1. Thanks for joining us today. Our session will begin shortly. February 24, 2011 – 1 p.m. EST Please be sure to have functioning speakers or a headset plugged in. Sponsored by:

2. Better Web Writing in 30 Mins. Lynn Walsh Texas Watchdog / RTDNA Blogger @lwalsh http://www.lynnkwalsh.com Ryan G. Murphy Digital Media Editor, RTDNA @rmurphydigital @RTDNA rtdna.org Host Producer

3. How People Read Online Think about your own reading habits online for a moment... You’re scanning… You’re searching… You’re multitasking… You’re a bit impatient…

7. Crisp Lead Example

11. Headlines Headlines are the most important and most difficult element of web writing. What makes them difficult? You are writing for 3 audience: People – the headline needs to be enticing, relevant and not misleading. Social Media – the headline needs to be sharable, i.e. quickly turned into a conversation piece. Search Engines – the headline needs to be complete and contain excellent SEO terms. Remember, your headline can appear ANYWHERE on the web – think RSS – so something like “Big Explosion in Bangor” just won’t do.

12. Headlines Continued Headline # 1: “Reporter Sexually Assaulted in Egypt” Pros – I’m minimally enticed to click into this. I want to know who was attacked and what the circumstances were. It includes a keyword or two in there that might be searched on Google. Cons – The keywords are not specific enough to give you any positive return on your time investment. Most importantly, I’m left with many questions. Headline #2: “CBS Reporter Lara Logan Attacked, Sexual Assaulted in Cairo” Pros – This headline, which is obviously better for the sake of demonstration, includes great SEO keywords including CBS, Lara Logan and Cairo, all very searchable and relevant terms. People can share this and start a dialogue quickly on Twitter and Facebook. Cons – might be a little long for certain content-management systems or some news’ organizations’ policies TIP: search Google Trends if you have trouble with keywords

13. Better SEO in 60 Seconds In addition to the actual story, Google will be searching for keywords in two VERY important places. In fact, they are the most important places: In <title> tags for your website or page In the URL of the story TIP: constantly monitor your analytics to see how, and perhaps why, certain keywords helped generate better traffic. All analytics tools include keyword reports. TIP 2: use keywords in image names and include links!

14. 5 Tips for Better Social Media Writing 1. Always include a link. 2. Don’t just re-type the headline. 3. Ask questions. 4. Engage and grab readers’ attention. Be social. 5. Type how you search.