Writing for the Web

A content guide for building on emory.edu

How to Use This Guide

This guide sets the tone and voice for content on emory.edu — and shows you how to think about site structure before you write a word.

It exists to help everyone who creates, edits, or approves content on the new Emory website produce pages that are clear, findable, accessible, and unmistakably Emory. It is not a click-by-click manual for the CMS; the step-by-step platform training (getting started, building pages, and per-component videos) is delivered separately. Read this first — it is the thinking that should happen before you open the editor.

Part one covers information architecture: how the Emory web ecosystem is organized and where your content belongs. Part two covers the seven principles of good web writing. The final page is a quick-reference checklist you can keep beside you while you work.

Part One

Start with information architecture

Good web content begins before the writing. It begins with knowing where information belongs and how people will find it.

What emory.edu is For

Before you decide where content goes, understand the job the main site does. Emory.edu is an orientation system that sits at a “higher altitude” than the wider ecosystem of school, department, and administrative sites. It carries a dual mandate: give unfamiliar visitors a confident impression of Emory's excellence, and guide them to the right place for the detail they need. It is written first for people who don't yet know Emory well — prospective students and their families, and newcomers to the institution.

That purpose should frame every page you plan. You are not trying to hold everything; you are trying to orient, impress, and route. The strategy puts it plainly: on the main site, less is more. A page earns its place only if it serves that unfamiliar visitor and does a job no specialized site is better positioned to do.

What Information Architecture Means

Information architecture (IA) is how content is organized, labeled, and connected so people can find what they need. On the web, structure is not decoration — it is navigation. A page in the wrong place, or buried under the wrong label, effectively does not exist for the person searching for it. Before you create anything, ask two questions: does this content belong on the main site at all, and if so, where in the structure does it live?

Operate At A Higher Altitude

The main emory.edu site sits above the wider Emory digital ecosystem of school, department, and administrative sites. Its job is to orient unfamiliar visitors and point them to the right place — not to reproduce everything those other sites already say. When it comes to the main site, less is more. Keep the main site focused on high-level, universal information and let specialized sites own the depth.

One Source Of Truth, No Duplicate Content

Duplicate pages across Emory sites confuse users and compete with each other in search, dragging down the very pages you want to rank. Use this simple rule for where content lives:

  • Content exclusive to the main site —  create the page on emory.edu. Examples: About Emory, Events, universal visitor information.
  • Content that lives on one subsite —  link to that subsite. Do not recreate the page here. Examples: Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid.
  • Content that spans multiple subsites —  create a wayfinding page on emory.edu that links out to the subsites. Don't duplicate. Examples: Degrees & Programs, Schools & Colleges.

Intentional wayfinding is about more than clarity. It helps Emory control how the brand is experienced across the whole ecosystem, and it gives each page the search authority it deserves.

Know Who You Are Writing For

The main site focuses on audiences who don't yet know Emory well — these are the people most likely to start on emory.edu even when the content they need lives elsewhere. As users grow more familiar, the site should route them to the right subsite. Picture your reader on a spectrum:

  • Unfamiliar —  prospective students early in their journey, media and community members with low knowledge of Emory, and much of the general public. Write for them on the main site.
  • Moderately familiar —  prospective students seriously considering Emory, strategic partners, and people who have worked with Emory before.
  • Very familiar —  current students, faculty, staff, and alumni, who are better served by internally focused sites.

Emory's primary audience is prospective students, undergraduate and graduate, along with their parents and families, and alumni and donors. Whatever you write, make sure it speaks to what that reader actually wants to accomplish.

Design For Browsers And Searchers

Every visitor navigates in one of two ways. Browsers click from page to page, exploring and open to what catches their interest — they rely on clear menus and strong links between related pages. Searchers arrive knowing what they want and use search to jump straight to it — they need descriptive page titles and headings so results surface the right page. Write and structure every page to serve both: a scannable, well-labeled page helps the browser explore and the searcher land.

