Writing for the Web
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Transcript of Writing for the Web
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Writing for the Web:
Today’s Best Practices
Dalya Massachi
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Synthesis Partnership works with nonprofit
organizations facing or creating change to
align strategy, identity, capacity and facilities
with vision, mission and values.
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Affordable collaborative data
management in the cloud.
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Today’s Speaker
Dalya MassachiFounder,
Writing for Community Success
Hosting:
Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions:
April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
YOUR WEBSITE:
A KEY PART OF YOUR
OUTREACH STRATEGY
IMPROVED CONTENT:
RESULTS TO EXPECT
Better educate, support readers
Reach new, varied audiences
Accomplish mission more efficiently
OUTLINE
I. Intro
II. Today’s web users
III. Best practices to increase
usability & accessibility
IV. A bit of technical info
(All stats come from leading web usability expert,
Jakob Nielsen.)
WHO ARE YOUR READERS?
Clients, Potential Clients
Partners/Colleagues
Researchers
Funders
Press
Activists
Casual web surfers
DATA YOU NEED TO GATHER
Demographics
Geographic location
Limitations ($, education, tech)
Values, hopes, and fears
What they already know or believe
Info or tools they need to act
ASK YOURSELF:
What info do they want from reading your website?
What problems can you help them solve?
EXAMPLE:
ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATOR
As a middle-school science teacher, you’re always looking for fresh, up-to-date material on today’s pressing issues. With diminishing resources in our public schools, you may find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the times.
On the Eco-kids website, you will discover a wealth of up-to-date classroom resources that reflect changing frontiers in the environmental sciences. Get teaching materials that will inspire your students with over 50 lively discussion starters and activities!
HOW DO WE FIND OUT?
Check web statistics
Review event and service evaluation forms
Take online or print surveys
Hold focus groups
Attend gatherings where they congregate
Study published opinion polls
Review other online media they use
Ask others who also know about them
TODAY’S WEB USERS
In general, they…
Have short attention spans
Rely heavily on first impressions
Need to know content is relevant first
Read 25% slower than on paper
Scan: Usually only the first 2 paragraphs,
headlines and/or the end
Will spread your content if it’s good
TODAY’S WEB USERS
They are looking for:
Benefits to their community: NOW
Expert advice that’s easily accessible
A “quick hit” on the new
Inspiration & hope: we can do this!
Reasons to trust you
BEST
PRACTICES TO
INCREASE USABILITY
& ACCESSIBILITY
DEFINE SITE/PAGE PURPOSES
Increase readers’ understanding of issue
Remind how you benefit the community
Keep readers up-to-date
Offer convenient purchase or donate system
Project professionalism; encourage trust
Keep readers connected to your org
Be a landing spot for links from elsewhere
Coordinate with social networking work
Act as a pointer to other valuable related sites
COMMON WEBSITE SECTIONS
Home: tagline; brief summary; what’s new; where to go from here
About Us
Our community: “about you”; who this site is for
Our Programs: what we do, how we do it
Why We Do It: community need/benefit, values
Blog
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Calendar of Events
ABOUT US
Summary: 1-2 paragraphs at the top about the organization's mission/vision and main accomplishments.
Detailed info: people involved; strategic plan; history; partners; include photos if possible
Having a good About Us section helps users
understand your site as a whole.
REMEMBER…
Your web writing must be:
Timely and valuable enough to justify the time, mental engagement you take up
In the "need to know" category
Relevant NOW
Scannable and a quick read
LEAD WITH THE MOST
IMPORTANT INFO
Inverted pyramid format
Summarize the main point:
who, what, when, where, why (big benefits to gain, problems solved)
Tell what the page is about and why anyone should read it (2-4 lines)
Start with an overview and link to details
This heat map shows where users’ eyes traveled on a page. Red and yellow are where they spent the most time.
