Writing for the Web

Writing for the Web Steve Buttry CBC Nov. 15, 2011

Read more about it• stevebuttry.wordpress.com• slideshare.net/stevebuttry• @stevebuttry

Answer the 5 W’s• Who• What• When• Where• Why• How

Answer the 5 W’s• Who • Research• What • Writing• When • Ethics• Where • Links• Why • Visuals• How • Promotion

Who?• Research: Who’s playing? Who’s hot? Who’s not?• Writing: Characters• Ethics: Double-check spellings• Links: Artist page, bio, news stories• Visuals: Photos, videos• Promotion: Who cares about this?

What?• Research: Shows, songs, concerts, tours• Writing: Basic details, what happened, plot, conflict, resolution• Ethics: Fairness, tell the other side(s)• Links: Links provide background, context• Visuals: Photos, videos of actions, events, relevant objects• Promotion: Point of greatest interest

When?• Research: Verify dates and times• Writing: Not always chronological• Ethics: When did they know what?• Links: Previous events, future promos• Visuals: Timeline (Dipity, Memolane)• Promotion: Dates, deadlines

Where?• Research: Venues, hometowns, birthplaces• Writing: Setting• Ethics: Verify location info & spelling• Links: Venue pages• Visuals: Maps• Promotion: Venue, where to get tickets?

Why?• Research: Motivation, explanation• Writing: Theme, conflict• Ethics: Give subject chance to explain• Links: Other stories (even competition)• Visuals: Interview video, graphic• Promotion: Motivation of target audience (nostalgia, cool, romance)

How?• Research: Interviews; numbers (how much?)• Writing: Explanations, resolution• Ethics: Ask: How do you know that?• Links: Others may have explained• Visuals: Graphic• Promotion: How do I enter contest?

Focus your story• What’s the most important W?• Subject, verb, object• Summarize in 6 words

Start strongTell reader quickly what the story is about• Get to point in the first few wordsOR• Intrigue w/ initial words & make point soon and strong• Sometimes simple declarative sentence works best …

“In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and the earth.”

Writing exercise3 minutes non-stop writing on:1. Today’s workshop so far2. Why you like your favorite musician/group

Morning breakListen to musicians telling stories about music

What’s a blog?

What’s a blog post?

Writing your blog• Think posts, not stories & columns. A sentence with a link, an embed or a question can be a post• Read aloud, listening to your “voice”• What’s most important? Start there• Get to the point.• Engage the community (question, poll, opportunity to participate)

Story structuresChoose the right form for your story:• Inverted pyramid• Narrative• Summarize, elaborate, summarize• Curation• List• Intro to video or other media

Think beyond writing• Videos• Photos• Slides• Graphics• Audio• Tweets• Source documents• Maps

Links provide:• Attribution• Context• Authority• Pingbacks (& reciprocal links & inbound traffic)• SEO Consider whether context implies endorsement of linked views/content

The blogging conversation• Crowdsource (specific questions: “Do you know anyone who …?” “Did you see …?” “Has this ever happened to you?”)• Consider ending post w/ question• Stimulate/continue conversation in social media• Engage with comments• “Don’t allow trolls or mean people to spoil the conversation.” Howard Owens

Blogs have a voiceNews voice (with thanks to Roy Wenzl): John Goode is an aspiringmusician who hopes to make it big someday, in spite of his origins inpoverty.He learned to play guitar while sitting beneath a tree in his nativeLouisiana. Train engineers, running freight on the tracks near NewOrleans, recall seeing him sitting under the tree frequently, strummingchords. Local residents living nearby say that he can play the instrumentunusually well.They also say that the youth, who lives in a nearby log cabin, and isilliterate, is so poor that he carries the instrument in a sack.One of the chief inspirations in his life is his mother, who has told him thathis playing is so good that he will probably draw large audiences when hegrows a little older. She has said she is sure the boy will see his name onnightclub marquees.

Lunch break

Keys to SEO• Relevance• Keywords in headline• Keywords in story (best in lead)• Understand how people are searching• Relevant links

Relevance rulesKeep SEO in mind as you write, but …• Relevance matters; popular but irrelevant keywords can hurt you• Quality matters• Social matters, too, and people share good reads• Relevance matters in links

Keywords in headline• What words would you use to search for this post?• Use those words in headline• If possible, start headline w/ key phrase• Check Google trends• Use full names• (VIDEO) in headline

Keywords in lead• Most important: good lead• Sharing drives traffic, too, so don’t write for search engine• Edit for search engine; would search terms help or hurt original lead?• If keywords don’t work in lead, be sure head is strong & use them high

Links help people find you• Relevant outbound links boost Googlejuice• Pingbacks bring you inbound links & boost Googlejuice• Add links as you do research• Use relevant anchor text (not “click here”)

Reach a wider audience• Effective use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, etc.)• Relevant comments (w/ links) on related blogs• Emails/tweets/#hashtags call to attention of influencers

Effective captions3 audiences• Search engines• Searchers• Those who’ve reached your page

Captions for search engines• Include relevant keywords, especially if it’s a video or slideshow & not photo accompanying story• If each photo is its own URL, each needs an SEO-smart caption• Add keywords in metadata

Captions for searchers• Keywords help it show up in search results• If caption is all I see in search results, does it tell me enough to make me click?• If I click, will I be pleased?

Captions for readers• Does it answer my questions?• Does it state the obvious? (If it needs to state the obvious for SEO, can you rewrite to work for search & reader?)• If in a photo gallery, does the caption stand on its own (it may be entry point)?• Does it invite me into the next photo?

Afternoon break

Plan to write tight• Coordinate with editor• Consider reader (what’s useful?)• Follow-ups, sidebar, graphics, links• Write as you report

Set a brisk pace• Avoid suitcase leads• Make your lead brief and enticing• Does your lead fit in a tweet?• Challenge punctuation, attribution, numbers in lead• Are keywords in lead?

Keep focus sharp• What’s the story about? (Answer in a tweet)• Write a headline• Three words• What’s the emotion?• What’s the surprise?• Write without notes

Challenge in rewriting• Quotes (length, set-up, echo, value)• Read aloud; how’s the voice?• Challenge verbs (passive especially)• Phrases (eliminate, condense)• SEO keywords & phrases• Attribution• Redundancy

Find the right wordLet’s play “Name That Tune”

http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com	618
http://digitalninjaschool.wordpress.com	121
http://digitalspaceschool.wordpress.com	2
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	1

Writing for the Web

by Steve Buttry

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

4 Embeds 742

Statistics

Writing for the Web Presentation Transcript