Write More Effective Copy for Your Nonprofit Website

1. Linda Kolker Consultant, copywriter, content manager Best practices for your website lindakolker.com linda@lindakolker.com 434‐984‐6619

2. Audience profile Motivations (benefits) Action (s) 2

3. People make decisions based on what they FEEL Whole body is engaged, impulse to action begins in the body. Justify decision with factual information The mind evaluates whether the feelings can be trusted. And then they take action 3

4. Benefits– emotional—what would motivate reader to take action? Support with facts Build trust Provoke action 4

5. Where to get info on benefits  Interviews  Testimonials  Letters & email  Others on staff  Publications for target audience 5

6. Find the benefit  Congregation Beth Israel provides Charlottesville, Albemarle and surrounding counties with a welcoming Jewish environment in which people can study, worship, socialize and take part in helping others. CBI offers both Reform and Conservative worship services. 6

7. CBIC Tech Tour: a day‐long event to introduce area high school students to our region’s tech companies, designed to expose students to the diverse career possibilities offered by our regional tech community and to help them envision themselves as technology innovators. Chaperoned groups of students spend the day traveling to selected showcase tech companies for a hands‐on visit to meet employees and experience the use of technology in unique and specialized operations. 7

8. Write a benefit  After nine months of closure for repair, the Broad Street Bridge reopened to traffic on October 31st, slightly ahead of schedule. The project was managed by the Waynesboro Department of Public Works, Fairfield‐Echols of Fishersville served as the general contractor and Schwartz Associates of Lynchburg acted as design engineer. The $2.6 million project was funded, in part, by a Revenue Sharing Grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation. 8

9. Build trust (credibility)  Testimonials  Success stories  Members of board of directors       Site easy to use (finding things) Easy to see what you’re all about by skimming Engaging writing Correct grammar Correct spelling Site is visually attractive 9

10. Exercise: Look at your own site Audiences? Action? Benefits? The MAIN benefit? Facts? Trust‐builders? 10

11. Sitting down to write content  (handout) 11

12. Write an Outline 1. (handout) 12

13. How to organize and write content Good web writing = how Google looks at pages Source: http://historyofjournalism.onmason.com 13

14. Eye tracking AND Google tracking Heat map 14

15. What Google looks at  Page titles (only available in html code)  Headline (tags <H1>, <H2> etc. in html code)  Page content, from top down  Captions (& Image <alt> tags in html code)  Links 15

16. Page Title (Meta Title) 16

17. Headlines & Sub‐heads

18. Captions – grab reader attention & Google looks at (before) 18

19. Captions What’s important about this image / use keyword (after) 19

20. Use links liberally Forest planning for the GWNF 20

21. Engage skimmers and improve Google search ranking “Chunk” the page • Subheads (<H2> tags>) • Short sentences & paragraphs • Bullets & numbering • Boldface text (not underlines, they’re for links only) 21

22. Use subheads  Tell the story on their own  Capture essence of following paragraph 22

23. before 23

24. Partnering to make communities better places to live 24

25. Bullets 25

26. Fewer bullets, more paragraphs 26

27. Use a chart; tell a story 27

28. Shorten sentences CBIC Tech Tour: a day‐long event to introduce area high school students to our region’s tech companies, designed to expose students to the diverse career possibilities offered by our regional tech community and to help them envision themselves as technology innovators. Revised The CBIC Tech Tour helps students envision themselves as technology innovators. This day‐long event introduces area high school students to our region’s tech companies. It exposes students to the diverse career possibilities offered by our regional tech community. 28

29. Shorten paragraphs 3‐4 lines – no more than 6 29

30. 5‐second test 30

31. Example: shorten paragraphs, use bullets 31

34. 34

35. Shorter paragraph, bullets, boldface (highlights) 35

36. Readability  # sentences  # words  Words/sentence  Syllables/word Less=better 36

37. Readability Scores 70 60 50 40 30 Ease 20 Grade level 10 0 New Yorker ‐‐5th Grade New York Times ‐‐6th grade Economist ‐‐8th grade 37

38. Magic words YOU (not “we”) VERBS – lively, action  Start heads, subheads & sentences  Use ACTIVE verbs (avoid passive) 38

39. The car was started by him He started the car 39

40. Sentences  “Load” meaning in the first 3 words 40

41. Capture meaning in the first 3 words  Make meaning early  Let rest of sentence branch to the right Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark 41

42. “Companies keep saving, waiting for the economy to improve…” “The Pete Rouse era began shortly before noon on Friday.” “The Americans moved ahead on Saturday, building a 6‐4 advantage… 42