So you want to put your most critical info in the upper left-hand corner and at the left column
1st 2 words of a sentence or paragraph: most seen
“CHUNK” YOUR INFO
Use focused, easy-to-understand categories
Give a meaningful 1-line subhead to each major chunk of text
Use subheads that tell the story, as if they are the only things your reader sees
Got a list of 3 or more items? Number (sequenced) or bullet (random) it. Intro: sentence fragment or a sentence w/colon
CULIVATE CONCISENESS:
LESS IS MORE
KISSS: Keep It Short, Simple &
Scannable
Cut any text from paper
Tell how to act right away — and why
Sentences: 14-20 words max
Every word should work
Each item: 1-3 screens
BUT…
Complicated topics, background/tech info often benefit from longer copy: readers need time to make an informed and confident decision
Keep to same page (don’t chop it up) b/c search engines like at least 250-300 words
Add summary or Table of Contents at the top
ENGAGE BOTH THE
HEART & THE HEAD
Even left-brained people
need an emotional understanding
Your reader will remember how you make her/him
feel more than anything else
TELL SUCCESS STORIES
Capture the essence of your work
with short quotes from people
similar to your target readers
or people they care about
Talk about how people
have benefited: results and importance
Conversational/informal: o use the second person (“you”)o can include sentence fragmentso o.k. to begin with a conjunction (and, but, so)
Friendly, warm; contractions o.k.
Easy to understand (clear over clever)
LISTEN TO HOW YOU
SOUND
AVOID JARGON
Familiar words spring to mind when
users search for you; include them!
If you must use technical terms or
acronyms, explain them the first time
Avoid American slang
Would readers use the term themselves?
EXAMPLE
“Are you sure you want to navigate away
from this form?”
“Are you sure you want to close this
window?”
TIE BACK TO YOUR MISSION
AND VISION…REPEATEDLY
Always remember to summarize it in 1 sentence or less
Evoke a vision of what things will be like when you fulfill your mission
ISSUE CALLS TO ACTION
Use in at least some sections
Include all the details they need
Provide easy ways to interact with you
Feature a special offer (preferably with
deadline)
Reminder of benefits they will enjoy by
acting now
A BIT OF
TECHNICAL INFO
USE LINKS
STRATEGICALLY
Use links in your sentences to:
Send the reader to important background or related material
Explain unusual or technical terms
Emphasize important info (repeat in strategic spots to follow reader’s train of thought)
HOW TO PHRASE LINKS
First 11 characters: most important
Use plain, specific language
Follow conventions for naming common
features
Front-load with action and keywords
(first 2-3 words)
Don’t mislead or promise too much
FOCUS ON YOUR HEADLINES
Use a few words to tell the gist of the story
Should include at least 3 keywords for SEO
Use present tense if possible
Often all people see on small screens or RSS feed: must be accurate out of context
Predictable before clicking
MORE ON KEYWORDS
Need 2-3 “core” keywords and variations
(-ing, -ed) for each page
Use them: 2-3 times on short pages; 4-6 times on longer ones
Call them out with bold, italics, links, etc.
Use shorter blocks of text with just keywords
Most relevant, useful info at the top
Create narrow, bulleted lists
Eliminate unnecessary white space (it forces users to scroll)
FOR MOBILE DEVICES
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Subject-verb-object
1-2 ideas per paragraph (1-4 sentences)
Keep “if” before “then”
Click the “Edit” link if your address is incorrect.
If your address is incorrect, click the “Edit” link.
Use basic verb forms: infinitives, commands, simple tenses
Stay positive (avoid negatives when possible)
COMPLEMENT WITH GRAPHICS
Not just filling space as an afterthought
Use short, lively captions with keywords
“Micro-copy”: summarize your story/ highlight your message
Add clear alt-text descriptions to images
Identify people from L to R, double-check all name spellings
Use active, present tense verbs
Find action shots, not “posing”
TRACK TRAFFIC
Website metrics tell you:
How many hits did we get?
How many are unique visitors?
How are people finding the website?
What search terms are they finding us with?
What websites link to us?
What are the most popular pages on the site?
Who is the average visitor tech-wise (platform/ browser/ screen resolution)?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Jakob Nielsen’s Website: useit.com
The Yahoo! Style Guide
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content
that Works
SUGGESTION
Step 1: Go to your website.
Step 2: Find a colleague or two to play a
“new user.” You will take notes.
READER: Narrate your train of thought.
What do you like?
What’s missing?
What do you skip?
NOTETAKER: Resist the urge to explain.
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