Best Practices for Formatting Text
Small formatting choices decide whether readers finish a paragraph or bounce. This guide covers the conventions that make text feel clear, consistent, and easy to skim.
Capitalisation styles
- Sentence case: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised. Best for body copy and modern headings.
- Title Case: main words capitalised — traditional in book titles and formal headings.
- UPPERCASE: use sparingly. Great for short badges, but exhausting to read in long form.
- lowercase: works for artistic branding but reduces scannability.
Headings and hierarchy
Use exactly one H1 per page — usually the article title. Use H2 for major sections and H3 for sub-topics within them.
Keep headings short and specific. 'How percentage change works' beats 'A section about percentages' every time.
Paragraph length
Online, three to five sentences per paragraph is a comfortable ceiling. Any longer and readers on mobile see a wall of grey.
Vary paragraph length deliberately. A short one-line sentence after a longer paragraph creates rhythm and emphasis.
Punctuation that improves readability
- Use commas to prevent misreading, not to imitate pauses in speech.
- Prefer periods over semicolons in most digital writing.
- Em dashes — used sparingly — highlight asides without cluttering sentences.
- Curly quotes and apostrophes look far more polished than straight ones.
Consistency wins
Pick a style and apply it everywhere. If your headings use sentence case, all of them should — mixing styles looks careless.
The same goes for spelling (colour vs color), number formatting, and abbreviations.