Writing for the web 2010
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Writing for the web workshop with some exercises and samples
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Writing for the web 2010
- 1. Writing for the Web Workshop 2010 By Catherine Elder
- 3. Reading Online S T R I C T LY C O N F I D E N T I A L
- 11. Difference of Online vs. Print Content
- 23. Design to improve messaging
- 37. Usability & Accessibility Can users get to the information? Have you removed barriers?
- 45. Writing for the web "information chunking"
- 53. Technical Aspects of writing
- 59. Active Source:The Elements of Style Passive Active & More Powerful There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground. Dead leaves covered the ground. The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired. Failing health compelled him to leave college. It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had. He soon repented his words.
- 62. Be Concise "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” – Thomas Jefferson
- 66. Exercise
- 73. Getting Read Achieving your goals S T R I C T LY C O N F I D E N T I A L
- 80. Headings
- 85. Heading Example - poor Renew yourself now - is marketese & unclear There is a subsection on next page -scrolled down - about Renewal & Rejuvenation and refers to Spas Click here - is a no no http://www.ontariotravel.net/TcisCtrl?site=consumers&key1=home&language=EN
Notes de l'éditeur
- Colour can evoke emotion, establish mood and create themes. Today most websites base their colour schemes on their branding. Usually three colours maximum with lighter shades – any more colour dilutes emphasis and gives too much of a rainbow appearance which can be perceived as unprofessional or childish.
- Colour can evoke emotion, establish mood and create themes. Today most websites base their colour schemes on their branding. Usually three colours maximum with lighter shades – any more colour dilutes emphasis and gives too much of a rainbow appearance which can be perceived as unprofessional or childish.
- Visual appeal can be assessed within 50 milliseconds , suggesting that Web designers have about 50 milliseconds to make a good impression. If the user thinks the Web site looks good, the impression translates to other areas of the site, like its content. Since people like to be right, Lindgaard reasoned, they will continue to use a Web site that made a good first impression.”
- `Your brand’s online persona is your first impression to potential leads or clients. And first impressions count a lot in cyberspace. Study after study demonstrates that web surfers have notoriously short attention spans. If you fail to capture someone’s attention – or, worse, if you’re pegged with a negative association off the bat – odds are you won’t get a second chance to make your case. An exhaustive 2007 study commissioned by the Ponemon Institute found that over 50% of employers use the web to check out applicants. Another cross-industry study showed that more than 33% of clients will research prospective partners using simple Google and Yahoo searches – and this percentage seems to be on the rise. Furthermore, data shows that Internet first impressions may be extremely sticky. In other words, once your company or brand has been tainted with negative associations via the search engines, your online reputation management strategy may be hobbled , perhaps fatally. - http://www.evisibility.com/Online-Reputation-Management.html
- `Your brand’s online persona is your first impression to potential leads or clients. And first impressions count a lot in cyberspace. Study after study demonstrates that web surfers have notoriously short attention spans. If you fail to capture someone’s attention – or, worse, if you’re pegged with a negative association off the bat – odds are you won’t get a second chance to make your case. An exhaustive 2007 study commissioned by the Ponemon Institute found that over 50% of employers use the web to check out applicants. Another cross-industry study showed that more than 33% of clients will research prospective partners using simple Google and Yahoo searches – and this percentage seems to be on the rise. Furthermore, data shows that Internet first impressions may be extremely sticky. In other words, once your company or brand has been tainted with negative associations via the search engines, your online reputation management strategy may be hobbled , perhaps fatally. - http://www.evisibility.com/Online-Reputation-Management.html
- Visibility of system status : The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. Match between system and the real world : The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. User control and freedom : Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo. Consistency and standards : Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. Error prevention : Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action. Recognition rather than recall : Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate. Flexibility and efficiency of use : Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Aesthetic and minimalist design : Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors : Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution. Help and documentation : Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
- What does disability include? Disabilities range from mild limitations (like temporary backache) to more severe levels, and types include: mobility pain agility hearing seeing psychological learning memory speech developmental Additional considerations include: an aging population arthritis sufferers visual implications (including colour blindness) reading levels and literacy temporary loss of mobility technical barriers
- Avoid fragmented sentences.
- Because of these differences, the headline text has to stand on its own and make sense when the rest of the content is not available. Sure, users can click on the headline to get the full article, but they are too busy to do so for every single headline they see on the Web. I predict that users will soon be so deluged with email that they will delete messages unseen if the subject line doesn’t make sense to them. at a variety of tips offered around the web on writing effective titles for your articles to see what they recommend. “How To Write Headlines That Sell” by Justin Schultz highlights four purposes a “great” headline must serve in order to be successful: * Get attention. Your headline must capture attention. 75% of Ads in the Sunday newspaper are skipped because they don’t grab the reader’s attention. * Select the audience. A great headline should call out to a very specific audience. If you’re selling life insurance to people older than 65, there’s no sense in generating inquiries from young people. In the same way, an ad for a $55,000 sports car should shout out “This is for rich people only!”. * Deliver a complete message. According to David Ogilvy, 4 out of 5 people will read a headline and skip the rest of the ad completely. If this is true, it pays to make a complete statement in your headline. That way your headline can do some selling to the 80 of readers who read headlines only. * Draw the reader into the body copy. Most prospects require a lot of information before they make a purchase. That information appears in the body copy, and for the ad to be effective, the headline must compel your prospect to read this copy. Some of these situations are very out of context: search engine hits can relate to any random topic, so users don’t get the benefit of applying background understanding to the interpretation of the headline. The same goes for email subjects.
