1.
JN2053 and JN3800
WRITING FOR THE WEB

2.
Textual information flow
INFORMATION FLOW
 D

3.
The Link Economy

4.
Today: Multiplicity of text
 41 bn web pages - maybe
 But the internet is infinite
 Question: How does your content stand out?
 Can it befound?
 How do search engines function?
 What perspectives are there on writing for the
web?

5.
What is SEO?

6.
SEO explained

Ensures content is findable

Search engines detect web pages and list them

Text, video, audio and images are ‘optimised’ to
make them more searchable and therefore
findable

Constructing websites and content with search
engines in mind

Dual role of developer and content generators

7.
So, how do search engines work?
Robots and spiders
Modomatic

8.
Google Penguins
V2.1

9.
What factors are search engines interested in…?
Search engines closely guard their algorithms, and many give different values
to certain variables, but a few standard factors can be indentified…

They like websites that have good-quality textual and video content that is relevant to users’ search terms

They recognise sites that attract visitors and are used by incoming traffic

Include ‘Metadata’– engines appreciate what is your site/pages are called

Engines like relevant URLs, rather than random numbers

They hate it when someone tries to trick them

Search engines like order – if you’re tagging your content into organised groupings, it’ll be appreciated by
the engines

Pictures and video are searchable via tags, names and captions

Search engines like to see hyperlinks that direct users around your site, and the rest of the web

10.
Personalisation

11.
LESSON: Tell the web what your content is

12.
WRITING FOR SERPS: Search engine results
page(s)

13.
Heat maps – where search meets
humanity in the shape of an F

14.
Establish your keywords

15.
Writing, SERPs, and keyword positioning
 Relevant keywords are better at the very beginning of a
sentence, rather than mid-way through or at the end
 If this isn’t possible, instead place relevant keywords as close as
possible to the beginning of a sentence or story.
 A third option is to use a relatively high paragraph or the end of a
paragraph to include your relevant keywords.
 Even the final paragraph is a worthwhile place to include your
optimised phrase, or synonym. It’s better to include them here
than not at all.
By including phrases in this way, you run a better chance of not only appearing on
search engines, but actually getting human beings to click on the pages
themselves. Without these clicks, the pages (key phrases or not) aren’t delivering
what you want them to – which is readers ….

16.
Top SEO tips for writers

Understand your audience – write for humans, not
bots and crawlers.

Adopt the correct tone and linguistic
approach

Ensure the content is highly relevant

Integrate keywords using a standard keyword tool
(such as Google Trends and Google Adwords).But
remember, don’t overdo it. Search engines are
always on the lookout for spam.

Don’t use puns in headlines – they need to be easily
read by Googlebot et al

Build a strong architecture - this includes
classification and internal and external links

Update regularly and seek to spread the word
using social media. Through providing new pages
that are ‘on brief’, which are then linked to by
people who pick up your content, search engines
will add additional value to your website

17.
It’s all gone a bit Meta
 Tagging
 Categorisation
 URLs
 SEO headline
 Excerpt
 Author

18.
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Stories:

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

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
Images


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
Platform-specific
Self-generated text
Polls
Shared posts and ReTweets
Curated groups
Direct communication
Mobile content


Titles
Descriptions
Social Media

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

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
Titles
Descriptions
Tags
Comments
Videos



Titles
Descriptions
Tags
Audio

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
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
Headlines
Alternative headlines
Body text
Excerpts
Meta-text
URLs
Categories
Tags
Style and approach
Visualisation tool


Word cloud
Infographics
Multiplicity of text #2

19.
Platforms: consider the form
. in the beginning was the word .
in thi beginning was thiwurd
in thibeginnin was thiwurd
in thibiginnin was thiwurd
in thibiginninwuzthiwurd
nthibiginninwuzthiwurd
nthibiginninwuzthiwurd
nthibiginninwuzthiwurd
Nthibiginninwuzthiwurd
. in the beginning was the sound .
Tom Leonard

20.
Considerations: Style and Tone
Who are you writing for and why?

21.
Mobile

22.
Curate: make the web work for
you
 Storify
 Twitter Lists
 Facebook Groups
 LinkedIn Groups
 Flickr Groups
 Pinterest

23.
Take away

Write good-quality and relevant copy

Engage with the Link Economy

Write for search engines and humans

Take writing beyond the textual story: think
video, audio, images. Think multimedia

Be cross platform

Remember to adopt the right style, tone
and approach (for your audience, the
story, the device and the platform).

Know your audience and what they want

Curate content and communities

24.
Resources
 Media Briefing: Why Newspapers are writing
the wrong articles for the web
 Malcom Coles on SEO
 Econsultancy SEO
 SEOMoz

25.
flickr

Nathan Harper
Light Lines

JD Hancock
Tagged!

Today is a good day
Condensation 1

Terry Hancock www.downunderobservatory.comM33 (NGC 598) The Triangulum Galaxy LRGB=HA

the justified sinner
WWF Knitwear

Silly Little Man
Pigeon Takeaway

renaissancechambaraPersonalisation

Seventh Continent
King Penguin

Charlie Barker
Write One Word Over and Over