Be concise

Good content should be:

• Specific.
• Informative.
• Clear and concise.
• Brisk but not terse.
• Incisive.
• Serious but not pompous or emotionless---be frugal with adjectives. They're subjective and make the text sound emotive and inauthentic.

You should:

• Use contractions.
• Avoid unwieldy grammar (for example, say You can rather than You may be able to).
• Use short sentences.
• Use the language and terms your readers use.
• Never turn verbs into nouns! That's a symptom of sloppy writing.

Keep sentences and paragraphs short

If a sentence has more than 25 words, try to split it to make the points clearer.

Vary sentence length. This helps keep readers interested and varies your tone. Too many short sentences sound terse and like you're giving orders. Longer sentences help the flow as well.

Do the same for paragraphs. If it looks long, it is. Try to break it up. Let's look at some examples. Instead of:

The DTD-Validator is used in conjunction with a large number of other publishers. Generally, we update the program on a quarterly basis whenever changes are implemented. When an update is scheduled for release, we will alert you that there is an update available. It is your responsibility to download and install the newest release and then to ensure you are working with the latest version.

Use:

We use the DTD-Validator with many customers. We update it quarterly and we'll share updates when released. Remember that you are responsible to ensure you have the latest version.