Writing for the Web Edition 4 April 2011

Writing for

the Web

Writing for the

Web

P

Preface

This course covers how to improve your online information, making content easier to find and easier to read. It is non-technical, providing basic copy editing skills and page structure guidelines. It also includes advice on data protection, freedom of information issues and improving performance in search engines.

The material was developed by the University Website Programme team.

See www.ed.ac.uk/website-project for more information.

If you require this document in an alternative format, such as large

print, please email [email protected].

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Contents

Writing for the web ...1

Activities ... 11

1. Writing for different levels of interest ... 11

2. Concise content for improved readability ... 13

Search engine optimisation ... 17

Content management ... 21

Discussion points ... 24

Discussion point notes ... 25

Further reading and resources ... 26

University of Edinburgh guidance and support ... 26

Web writing and usability ... 26

Search engine optimisation ... 26

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Writing for the web

Writing for the

Web

Producing and structuring effective content Shona Matchett Information Services ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

About this session

• It’s non-technical

• It’s for anyone who writes, edits or publishes online content

• It’s about how we communicate, not the tool we’re using

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Aims of this session

• To appreciate how website content can:

- Impact usability and accessibility - Affect search engine performance - Be governed by legislation

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1. Writing for the web

2. Improving performance in search engines

3. Content management responsibilities and legislation Overview ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• What’s so different about the web? • User behaviours

• Page types and navigation • Structuring content • Writing style

• Content review and maintenance

Writing for the Web

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• The web is a publishing medium with distinct characteristics

- Interactivity - Familiarity - Readability - Technology

What’s so different about the web?

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f o r t h e W eb • They scan • They’re task-driven • They expect results quickly What this means for readers

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• Information architects have categorised information seeking behaviour:

- Known-item - Exploratory

- Don’t know what you need to know - Re-finding

Four modes of seeking information ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ • Standardised

• Answers 3 basic questions

- Where am I? - Where can I go? - Where have I been?

• Indicates the amount of content in the section

• Doesn’t overload the user with choices

Navigation and structure Effective navigation: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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• Distinguish between page types:

- Navigational ‘signpost’ pages - Summary ‘overview’ pages - Content pages

• Keep signpost pages short • Longer pages are OK for content

Routes into information

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Navigational pages

Helps the user: See what’s on the site or in a section

• Decide where they could go • Lots of links

• Minimal copy – brief and meaningful

• Often fits on a single screen with no scroll bar ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Summary pages

• Gives the user an idea of the content in each subsection

• Like a navigational page, but with more detail

• Extra copy to elaborate on link text

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f o r t h e W eb Content pages • Structure depends on:

- Nature of the content - The level of detail • Good content pages:

- Summarise first - Regular subheadings - Short paragraphs - Easy to scan ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• On navigation and summary pages:

- Keep it short - Use descriptive copy

Help readers to decide where to click next – remember they will choose first plausible option (‘satisficing’)

• Push important words to the front of:

- Headings - Sentences - Bullets - Links Signposting ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ New exhibition

Visit an innovative new retrospective of the work of Bill Gates now showing at the Talbot Rice Gallery

New exhibition

Bill Gatesat the Talbot Rice Gallery – a

new retrospective of his work

Promote key words

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• Don’t be afraid of longer copy

- It’s fine at the right point in your site

• Keep it focused

- Pick one topic for a page and stick to it

• Chunk it to make it easy to scan

- Use stand-out elements regularly

Content ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• We don't read –we scan

• Stand out elements:

- Headings and subheadings - Bold text

- Bulleted lists - Link text

• Images can get overlooked

Scanning ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ • Use regularly - Every 3 or 4 paragraphs • Use correctly - <h1>, <h2>, <h3> …

• Make them meaningful

- Don’t be afraid of the obvious

Headings and subheadings

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• One idea per paragraph

- One sentence paragraphs are OK

• Bold text – use sparingly • Bulleted lists

- Vertical reading is easier

- But avoid long, unfocused lists - categorise

Chunking content ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Avoid:

• Italics – difficult to read on screen

• Underlining – confusion with links

• Upper case – slower to read; SHOUTING

• Coloured text – confusion with links

Text formatting ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Ensure your links

- Are descriptive - Make sense out of context

• Avoid inline links

Linking ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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If you have any questions about this information or believe that any of the information contained in the offer of admission is incorrect, please contact the relevant College Postgraduate Office.

If you have any questions about this information or believe that any of the information contained in the offer of admission is incorrect, please contact the relevant College Postgraduate Office.

Contact details for College Postgraduate Offices

What’s an inline link?

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• Pages are easier to scan • Text is easier to read

• Meaningful link text is easier to construct • Better accessibility

Why avoid inline links?

