Writing in Wordpress: What to keep in mind for beginners is the presentation from Jamie Smith at WordCamp Fayetteville 2014 in Fayetteville, AR.

1. Presented By
Jamie Smith
Writing in WordPress: What to
keep in mind for beginners
August 2, 2014

2. Your Presenter
Jamie’s Notebook
Jamiesnotebook.com
@JamiesNotebook
jamie@jamiesnotebook.com
Jamie Smith

3. • Good writing should go relatively unnoticed.
• Bad writing stands out and diminishes the
company’s/writer’s credibility.
• A few people will read a good bit of the content.
• Google frequently changes its algorithms to make
sure legitimate content rank higher in its search
results.
• Even if your SEO is great, many people won’t come
back if the writing is bad.
Good writing will always matter

4. Writing for the web includes a multitude of
considerations that just aren’t a factor in
print:
• Considerations of SEO
• Effective layout and styles for the online
environment
• People’s online reading habits
How is online writing different?

5. Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)
SEO is important for getting your content found. So why
talk about it in a writing class? A part of SEO is in how you
write including the format and words you choose.

6. Writing for spiders and people
 Traditional writing is for one audience: the reader.
 Online writing is for two audiences: the reader and the
web spiders. By web spiders, I mean search engines like
Google. This is where SEO (search-engine optimization)
becomes vital. It’s the spider food.
 Without good spider food, the human readers will never
find your content.

7. What is SEO? How do I get it?
 Search-engine optimization is more than just a subject
of spam email you receive.
 SEO increases the search engine’s ability to find your
site and its content compared to all the other “stuff”
out there.
 Certain techniques both in your writing and behind
the scenes will improve your SEO, thus meaning the
chance for more people to see your site.

8. Keywords
What are they?
Why do I care?
 Keywords are the
words people might
use to find
something on your
topic.
 Keywords can be
singular or phrases
(long-tail keywords)
 Keywords should be
used frequently, but
artfully. Don’t just
repeat it a bunch of
times.
Tips
 Make a list of potential keywords before
writing.
 Use common sense first, then a program
like Google Keyword Tools (AdWords).
 During editing, add keywords where they
make sense.
 Use keywords in the main copy, in the
headlines, subheads and in the SEO plug-in
(we’ll get to that in a minute).

9. Links
 Hyperlinks provide
additional information for
your reader on the topic.
 Hyperlinks enhance
credibility.
 Hyperlinks increase SEO.
Tips:
 Link to the website of an organization
or company if you mention it.
 Link to your own blog posts or website
pages if you refer to a topic you’ve
already written about.
 Use the hyperlink tool (looks like a
sideways 8) instead of listing the actual
link.
 Don’t feel the need to link to every
single thing. It is irritating to the
reader’s eyes and will tell the search
engines that you’re trying too hard.

10. Behind the scenes
Plugins and formatting help!
 SEO in WordPress is easy
because there are built-in
tools for enhancing SEO.
 Keywords are easily seen but
a few “tricks of the trade”
help you get the most out of
your SEO.
Tips:
 Use plug-ins like “All in One SEO
Pack” or “Yoast” and make sure
you keep it updated.
 Actually take the time to fill out
the information on every page
and every post for the plug-in.
 Pay attention to character limits
(160 for description). Use
keywords in the description.

11. Layout, design and formatting
Layout and design of your writing affects SEO but it more
deeply affects the reader.

12. A few formatting tricks to help
reader/spiders
Format helps spiders and
readers
 In each post, different tools help
increase SEO and make the
content easier for the human eye
to read. These tools are located
at the top of the page in the
dashboard.
 Remember the outlines you had
to do in high school? It’s the same
concept, but it’s easier (and more
fun). Using subheads and lists
can help you organize your
writing.
 Features like the
bulleted/number lists and
changing the format style make
great spider food.
 Using a picture increases SEO and
makes the post more interesting
to look at.
Tips:
 Break up the copy into sections
using subheads (use keywords!)
 Use bold print and at least one of
the headline html options for
subheads. Don’t just increase the
font size and use bold.
 Use number or bulleted lists instead
of long sentences. Use numbers
when the order matters, bullets
when it does not.

14. A few more technical “stuffs”
 Categories vs tags-categories are a way of dividing all of
your content and tags describe the specific post. (Example:
in a catalog you have “housewares” and then you can
choose items by color or brand, etc.)
 Never “shout” online by using ALL CAPS. Use italics and/or
bold instead.
 Readers read from left to right and their attention span
fades the farther to the right they go. So generally set your
copy (words) to the left instead of the right or center. An
exception would be poetry.

15. Online reading habits
We read online content much differently than print. Here
are tips for a successful post.

16.  When we read online, we really just skim. This means
you need to make it easier to skim the content and
have the readers still absorb the information.
Online readers have short attention
spans

17. Writing the blog post
 Key components of a blog post:
 350 – 700 words
 Attention-getting, key-worded title
 Open paragraph has to go immediately to the point
 Relevant image(s)
 Main body – make it easy to skim using subheadings,
bullet points, etc.
 Close with a discussion question/call to action

18. Better writing is easier to read
 Use strong, active sentences
 Cut out “there are” and “it is.”
 Make sure the subject of the sentence is a noun doing
the action indicated in the verb. (This forces the writer
to find interesting verbs!)
For example:
Okay: There are very few people in this room.
Better: Few people attended the session.

19.  Cut out wordiness, which is sometimes hard to spot.
For example:
Okay: The website content writers are accustomed
to writing for search engines and robots.
Better: Content developers often write for search
engines.

20.  Get rid of the passive voice
 Passive voice construction pushes the subject to the end
of the sentence.
 Active voice keeps the subject at the beginning of the
sentence.
For example:
Passive: The website was monitored by the tech
company.
Active: The tech company monitored the website.

21.  Ditch the qualifiers! Be assertive!
 Consider the difference between these three
statements:
 We believe that customer service is our most important
value.
 Customer service is our most important value.
 Our company values customer service.

22.  Punctuate effectively
 Do not use semi-colons (this one hurts)
 Journalism rule of commas applies online: do not use a comma
before the last item in a series
 For example: I like trees, butterflies and flowers.
 Exclamation points – perhaps the most overused punctuation
mark online. Very few occasions actually call for an exclamation
point
 Contractions: not acceptable in formal writing; acceptable for
less formal, especially in a personal blog or writing that sounds
personal

23. A few more things to consider
A few more miscellaneous ideas to remember when
writing online in WordPress.

24. What is an editorial calendar?
 An editorial calendar is a schedule of who writes each
post, the post topic, the blog category, the resources
needed, images needed (and where they’re coming
from), deadlines involved, and publish date. Examples
are available online or you can create your own.

25. What are editorial guidelines?
 An editorial style guide is a list of “rules” that are
followed when writing to provide consistency. This is
especially important when more than one person is
writing for the site. Examples of what to consider are
how to refer to people in regards to titles, how to
refer to a location or program on first reference, or
how to list dates and times of events. Most guidelines
start with a major guide such as the AP style guide or
Chicago style then the guideline outlines the
deviations from that major style.

26. Stay out of trouble
Avoid plagiarism (even copying and
pasting your own work). This
includes only using images with
permission
Represent yourself or your company
professionally
Avoid vague or false claims

27. Resources
Reputable sources for finding ideas, help and other
resources:
 Hubspot.com
 Mashable.com
 Grammarist.com
 Socialmediaexaminer.com
 WordPress.com
 Blog.CollectiveBias.com
 MichaelHyatt.com