How The Main Site Is Organized

The main navigation favors direct pathways over deep dropdown menus. Users reach lower-level pages mainly through links on top-level section pages, so those links should stay focused on the topics within their section. The primary sections are:

  • Academics — what you can study at Emory (Degrees & Programs, Schools & Colleges, Faculty, Experiential Learning, Libraries).
  • Admission & Aid — how to get in and what it costs, routing users to the Apply and Student Aid sites.
  • Life at Emory — campus culture and experience (Housing & Dining, Activities, Arts & Culture, Athletics, and more).
  • Research — opportunities and impact across schools and centers.
  • Health Care — Emory's care, science, and community impact for external audiences.
  • About Emory — high-level orientation: Get to Know Emory, Atlanta & Community, History, Leadership, Reports.

Prospective students judge the site by how quickly it answers five core questions: Does it offer my program? Can I afford it? Can I get in? How do I apply? Can I see myself here? Structure your pages so those answers are never more than a click or a search away.

The Drupal Mindset: There Are No Folders

If you are coming from Cascade or a file-based system, this is the biggest shift. Drupal does not organize content in folders. Each page is a standalone item, and its place in the site is defined by menus, links, and its URL — not by where it sits in a folder tree.

You find and organize content through filtered lists (by type, category, tag, author, or status) rather than by browsing folders. Plan your structure through the menu and your links, and lean on tags and categories to keep content grouped and findable.

Part Two

Seven principles of good web writing

Write for people first. Structure for search, accessibility, and the brand at the same time.

  1. Mobile-first

    More than half of Emory's site traffic — 56% in the past year — comes from mobile devices. Write the way your audience reads:

    • Keep paragraphs to a maximum of two sentences whenever possible. What looks fine on a desktop can feel overwhelming on a phone.
    • Preview content at different screen and text sizes; copy that fits at default size can get cut off when enlarged.
    • Check text-heavy images and infographics, which often become illegible on small screens.
    • Avoid PDFs except when the content is meant to be printed, like a form or a flyer. Reading a PDF on a phone is a poor experience.
    • Remember that multi-column layouts stack or become carousels on mobile, so each column must make sense on its own.
  2. Scannable

    Users don't read web pages word for word — they skim for what's relevant, often in an F-shaped pattern. Help them:

    • Put the most important information at the top of every page.
    • Use headlines and subheads to organize content, and start them with the words that describe what follows rather than introductory filler.
    • Break up information with bullets, and use bold sparingly so it keeps its emphasis.

    Calls to action deserve special care. A CTA should be specific, one to three words, and — for buttons — begin with an active verb. Quality beats quantity with links: link to the few pages that genuinely help the reader, since every extra link dilutes the authority passed to the rest.

    Stronger CTAs, at a glance:

    INSTEAD OF

    TRY

    Learn More

    Explore Programs

    Click Here

    Meet Our Faculty

    Want to Hear More?

    Schedule a Visit

    Who's Who

    Apply Now

  3. Accessible Accessibility isn't only about color contrast — it lives in the words we choose. To make content work for people using screen readers and other assistive technology:
    • Avoid directional language like “use the form below”; layouts shift on mobile, so directions may be wrong anyway.
    • Never rely on color alone to convey meaning (“answers in red”).
    • Don't replace words with emojis or images; screen readers skip them or read out an unhelpful name.
    • Avoid tactile or visual verbs like “click” or “see” where a neutral word works, and read your copy aloud to confirm it makes sense start to finish.

    Always write descriptive alt text for images — it is an accessibility requirement and helps SEO. Be specific and concise, and skip “image of.” For a photo of an engineering class, “IMG_546.jpg” is unacceptable and “engineering class” is weak; “Emory students working with materials in a lab under a faculty member's direction” is strong. Decorative images should get empty (null) alt text. For video, include captions and transcripts, and consider translations.

    Inclusive language matters too: use the simplest wording possible, avoid idioms and jargon that exclude non-native speakers, don't assume a default gender, and steer clear of terms with biased or appropriative origins.