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George Square and surrounding streets in the southern central areaof the city is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the schools of art, social science, medicineand

law, as well as the main university library. It is also used for teaching first year

undergraduates in science and engineering. Nearby are the main EUSAbuildings of Potterrow, Teviot Row House (the oldest custom-built students union in the country)

With inline links

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• southern central area

• art

• social science

• medicine

• law

• university library

• science and engineering

• EUSA

• Pleasance Societies Centre

Scanning the text

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George Squareand surrounding streets in the southern central area of the city is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the schools of art, social science, medicine and law, as well as the main university library. It is also used for teaching first year undergraduates in science and engineering.

Map of George Square and the central area List of college and school websites University Library website

Nearby are the main EUSA buildings of Potterrow, Teviot Row House (the oldest custom-built students unionin the country) and the Pleasance Societies Centre.

Students Union (EUSA) website

Without inline links

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ • George Square

Map of George Square and the central area List of college and school websites University Library website

• Students union

Students Union (EUSA) website Scanning the text

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• Use plain English • Write short paragraphs • Write short sentences • Be concise – cut anything

meaningless

• Be direct – ‘you’ and ‘we’

– active rather than passive • Summarise first

Use the University Website Editorial Style Guide

Writing style ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Use redundant language

- Welcome to the website of…

• Explain navigation

- Click the links on the right to…

Don’t ever do this ...

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No-one reads everything No interest

Title only

One sentence/one paragraph summary

Major points/minor points Detailed interest/desire for

further information

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Activities

1. Writing for different levels of interest

The inverted pyramid writing style, often employed in newspapers and press releases, also suits the medium of the web. We can break down a piece to address different readers’ levels of interest.

Try reordering the following sentences to suit publication on the web:

Title:

Summary:

Content:

In school we were taught how to write a good essay: you start with an introduction and finish with a conclusion. On the Web you should take a different outlook. Often readers will lose their attention and leave before the end of the paragraph. They are not referred to the

information that they are looking for. Why is that? A writer has to make her message clear at the beginning of each paragraph, and not try to keep the reader in suspense. Refer the reader to details that he can find elsewhere and let him skip the parts that led you to that

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Writing for different levels of interest: suggested solution

The paragraph did exactly what it warned you against: it tried to keep you in suspense and assumed you would read the whole piece.

Here is a suggestion for a reorganised version: Title:

Writing for the web is different to writing a report Summary:

A writer has to make their message clear at the beginning of each paragraph, and not try to keep the reader in suspense.

Content:

Refer the reader to details that he can find elsewhere and let him skip the parts that led you to that conclusion. Often readers will lose their attention and leave before the end of the paragraph. Why is that? They are not referred to the information that they are looking for.

In school we were taught how to write a good essay: you start with an introduction and finish with a conclusion. On the Web you should take a different outlook.

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2. Concise content for improved readability

Here is a short article on the tourist attractions of the State of Nebraska, from a US tourist website:

Rewrite and restructure this information to improve its readability online.

 Use appropriate formatting

 Cut the word count

 Be direct and objective

 Think about what the intended audience wants to know

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State

Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

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Measuring the effect of improved web writing

From Jakob Nielsen’s usability: www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Site Version Sample Paragraph

Usability Improvement (relative to control condition) Promotional writing (control condition) using the 'marketese' found on many commercial websites

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National

Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

0% (by definition)

Concise text with about half the word count as the control condition

In 1996, six of the best-attended attractions in Nebraska were Fort Robinson State Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.

58%

Scannable layout

using the same text as the control condition in a layout that facilitated scanning

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were:

 Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors)

 Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166)

 Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000)

 Carhenge (86,598)

 Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002)

 Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446)

47%

Objective language using neutral rather than subjective, boastful, or exaggerated language (otherwise the same as the control condition)

Nebraska has several attractions. In 1996, some of the most-visited places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

27%

Combined version

using all three improvements in writing style together: concise,

In 1996, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were:

 Fort Robinson State Park

 Scotts Bluff National Monument

 Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum

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Research and testing: • Accompanied surfing

• Feedback forms

• Monitor enquiries via other media

• Web statistics • Competitor analysis Reviewing content ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Know your audience

- What words do they use?

• Know your website

- Where are the key pages? - Get them right

Knowledge ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• All websites are the same - Check your web stats • Prioritise your key pages Nu m b e r o f v is it s Number of pages

A few pages very popular Most pages read by relatively few

Get your popular pages right first ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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• Establish a review cycle

- Check links - Check facts and dates - Monitor time-sensitive information

• Avoid duplication Maintenance ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Clear page purpose • Audience focus • Plain English • Summarise first • Regular subheadings • Short paragraphs • Meaningful link text • Review content regularly

Summary ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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Search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation

Improving the ranking of your pages ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Why it’s important • Factors affecting ranking • Limitations

• What you can do • What to avoid Overview ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Starting point for most online tasks • Most users don’t get beyond first

page of results

Why it’s important

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• The number and ranking of pages linking to you

- You need well written links from popular pages

• The prominence and frequency of keywords on the page

- Use them in title and headings as well as content

Main factors affecting ranking

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• Optimisation is a long term activity • Submitting sites has little impact • Meta data no longer a key factor

- Ensure it corresponds to content

Limitations ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Keep your target audience in mind

- Use a range of relevant terms and phrases - Regular, meaningful subheadings - Accurate and up to date content

• Add content which encourages links to you

What can you do?

