Writing for the web

How do you write copy for the web when people hate reading online? How do you keep them engaged while sometimes having to communicate quite dull information? In this session you will learn about the unique challenges of writing online copy and we will discuss what tone of voice Strathclyde should be adopting.

Transcript

1. WRITING FOR THE WEB How do you write copy for the web when people hate reading online? How do you keep them engaged while sometimes having to communicate quite dull information? In this session you will learn about the unique challenges of writing online copy and we will discuss what tone of voice Strathclyde should be adopting.
2. THE MEDIUM OF THE WEB
3. 50 MILLISECONDS
4. SO MANY WEBSITES, SO LITTLE TIME.
5. UNCOMFORTABLE TO READ
6. KEEP IT SHORT
7. CAUSE FEAR OF MISSING SOMETHING FEAR OF NOT BEING UNDERSTOOD A DESIRE TO CONVINCE SOLUTION SOME COPY SHOULDN’T BE ONLINE REMOVE INSTRUCTIONAL TEXT STOP SELLING REMOVE, HIDE, SHRINK
8. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
11. AID SCANNABILITY
12. Headings Lists Bold/Italic Breakouts
15. KEEP IT SIMPLE
16. WHY SHOULD I DUMB IT DOWN?* *THE ‘WE WANT INTELLIGENT STUDENTS ARGUMENT’
17. ACADEMIC ARROGANCE
18. THERE ARE DAMN GOOD REASONS ENGLISH NOT THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE. PEOPLE WITH COGNITIVE DISABILITY. SIMPLER TEXT CAN BE PROCESSED FASTER.
19. A WORD ABOUT SEO
20. AARRRRGGGG!
21. ALL GOOGLE CARES ABOUT IS GOOD CONTENT
22. USE THE SAME LANGUAGE AS USERS
23. DO NOT ASSUME PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE
24. MICROCOPY
27. EXERCISE 2
28. http://goo.gl/9qpSH
29. FURTHER READING Don’t make me think by Steve Krug Jakob Neilsen’s extensive research into writing for the web Copyblogger - Copywriting tips for online marketing success Make it clear - Guide to writing with accessibility in mind
30. GRABBING USER ATTENTION
31. FRONT LOADING
32. HOMEPAGE SECTION SUB SECTION DETAILS LEVEL OF SPECIFICITY WEBSITE
34. HEADLINES
35. CASE STUDY FOTOFAKR.COM STARTUP WEBAPP THAT APPLIES FILTERS OVER PHOTOS TO MAKE PEOPLE LOOK MORE ATTRACTIVE
36. BE DIRECT “FOTOFAKR FOTOBOOKS - 20% OFF”
37. TIME SPECIFIC “20% OFF FOTOFAKR FOTOBOOKS - THIS WEEK ONLY”
38. BE INDIRECT “SAVE MONEY WHILE SAVING FACE”
39. THIS IS THE NEWS! “FOTOFAKR LAUNCHES TO WIDE DERISION BY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE”
40. HOW TO “HOW TO MAKE EVERY FRECKLE FADE”
41. QUESTION? “DO THE WORDS ‘PLEASE INCLUDE A PHOTO’ FILL YOU WITH DREAD?”
42. COMMANDS “PUT THE SEX BACK INTO SEXUAL HARRASSMENT - FOTOFAKR.COM YOUR SECRETARY TODAY”
43. LINKBAIT “10 WAYS TO CREATE A MAN-CATCHING PHOTO”
44. LINKS
45. AS WITH HEADLINES
46. OUT OF CONTEXT
47. NEED TO OBVIOUSLY RELATE TO PAGE
48. LINK COPY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SHORT
49. EXERCISE 3
50. http://goo.gl/9qpSH
51. PAGE TEMPLATES
52. PROVIDES FOCUS
53. ASKS QUESTIONS WHAT IS THE TOPIC? WHO ARE WE TALKING TO? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE PAGE? WHAT MUST THE USER COME AWAY WITH, EVEN IF THEY ONLY GLANCE AT THE PAGE? HOW WILL PEOPLE GET TO THIS PAGE? WHAT DO WE WANT THEM TO DO NEXT?
54. EXERCISE 4
55. strath.ac.uk/research/ WHAT IS THE TOPIC? WHO ARE WE TALKING TO? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE PAGE? WHAT MUST THE USER LEAVE WITH? HOW WILL PEOPLE GET HERE? WHAT SHOULD THEY DO NEXT?