  4. Optimized for Search, AI, and Discovery

    Writing for people first and structuring for machines are not in conflict. Increasingly, your content has to be discoverable by search engines and by AI tools — nearly a quarter of graduating seniors now use AI as part of their college search, up from just 3% in 2023. Structure your content so it can be found and quoted accurately:

    • Write with real user questions in mind and weave keywords in naturally; you don't need the exact phrase every time.
    • Keep each page focused on a single topic so searchers and AI answers land on the right page.
    • Question-and-answer and list formats perform well for search and featured snippets — use them where they fit, but don't force them.
    • Use a clean heading hierarchy: one H1 (the page title), H2s for major sections, H3s nested beneath. Headings signal your topic to search engines and act as labels for screen readers, so never skip levels for visual effect.
    • Write evergreen content. Replace vague time references (“last year,” “for six years”) with specific dates, so pulled snippets and AI answers stay accurate over time.
  5. Audience-specific

    Adapt tone to who is reading. Prospective undergraduates and their families are weighing whether Emory fits their goals — an enjoyable, affordable experience that leads to a career and a way to make a difference — and may be anywhere from casually browsing to making a deposit. Prospective graduate students already know their field and care about program depth, research, outcomes, and career advancement. Whatever the segment, make sure the message speaks to at least one thing that reader genuinely wants.

  6. Lead with Confidence — The Emory Voice

    Confidence is the defining attribute of the Emory voice, and on the web — where you are competing for divided attention — it matters most. Emory's brand is ambition grounded in heart, and the writing should carry that same self-assured, purposeful tone. The governing idea is simple: when you're the best, you don't need to say you're the best. Copy should be succinct, straightforward, and unapologetic, and it should let the facts do the work.

    In practice, a confident Emory voice does four things:

    • Has a point of view — take a clear position instead of hedging or qualifying everything.
    • Says it simply — choose plain language over institutional jargon and abstraction.
    • Makes every word count — cut throat-clearing, filler, and warm-up sentences.
    • Doesn't brag — state what's true and let it stand, without superlatives or self-congratulation.

    Watch for the habits that quietly undercut confidence: stacking adjectives and rankings, opening with mission-statement throat-clearing, and hedging with phrases like “strive to,” “committed to,” or “one of the.” Beneath the copy, let Emory's brand pillars — the courage to lead, driven by conviction, founded to serve — shape what you choose to emphasize. The difference shows up immediately side by side:

    INSTEAD OF

    TRY

    Emory is a top-ranked institution that's recognized and respected on a global scale.

    Emory moves the world forward.

    Guided by our mission, Emory University is a leading research university, recognized internationally for its outstanding colleges, schools, and health care systems.

    Nine schools and colleges. One of the nation's most comprehensive academic health care systems. A research university like no other.

    Everyone plays a role in Emory's academic success, and we strive to emphasize integrity of inquiry across our world-changing community.

    The world has questions. Together with our academic community, you'll discover the answers — with integrity.

  7. Written for Components

    The Emory site is built from reusable components — heroes, callouts, accordions, stats panels, media blocks, and more. Write with the component in mind: respect character counts, make each column or card stand on its own, and use components as intended rather than forcing copy into the wrong shape. The per-component training videos cover how each one behaves; the writing principle is simply to shape your content to the component, not the other way around.

Quick-reference checklist

Before you publish a page, run through this list.

Structure

  • This content belongs on the main site — or I've linked out to the right subsite instead of duplicating it.
  • The page lives in the correct section and is reachable through the menu and relevant links.
  • Tags and categories are set so the page stays findable without folders.

Writing

  • Most important information is at the top; paragraphs are two sentences or fewer.
  • Headings are descriptive, in order (one H1, then H2/H3), and contain relevant keywords.
  • CTAs are specific, one to three words, and start with a verb.
  • Copy is confident, concise, and sounds like Emory.

Accessibility & Discovery

  • Every meaningful image has descriptive alt text; decorative images are marked as such.
  • No directional language, color-only meaning, or emoji-as-words.
  • Video has captions and a transcript.
  • Page focuses on one topic; time references are specific dates, not “last year.”
  • Checked on mobile at default and enlarged text sizes.

Sources: Emory Web Content Guide (“How to Write for the Web”) and the emory.edu Web Strategy. Prepared by SimpsonScarborough for the Emory web community.