(Explainable) Data-Centric AI: what are you explaininhg, and to whom?
How to improve your web content
1. How to improve your content
Web Producer Network event
Jenni Taylor
29 April 2014
2. What can good content do?
• improve visitor experience
• organically improve SEO
• help users engage with your pages
• encourage them to perform specific tasks
• make visitors decide to stay
3. How long have you got?
Weibull distribution suggests the longer a visitor stays on a site, the more
likely they are to stay. Most web pages have a negative ageing effect.
12. Cut unnecessary words
Replace these with a single word
• A large number of
• Despite the fact that
• Personal opinion
• Each and every
• Has the opportunity to
• End result
• At this point in time
• In a case which
• Many
• Although
• Opinion
• Each, every, all
• Can, could
• Result
• Now
• When, where
13. The recap (and the bits I missed)
• Know your audience
• Make content easy to read
• Connect with other content
• Create unique and useful content
• Tell a story
• Put substance before style
Remember, it doesn’t matter what you decorate it
with…
15. Finally…
Take time with the details and enjoy writing.
http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/brandtoolkit/brand/writing/
http://hemingwayapp.com/
http://www.thesaleslion.com/brand-storytelling-example-lego-movie/
Editor's Notes
99% of pages have a negative ageing effect. High probability of users leaving in first 10 seconds. During the next 10 seconds a large chunk of visitors will also go. After 20 seconds the rate of departure slows down.
Weibull is a continuous probability distribution. 99% of pages have a negative ageing effect. High probability of users leaving in first 10 seconds. During the next 10 seconds a large chunk of visitors will also go. After 20 seconds the rate of departure slows down.
Text broken up into paragraphs and shorter sentences is easier to read. Headings allow you to summarise content and improve accessibility. Call to actions can be used to highlight action points.
Images that are decorative only are distracting (and cheesy). Research shows that readers will ignore these images, at the worst they distract from the content and tell the user there is nothing valuable on this page (because you’ve had to add a random image to pad it out).
Know your audience – what are they looking for, what do they want to do, what do they want to find out? Make content easy – plan for skimmers, break up big chunks of text, cut down long sentences, simplify vocabulary, think about keywords, let headings do the work, use bullet pointsConnect your content – think about where content already exists, don’t duplicate content that lives somewhere else. Do you really need it? Use links and call to actions.Create unique and useful content – give people a reason to readDon’t be a designer – don’t try to make content stand out by using fonts or colours. Be strategic about your use of images. Research shows people pay attention to images well synced in content. People ignore images used for decoration or extras. Don’t hide your content behind unnecessary adornments.Tell a story – find out what is really interesting about your topic. Start with that. Write in a way that engages. Think about your tone of voice and always write in active voice.
A huge part of good content is consistent quality. It builds trust with your reader. Follow guidance on capital letters and all the other details. Spend time doing this and it will show in the result.