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• Who is searching for what?

- ‘low fares’ (40,000) vs ‘cheap flights’ (25 million)

- ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming? - ‘pandemic flu’ or ‘bird flu’

• Check your search logs • Especially failed search terms

• Find out what your readers search for

Keywords ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Refine your content

- Extra content on related topics can lose focus

- Shorter, well-written pages do better - Ensure it’s usable and accessible

Page focus ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Quality text in links

- Unambiguous - Use key words

- Closely related to the destination content

Links ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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• Broken links

• Text in images and applications • Badly constructed URLs

www.ed.ac.uk/ug/fin/burs.html

• Pages with over 100 links • Trying to trick the search engines

What to avoid ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Always keep your audience in mind

- Use their language

• Make your content as concise, usable and accessible as possible

- It’s great for your readers too

Summary ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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Content management

Responsibilities and legislation

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ • Data protection • Information retention Overview ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• Online personal data is available worldwide – must be managed • Breaching the Data Protection Act

- Complaint to the Information Commissioner - Demonstration of damage and/or distress - Legal action against the University

Data protection

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• Only if you publish personal data:

- Information about identifiable, living individuals

- Includes photographs

• Personal data needs consent

Does this affect my content?

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- Depends on the level of risk

• Hand over management to owner? • Ensure the data can be quickly

removed Consent ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• How sensitive is the information I wish to publish?

• How much information do I wish to publish about that individual?

• How likely is it that the individual will not want their information published?

High? Low? Assessing risk ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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• Is website content the golden copy? • Everything retained for 7 years

- After it’s no longer live

• University Archive retains some material permanently Retention ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

• See the retention criteria checklist

- See page 26

• Contact the University Archivist for more guidance

Candidates for permanent retention ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________

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Discussion points

• You have been asked to publish a photograph to publicise the University Day Nursery.

The photograph shows a small group of children playing in a paddling pool in a garden. What will you do?

Discussion point 1

• You are publishing the latest set of minutes from a formal committee meeting.

What do you take into consideration?

Discussion point 2

• Your School has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. You are writing content for the website on how the celebrations went.

You are including group photographs of students and staff, and profiles of some of the School’s alumni. What do you take into consideration?

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Discussion point notes

Point 1

Before publishing the photograph you need to check that consent for publishing the photograph on the website for publicity purposes was obtained from the parent or guardian of each child. If it was not the photograph cannot be used.

As the photograph is potentially sensitive (children in bathing suits) you should use a signed consent form.

Point 2

Are these the golden copy minutes of the committee? If so they should be flagged for retention beyond 7 years.

The minutes will contain the names of the committee members. Consent for publishing this information is required.

Consent should be obtained by including the following text on the agenda: 'The agenda, papers and minutes of this committee may be made publicly available on the University website, or in response to freedom of information requests. Committee members are asked to notify the committee secretary if they object to their names being made available in this way, preferably within 4 weeks of this meeting.'

For further information see guidance on committee servicing at:

http://www.recordsmanagement.ed.ac.uk/InfoStaff/FOIstaff/CtteeServici ng/CommitteeServicing.htm

Point 3

Flag the content for retention beyond 7 years.

Before publishing the photographs check that consent for publishing the photos on the website was obtained. Verbal consent would usually be sufficient.

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Further reading and resources

University of Edinburgh guidance and support

 University Website Editorial Style Guide http://bit.ly/w4tw-style

Our A-Z editorial style guide – keep an up-to-date copy of this to hand. It will help you create and edit content which is consistent with the rest of the site.

 Website Content Management & Usability blog http://bit.ly/w4tw-blog

A frequently updated blog of articles and resources for the University of Edinburgh website management and development community.

Web writing and usability

 Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works - Janice (Ginny) Redish

www.redish.net/writingfortheweb/index.php/about-the-book The definitive book on writing for the web. Lots of illustrations and examples to help you understand good and bad practice. See the website for free chapters.

 Campaign for Plain English free guides

www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html

A useful guide to writing plain English – “something that the intended audience can read, understand and act upon the first time they read it.”

 Don’t Make Me Think – Steve Krug

www.sensible.com

A great book – short and easy to read. See the website for free chapters. Steve has also written the beginner’s guide to usability testing – Rocket Surgery Made Easy. Also available from the same site.

 Jakob Nielsen’s free newsletter www.useit.com

Produces a free fortnightly newsletter on all areas of usability, including writing and structuring online content. See the website for an archive of articles and how to sign up.

 Website Owner's Manual – Paul Boag

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University of Edinburgh data protection and content

retention

 An introduction to freedom of information, data protection and records management

http://bit.ly/f45xuO

 What is personal data? http://bit.ly/g2SsIs

 Data protection guidance on internet publishing http://bit.ly/dX3Oay

 University archival selection criteria http://bit.ly/e1XnbO