2. Why Are We Looking At This?
• Because it is important!
• Jakob Neilson Research:
o 5 different versions of the same website (same
basic information; different wording; same site
navigation).
o Invited users to perform the same tasks on the
different sites. Results were dramatic!
oConcise text was 58% better
oScannable text was 47% better
oConcise & Scannable: 124% better
4. All About Me
What do you think of these?
http://socialentrepreneurs.ie/
https://www.vhi.ie/global-health-
insurance/index.jsp
http://www.libertyinsurance.ie/
http://www.beauchamps.ie/
http://www.ecmwf.int/
http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/Pages/home.asp
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6. Who Are These People?
Users are selfish, lazy and ruthless (Neilson)
They ruthlessly scan for interesting chunks of
information rather than digesting the whole,
and they want to be entertained in the
process.
7. How People Read Online
• They don’t
• Fixations…increase the chance of fixation by
using longer words (we tend to skip over short
words)
• F
15. Scannability
• Headlines
– Numbers work
– Explain the benefits (10 useful tips for writing headlines that will
boost your traffic)
– Use adjectives: amazing, awesome, beautiful, excellent, useful,
brilliant, powerful, sensational, terrific, unique, valuable,
wonderful
– Celebrity / brand names
– Create a sense of urgency
– 65 chars allows for RT’s
– Post a question
– How to…
– Use your analytics
17. Scannability
• Heading
• Summary
– Sell the idea in 30-50 words
– Who/What/Where/When/how
– Last sentence with added punch
• Sub headers
• Use of colour
• Bold keywords
• Bullets
19. Skimmibility
• Write less
– Half the word count of "conventional writing"! (Ouch!)
– Short sentences. Tip: look for commas
• One idea per paragraph
• Active verbs
• Simple present tense
• No to the passive voice
• No multi-syllabic words
• Lose the jargon
• Dates
21. Finessing It
• Calls to action & point of action assurances
– That seductive moment when a user is about to
take action
– Download a form, add to shopping cart, click a
button…
– They can lose confidence, so you must add some
added text that instils trust
22. Finessing It
• Set expectations about how things will be
handled, what to expect.
23. Finessing It
• No More Click Here!!
– Not accessible
– Not user friendly
– Self consciously writing for web
• Don’t be afraid to have long hyperlinks
24. Finessing It
• Great online forms are important because
they help us achieve our goals (CTA)
• This is the best piece on great forms:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011
/11/08/extensive-guide-web-form-usability/
25. Measuring It
• Measuring the results of your copywriting
using the Flesch Kincaid Readability Index
27. SEO
Title Tag: appears on the very top of the page. The
most important one so get it right!
• Try and put your keyword into the start of the
tag.
• Keep it to 70 characters.
• Be emotive – the title tag is the bit that users
will first come across in search engine results.
• Be mindful of Title Case
28. SEO
Description Tag: write for your reader, tell them what this post is
about. If you don’t fill in description tag, Google usually picks up
the first line from the post. It’s nice to have the option to tell it in
your own words.
• Try and get keywords in if possible
• Keep it to 150-160 characters.
• Be careful about punctuation/spelling etc.
Keywords. You don’t really have to bother with these as search
engines no longer pick them up here, preferring to pick up the
actual words in the post.