at the last. They land, glance at the headline, skim the first paragraph, and scroll to see how long the piece is and whether the subheadings promise anything useful. Only then do they decide to read.
That decision happens in seconds, so the structure of an article matters as much as the sentences inside it.
Lead with the point
Put the most useful idea in the first two sentences. If a reader leaves after the opening paragraph, they should still leave with something. Background, history and caveats can come later, once you have earned their attention.
A good test: read only your first paragraph aloud. Would a friend know what the article is about and why it matters to them?
Make the scan work for you
Subheadings are signposts, not decoration. Write them so that someone reading only the headings gets the outline of your argument.
- Use plain words. "Choosing a font size" beats "Typographic considerations".
- Keep paragraphs short. Three or four sentences is plenty on a screen.
- Front-load lists. Start each bullet with the word that matters most.
Respect the line length
Long lines tire the eye, because it has to travel back across the page to find the next line. Around 60–75 characters per line is comfortable for most people. This site keeps article text to that width on every screen size for exactly that reason.
The best typography is invisible: the reader notices the ideas, not the letters.
Finish with something to do
End with a clear next step: a question to think about, a small exercise, or a link to the next article. A reader who acts on what they read remembers it.
Try it on your next draft. Rewrite the first paragraph so it stands on its own, turn your subheadings into a readable outline, and cut every paragraph that runs past five lines.