- Because of these differences, the headline text has to stand on its own and make sense when the rest of the content is not available. Sure, users can click on the headline to get the full article, but they are too busy to do so for every single headline they see on the Web. I predict that users will soon be so deluged with email that they will delete messages unseen if the subject line doesn’t make sense to them. Some of these situations are very out of context: search engine hits can relate to any random topic, so users don’t get the benefit of applying background understanding to the interpretation of the headline. The same goes for email subjects.
- In an article by Shelley Lowery of Web Design Mastery on Two Spots called “Secret Formulas for Writing Headlines That Sell” , the psychological issues of headline writing is discussed: Before writing your headline, you must first learn a little bit about the basic human motivators. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, human behavior is always the result of one or more of five basic needs. He listed these needs in a sequence that he refers to as “the hierarchy of human needs.” He believes that until a less important need is met there won’t be any desire to pursue a more important need. Below are the five human motivators, beginning with the basic needs and continuing to the most important needs. Physiological - Basic human needs include hunger, thirst, shelter, clothing and sex. Safety (Security) - Human need for physical, emotional and financial security. Social (Affiliation) - Human need for love, affection, companionship and acceptance. Esteem (Self Esteem) - Human need for achievement, recognition, attention and respect. Self-actualization - Human need to reach their full potential. When you are aware of the basic human needs, you can incorporate these needs into your writing. A great headline will appeal to your potential customers’ emotions. You must feel their needs, wants and desires and write your headlines with passion and emotion. 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work Meryl.net - Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines Dustin Diaz - Why Headline Writing for Web is Important Your Press Releases - Make your headlines hook the reader when writing a press release Stanford School of Medicine - Public Web Services - How to Write and Use Headlines Michel Fortin - The Truth About Mega-Headlines Leon Kilat - The Cybercafe Experiments - Improving Blog Headlines Lessons Learned Offline Robin Good - How To Write Great Titles And Headlines For The Web How To Write Effective Headlines - About Desktop Publishing Copy Desk Resources - Tips for Good Headlines World Copywriting - Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Headlines 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang
- The William Allen While School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s article, “Making an Impact - Accurately” , focuses on the grammar and structure of an effective headline: Use the active voice: Effective headlines usually involve logical sentence structure, active voice and strong present-tense verbs. They do not include “headlines.” As with any good writing, good headlines are driven by good verbs. Number, please: Numbers often go against AP style in headlines. For example, you may start a sentence with a number and, even though that number is below 10, you do not have to spell it out. Present tense, please: Use present tense for immediate past information, past tense for past perfect, and future tense for coming events. Punctuation normal — mostly: Headline punctuation is normal with two significant exceptions: Use periods for abbreviations only, and use single quotes where you would use double quotes in copy. “ And” more punctuation: The comma, in addition to its normal use, can take on the work of the word “and.” On rare occasions, the comma also can indicate the word “but” (but, if used that way, be very, very careful, ensuring that the reader has a clear understanding that’s what the comma means. The semi-colon is better for the “but.” Even better is to use the word “but.”) Poynter Online’s Guide to Writing Headlines emphasizes a different aspect of headline writing: 1. First, do no harm: …Have some empathy. Imagine that the subject of the story is your neighbor or a family member. One person’s cleverness is another’s ridicule. Petty-crime stories are a minefield. 2. Make sure the big type does not contradict the little type. 3. Use humor or cleverness to invite readers in, not drive them away. 4. Stay away from cliche: …Unless–and there are exceptions to every rule– you can find a way to turn a cliche on its head. Some very good heads are upended cliches. These work. 5. Use plays on words to contribute to meaning, not to show off. 6. The last rule is to ignore all of the above if you have a good reason …Good reasons, however, are typically in short supply.
- Try the 8 second test – have someone view the page for the first time for 8 seconds then ask them what they think the site is about – you may be surprised Page titles (title tag written in the head of your html and appears in your browser title bar) should be between 40-69 characters (Google) Have user friendly URLs (ideally the url should be easy to remember and reference so avoid complex folder systems or if dynamic, don’t return more than 3 parameters) Write about 250 words per page which will enhance search engines’ efforts to index Be more specific in writing your headings (e.g. not Our Office but Our Toronto Consulting Office) Have keywords in main body content and throughout the site – top to bottom; in headlines and sub-headings; in call to action links Have 10 phrases for your site, each phrase should have two or more words Maintain context – put words in link so search engines know what the link means and it will also look at text around the link to ensure it is in context (so not just a page of links, and please, no “Click here”) Use your own search engine to test key words – if your site isn’t promoting your key words then how can the search engine find them…? Write good headings and people will remember them. Users misspell words in over 10% of queries (tend to go to spammers) and 50% of users will still click on a misspelled response – therefore develop a strategy for misspellings (good example see About.com ) Cross link within your own site by indicating links to similar or related content Use a 301 redirect – which Google likes (The W3C guidelines for a 301 "permanent redirect" say that this is for use when a page has been permanently moved and you want people to record the new address in place of the old one - read more on redirects on SearchEngineWatch .); use it when changing URLS; is dynamic; It is normal to dip in traffic when change URLs (code example: www.beyondink.com/301-codes ) Use 404 pages - Page not found error (The 404 or Not Found error message is an HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server either could not find the file that was requested, or it was configured not to fulfill the request and not reveal the reason why. See wikipedia for full definition ) – Search engines will index them so use keywords on them and customize them so they keep your navigation that way people are more likely to stay on your site (see A List Apart for coding a 404 error page ) Use robot.txt to block internal search pages or repetitive pages (like printable versions) so search engine doesn’t think pages are redundant or doing something suspicious Search engines like PDFs because they are text based; they can be added to site map and should be added under a publication page (but not if you have an html version) Create an information architecture that includes key words (Most costly Search Engine Optimization mistake is a bad IA; IA represents 80-85% of usability)
- Content that is syndicated is often seen as objective & therefore more effective in aiding the buyer in their purchasing decision