Writing web content Lulu Pinney SCS 6079 Digital

Writing web content Lulu Pinney SCS 6079 Digital Practices 15 th February 2018

Books Krug, S. , 2014. Don't make me think, revisited: A common sense approach to Web and mobile Usability. 3 rd edn. New Riders. Redish, J. , 2012. Letting Go of the Words. 2 nd edn. Morgan Kaufmann. Industry articles Annett-Baker, R. , 2009. 24 ways. org/2009/the-construction-of-instruction Albrighton, T. , 2010. abccopywriting. com/2010/08/31/tone-of-voice-brand Kissane, E. , 2011. alistapart. com/article/a-checklist-for-content-work Search Engine Land, 2018. searchengineland. com/guide/seo/html-code-search-engine-ranking Moss, T. , 2005. webcredible. com/blog/disability-discrimination-act-dda-web-accessibility/ Live organisational or institutional ‘writing for web’ guides gov. uk/guidance/content-design style. ons. gov. uk/category/writing-for-the-web/ sheffield. ac. uk/web/effective/writing w 3. org/WAI/intro/people-use-web/principles w 3. org/WAI/eval/preliminary Live organisational or institutional styleguides gov. uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style bbc. co. uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide theguardian. com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a handbook. reuters. com/index. php? title=A Find more reference material on Prisca’s website help. eyedea. london/tips/writing-good-web-copy/

1. Why good content matters

It is through creating good content that users will have a good experience online • Content includes everything you put on your website • Today’s focus – writing – has an important role to play in doing this

We go online for the content • Navigation and search are critical • Design is critical • Technology is critical • But, people go online for the content that they think (or hope) is there Redish, 2012

Content = conversation • Answers users questions • Lets them “grab and go” • Engages them • Satisfies the conversation they came to have (marketing) • Improves search engine optimization (SEO) and internal search • Is accessible to all Redish, 2012

But how we experience content online is different to our experiences with other media • More interactive: not bound by schedule, freedom for user • Less familiar: not always a linear journey, user has to search • Less readable: reading on screens is slower • Varied technologies: users’ experiences depend on the technology they are using sheffield. ac. uk/web/effective/writing

Krug, 2014

Krug, 2014

What this means for how we use web content • We don’t read pages. We scan them. • We don’t make optimal choices. We satisfice. • We don’t figure out how things work. We muddle through. Krug, 2014

Good web content • Meets the user need • Helps users find information • Is easy to read gov. uk/guidance/content-design

So, ‘good’ for users is when they experience content that is • Accessible • Searchable • Usable

Accessible content “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. ” Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the WWW

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 “The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members of the public. ” webcredible. com/blog/disability-discrimination-act-dda-web-accessibility/

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2. 0 principles • Perceivable • Operable • Understandable • Robust w 3. org/WAI/intro/people-use-web/principles w 3. org/WAI/eval/preliminary w 3. org/WAI/demos/bad/

Searchable content is • Content that people want • Content that includes the words people use when they search • Content that people want to share • Content that other sites want to link to (= Write for people, not for the search engine) Redish, 2012

Search engine optimization (SEO) • Making sure your web site comes up high in the list of nonpaid (“organic”) results at Bing, Google, Yahoo, and other search engines • Search engines change their algorithms frequently, so check for the latest specifics at each search engine and in the major blogs about SEO • The key to good SEO is having great content Redish, 2012

Usable content means that “A person of average ability and experience can figure out how to use thing to accomplish something without it being more trouble than it’s worth” Krug, 2014

It is through creating good content that users will have a good experience online • Content includes everything you put on your website • Good is accessible, searchable and usable • Today’s focus – writing – has an important role to play in doing this

2. What good content looks like

What good looks like: Typography • Set a legible sans serif font as the default • Make the default text size legible • Set a medium line length as the default • Don’t write in all capitals • Underline only links • Use italics sparingly • Don’t let headings float • Don’t center text Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Headlines • Use your site visitors’ words • Be clear instead of cute • Think about your global audience • Try for a medium length (about eight words) • Use a statement, question, or call to action • Combine labels (nouns) with more information • Add a short description if people need it Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Headings • Answer your site visitors’ questions • Write from your site visitors’ point of view • Keep any questions short • Consider starting with a keyword • Use key message bites as section headings • Distinguish headings from text • Make each level of heading clear • List headings at the top as links • Do the headings stand on their own? Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Sentences 1/2 • Talk to your site visitors, use “you” • On social media “I” is fine; writing for an organization, use “we”; be consistent • Write in the active voice (most of the time) • Write simple, short, straightforward sentences • Cut unnecessary words • Give extra information its own place • Keep paragraphs short (lists or tables may be better) Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Sentences 2/2 • Start with the context • Put the action in the verbs • Use your site visitors’ words Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Links • Make the link meaningful • Not ‘Click here’ or ‘More’ • No program or product names • Launch and land on the same name • For actions, start with a verb • Put links at the end, below, or next to your text, in preference to embedding them • Make bullets with links active, too • Make unvisited and visited links obvious Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Example Illustrated examples of good and bad https: //www. w 3. org/WAI/demos/bad/Overview. html Follow links from the Digital Practices microsite http: //eyelearn. org/workshops/digitalpractices 2018/pages/project. html

