Writing for Online 2013

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JOUR 5153: REPORTING, WRITING & EDITING THE NEWS

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Writingfor Online

Tim Currie

[email protected]@tscurrie

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Online Writing

1. Structure

2. Links

3. Headlines & SEO

4. Social Media

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Jakob Nielsen:

• He researches usability: how

people consume content online

• At Sun Microsystems he

investigated how people

interacted with their computers

• He authored a 1997 landmark

study on Web usability NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP

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Nielsen’s Research

Reading online is different from reading on paper (1997):

• Most people don’t read online — they scan– Only 16% read a page word for word– 79% of readers scan a page first

• Reading online is 25% slower than reading on paper

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Research By Nielsen’s Peers

Stanford University/Poynter Institute EyeTracker studies(2000 & 2004):

– Eyes go to text first

– Briefs/teasers are popular

– A headline has less than 1 sec. of a site visitor's attention

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

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Nielsen’s Research

• People don’t want to read a lot online.

Why?

• Body position• Eyestrain• Many web pages are authored for print• It’s difficult to judge the end of the story• The web is action-driven. People love to

click

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Nielsen’s Recommendations for Web Pages

Text should be scannable:

1) Highlighted keywords

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• Quartz:

Everything that led to Colorado’s record-breaking flood, and why it will only get worse

http://qz.com/124389/everything-that-led-to-colorados-record-breaking-flood-and-why-it-will-only-get-worse/



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2) At least two levels of headlines

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• Toronto Star:

Costa Concordia: Italian agency gives final OK to right cruise ship after checking weather conditions

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/09/15/costa_concordia_italian_agency_gives_final_ok_to_right_cruise_ship_after_checking_weather_conditions.html



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3) Bulleted lists

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• Globe and Mail:

Unemployment, grim public housing fueling riots in

Stockholm

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/unemployment-grim-public-housing-fueling-riots-in-stockholm/article12152045/%23dashboard/follows/



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• Toronto Star:

10 fees you should avoid

http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/spending_saving/2010/11/11/10_fees_you_should_avoid.html

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• Buzzfeed:

20 Uniquely Brilliant Business Cards

• Buzzfeed:

The Day Lehman Died

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/20-uniquely-brilliant-business-cards

http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/20-uniquely-brilliant-business-cards

http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/the-day-lehman-died

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4) One idea per paragraph; no more than three sentences in each

5) Inverted pyramid style

6) Write 50% less than you would in printon each page

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Clang! Creak! Tink, tink, tink tink. TING!In days past the sounds of a blacksmith’s shop were among the

most distinctive noises found in towns and villages across North America. The sounds of village smithy pounding, bending and twisting metal were commonplace in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Today, however, with commercial hardware stores in many malls, the sounds of an operating blacksmith’s shop are pretty much relegated to the past.Or, maybe not, thanks to a new course offered at the Nova Scotia Community College.

Most Nova Scotians under 60 have never heard the “clang!

tink, tink, tink!” of a blacksmith at work. But a new course

offered at the Nova Scotia Community College promises to

introduce a new generation to the piercing, but once-familiar,

sound.

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News Style Guide:

It's tempting to start a longer piece with some

scene-setting and a few rhetorical flourishes.

This is called "throat clearing" and is the product

of an age when a newspaper article was

something to be settled into gently, like favorite

armchair.

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"The place between 500 and

800 words is the place you don't

want to be.

It's not short and fast and

focused and shareable, [and] it's

not long enough to be a real

payoff for readers."Kevin Delaney, president

& editor-in-chief

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6) Graphical elements — tables, charts, photos, maps — help people absorb information

7) Casual language, sentence fragments work fine

8) Hypertext links aid credibility

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A Newspaper Story

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An Online Story

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Nielsen’s Research(Mobile Devices, 2009)

“Observing user suffering during our

sessions reminded us of the very first

usability studies we did with traditional

websites in 1994.

It was that bad."

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Nielsen’s Research(Mobile Phones, 2009)

Poor experience because:

• Small screens

• Awkward input

• Slow download

• Sites not designed for

mobile

APPLE

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Nielsen’s Research(Tablets, 2011)

1. Read–tap asymmetry for websites

2. Touchable areas were too small in many apps

3. Accidental activation a big problem

4. Low discoverability5. Users disliked typing

APPLE

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Nielsen’s Recommendations for Headlines

• The Issue: They are often displayed on

their own, out of context

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Nielsen’s Recommendations for Headlines

On the eve of a new show at the Museum of Modern Art that

celebrates his seminal works, legendary multimedia artist

Michael Snow talks to Sarah Milroy about his heady,

experimental days in New York.

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Nielsen’s Recommendations for Headlines (& Subheads)

1. Make it short & clear

2. No teasers

3. Write in plain

language: no puns,

no "cute" or "clever"

headlines.

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Exercise

http://goo.gl/75XKI0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8231310.stm

http://goo.gl/75XKI0

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Headlines: Writing For SEO

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Military coffee supplier to take on Starbucks


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In headlines or meta descriptions:

• Must contain searchable keywords

• Plain, common words

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Writing Hypertext Links

1. They are recommendations

2. By nature they signify importance

3. They build trust with readers by making the reporting transparent

4. They allow readers to further their own interest

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• Chronicle Herald:

Liberals

vow to cut wait times, add family

doctors

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1154258-liberals-vow-to-cut-wait-times-add-family-doctors



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• Three to five words

Link to:• Official websites:

products or organizations• Announcements

(news release or report)• Related stories• Facts: statistics or

comments

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• Indicate if content is other than a web page (Eg. PDF, video)

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Click here to read the advisory group’s report.

Better:

The advisory group released its Recommendations for Waterfront Renewal (PDF) Tuesday.

Check out this site for more information.

The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia has a list of properties it considers threatened by development.

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Writing for Social Media

1. Keep it short

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2. Include links

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3. Make language casual

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4. Focus on action:

• “Watch the video clip”• “Follow it live”• “Read the full story”• “View the picture gallery”

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4. Find the

Nugget

of Social

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In a news story, what is the Nugget of Social?

1. A surprising fact

2. A vivid quote that humanizes the story

3. An issue or challenge that resonates

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Exercise: What’s the Nugget of Social?

http://goo.gl/zZIWGT


http://goo.gl/zZIWGT

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Exercise: What’s the Tweet?

http://goo.gl/QqpWpC


http://goo.gl/QqpWpC

Writing for Online 2013

Education

Transcript of Writing for Online 2013