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Presented to HCA Gulf Coast Division Feb. 18, 2010 By Jessica Johns Pool

Writing for the Web

+Writing for the Web is different

 Reading on a computer screen differs significantly from print  Want information, facts  Task oriented  Scan, don’t read  Non-linear presentation  4 second rule  F-shaped

Why?

+F-shaped tracking images

+From UseIt.com

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.

+How to write for the Web

 ‘Bucket’ your information

 Headlines do heavy lifting  Factual, yet interesting  Capture the scanner, draw them in  Use keywords

+Help the scanners

 Inverted pyramid style

 Use subheads, bullet points, numbered lists

 Bold important words to draw readers through blocks of copy

 Short, one-idea paragraphs

 Short sentences

 Hyperlinks

Techniques for every page

+Ideal word counts

 Regular web page (not a landing page) – 200-300 words

 Landing page – 250-600 words

 Headlines - 4 to 8 words

 Sentences - 15 to 20 words

 Paragraphs - 40 to 70 words

According to Gerry McGovern, web expert…

+ 50% of visitors will read a 300-word page to the end, while only 5% will scan 1,000 words.

Gerry McGovern

+HCA – old style

+HCA – new style

+Things to avoid

 Italic: Hard to read on screen

 Underline only hyperlinks

 ALL CAPS

 Trying to control too much

 Dead-end pages

+

+Search engine optimization

 Elements the search engines analyze:  Keywords  Page titles  Page descriptions  Headers and subheaders  Page content  Hyperlinks within site

Easier to understand than you think

+Search of HCA Houston

Page title

Page description

Keywords

+HP. Home page Title: Xxxxxxx xxxxxxx. Specialists in Complex xxxxxxx Trials, Houston, Texas

Description: The attorneys of xxxx xxxxxx law firm are specialists in handling xxxxxx trials with multiple xxxxxx who seek damages from xxxxxx.

Keywords: xxxxx attorney Houston, xxxxx xxxxx attorney, zzzz xxxxx attorneys, xxxxxx trial firm

[global header]

xxxxxx zzzzzzzz

[global subhead]

Specialists in zzzzzz xxxxxx

[body copy]

xxxxxx zzzzzzz is a small, experienced and effective law firm that specializes in xxxxxx xxxxxxx and amounts exceeding $100 million. They often work in partnership with other

law firms on these cases and have the depth of resources needed to win….

+How many keywords?

 10-15 keywords per site

 2-3 keywords per page (at the most)  4-8% keyword density

 Long-tail vs. short-tail

Fewer than you probably think…

+Finding keywords – Step 1

 Consider: What will reader search for? Examples: Cancer vs. oncology Physician vs. doctor HCA vs. sign on the door

+Finding keywords – Step 2

 Check your keywords on these sites:  Google AdWords –www.google.com/

sktool/#  WordTracker -

freekeywords.wordtracker.com  Hubspot Website Grader -

websitegrader.com/#ReportTop  Wordstream.com  Spacky.com (?)

+Putting it all together

 Short, factual, scannable copy

 Include keywords  Especially in headers, subheads and

hyperlinks

 Link pages within the site

+Helpful links

 www.useit.com

 www.copyblogger.com

 www.websitemagazine.com