What good looks like: Keywords 1/2 People type their keywords into a search engine. If you want people to find you, you must have their keywords in your site. If your words and theirs differ, your site won’t come up for them. • Use keywords in page title, URL, headline, headings, copy and content others link to • Gaming the system doesn’t work Redish, 2012

What good looks like: Keywords 2/2 Use keywords in HTML tags, specifically • Title • Meta description • Header, h 1 • (Structured data) searchengineland. com/guide/seo/html-code-search-engine-ranking

What good looks like: Tone of voice The ‘personality’ of your brand or company as expressed through the written word…what you say in writing and how you say it • Style: Capture the brand’s personality in three values. They must be believable and consistent with reality • Vocabulary: what type of words can and can’t be used • Grammar: which rules are you happy to break abccopywriting. com/2010/08/31/tone-of-voice-brand

What good looks like: Tone of voice Look at some style guides • • gov. uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style bbc. co. uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide theguardian. com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a handbook. reuters. com/index. php? title=A

Different tones of voice ABC Copywriting delivers professional, premium -quality business writing services to corporations and organisations throughout the UK. We’re a cheerful lot and we’re always chuffed to chinwag, so if you want to chat about your project, grab the rap-rod and give us a tinkle. With ten years’ experience of developing content for clients of all types, we are ideally placed to meet your copywriting needs. Our copy’s too bootylicious for ya baby! abccopywriting. com/2010/08/31/tone-of-voice-brand

What good looks like: Microcopy There are websites losing users everyday due to the lack of clear instruction • Plan what you want to say and plan it out as early as possible • Use your words • Be prepared to help • Be direct and be informative • Combine copy and visual cues, learn from others and test 24 ways. org/2009/the-construction-of-instruction

3. How you create good content

Content strategy (thinking strategically about your content) is about… • Purposes, personas, and scenarios • Messages, media, style, and tone • People, processes, and technology • Governance Redish, 2012

Thinking strategically about your projects • Choose your topic • Profile your target group • Produce content • Plan website • Design website • Test and check everything

For this week’s workshop • Choose your topic • (1) Profile your target group • (2) Keywords • (3) Tone of voice • Produce content • (4) Structured writing for web • Plan website • Design website • Test and check everything

Workshop: (1) Profile your target group 1. Characterise three target groups eg their • Priorities, when on your website • Experience, on the subject matter • Emotions: How are they likely to be feeling • Values: What matters to them • Technology: Resolution, connections, devices • Context: Social and cultural environment • Demographics: age, family status, education… Redish, 2012

Workshop: (1) Profile your target group 2. Write a user need for each target group: • As a… [who is the user? ] • I need to… [what does the user want to do? ] • So that… [why does the user want to do this? ] Write them from the user’s perspective and in language that a user would recognise and use themselves gov. uk/guidance/content-design/user-needs

Workshop: (2) Keywords 1. Which keywords do you think your target groups will type into a search engine? 2. Identify keywords used by similar sites from the HTML tags, as well as their copy and links 3. Write down five keywords for your site style. ons. gov. uk/category/writing-for-the-web/structuring-content/

Workshop: (3) Tone of voice 1. Think of three values to capture your brand’s personality, eg • Organic yoghurt: Honest, friendly, principled • Children’s shoes: Fun, practical, economical • IT support company: Knowledgeable, reliable, proactive abccopywriting. com/2010/08/31/tone-of-voice-brand

Workshop: (3) Tone of voice 2. How will those three values inform your style: Formal X Detached X Warm Professional X Serious Laid back Chatty Wacky Humorous X X Lively abccopywriting. com/2010/08/31/tone-of-voice-brand

Workshop: (4) Inverted pyramid • Good practice for web writing • Place information in order of importance • Start with a conclusion of the main facts • Other facts are included in descending order of importance style. ons. gov. uk/category/writing-for-the-web/structuring-content/

Workshop: (4) Inverted pyramid 1. Rewrite a small body of text using this model 2. Write a headline for it

Overall, good content is… • appropriate • useful • user-centred • clear • consistent • concise • supported alistapart. com/article/a-checklist-for-content-work