43. Paragraphs Put most important thought at the beginning – first sentence Shorten to 6 lines or less Optimum = 3‐4 lines 43

44. Exercise Work in pairs with someone from ANOTHER organization Select a page you would like feedback on Share FIRST IMPRESSIONS:  Subheads  Captions  Paragraph length  Sentence length  Inverted pyramid 44

45. Tell stories 45

46. Ask clients, volunteers, staff to write a story for your site 46

47. 47

48. What stories could you tell? 48

49. Questions & comments 49

50. 50

51. Best Practices Guru  Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox ‐‐ http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ 51

52. Audience scenarios and personas Who uses your site What they’re looking for How they use what they find 52

53. Words  adjectives  adverbs  –ings 53

54. Adjectives                     quantity ‐ few, no, one, two, three, four, little, several, many, all, some, every, each, ... opinion ‐ good, better, best, bad, worse, worst, wonderful, splendid, mediocre, awful, fantastic, pretty, ugly, clean, dirty, wasteful, difficult, comfortable, uncomfortable, valuable, worthy, worthless, useful, useless, important, evil, angelic, rare, scarce, poor, rich, lovely, disgusting, amazing, surprising, loathesome, unusual, usual, pointless, pertinent, ... personality/emotion ‐ happy, sad, excited, scared, frightened, outgoing, funny, sad, zany, grumpy, cheerful, jolly, carefree, quick‐witted, blissful, lonely, elated, ... sound ‐ loud, soft, silent, vociferous, screaming, shouting, thunderous, blaring, quiet, noisy, talkative, rowdy, deafening, faint, muffled, mute, speechless, whispered, hushed, ... taste ‐ sweet, sour, acidic, bitter, salty, tasty, delicious, savory, delectable, yummy, bland, tasteless, palatable, yummy, luscious, appetizing, tasteless, spicy, watery, ... touch ‐ hard, soft, silky, velvety, bumpy, smooth, grainy, coarse, pitted, irregular, scaly, polished, glossy, lumpy, wiry, scratchy, rough, glassy, ... size, weight ‐ heavy, light, big, small, little, tiny, tall, short, fat, thin, slender, willowy, lean, svelte, scrawny, skeletal, underweight, lanky, wide, enormous, huge, vast, great, gigantic, monstrous, mountainous, jumbo, wee, dense, weighty, slim, trim, hulking, hefty, giant, plump, tubby, obese, portly, ... smell ‐ perfumed, acrid, putrid, burnt, smelly, reeking, noxious, pungent, aromatic, fragrant, scented, musty, sweet‐smelling,... speed ‐ quick, fast, slow, speeding, rushing, bustling, rapid, snappy, whirlwind, swift, hasty, prompt, brief, ... temperature ‐ hot, cold, freezing, icy, frigid, sweltering, wintry, frosty, frozen, nippy, chilly, sizzling, scalding, burning, feverish, fiery, steaming, ... age ‐ young, old, baby, babyish, teenage, ancient, antique, old‐fashioned, youthful, elderly, mature, adolescent, infantile, bygone, recent, modern, ... distance ‐ short, long, far, distant, nearby, close, faraway, outlying, remote, far‐flung, neighboring, handy, ... shape ‐ round, circular, square, triangular, oval, sleek, blobby, flat, rotund, globular, spherical, wavy, straight, cylindrical, oblong, elliptical, zigzag, squiggly, crooked, winding, serpentine, warped, distorted, ... miscellaneous qualities‐ full, empty, wet, dry, open, closed , ornate, ... brightness ‐ light, dark, bright, shadowy, drab, radiant, shining, pale, dull, glowing, shimmering, luminous, gleaming, ... color ‐ pink, red, orange, yellowish, dark‐green, blue, purple, black, white, gray, brown, tanned, pastel, metallic, silver, colorless, transparent, translucent, ... time ‐ early, late, morning, night, evening, everlasting, initial, first, last, overdue, belated, long‐term, delayed, punctual, ... origin/location ‐ lunar, northern, oceanic, polar, equatorial, Floridian, American, Spanish, Canadian, Mexican, French, Irish, English, Australian, ... material ‐ glass, wooden, cloth, concrete, fabric, cotton, plastic, leather, ceramic, china, metal, steel, silicon, ... purpose ‐ folding, swinging, work, racing, cooking, sleeping, dance, rolling, walking, ... Source: Enchanted Learning 54

55. Adverbs Weaken strong verbs. “She smiled happily” On Writing Well by William Zinsser 55

56. Take it easy on the –ings Use simple verbs instead 56

57. “Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying” (Dusty Springfield) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark 57

58. “Wish, hope, think and pray” (With apologies to Dusty Springfield) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark 58