Writing for the Web

Training Notes

Web PageWriting Programme

Part 1: Getting the basics right (Malcolm Roberts)

• Audience • Message • Style

• Language • Layout

• Editing

• Usability • Readability • Findability • Good practice in web writing

Part 2: Good web writing (Scott Castle)

Think of your audience

Your audience could be bigger than you think • Prospective students • Current students • Staff (academic and administrative) • Business • Parents • Other universities • Journalists • General public

• Empathise – what is your audience trying to achieve by visiting your page? • Talk to your audience – Use personal pronouns: “You”, “Your”, “We”, “Us” and

“Our” • Use words that are familiar to your audience e.g. “resits” not “reassessment in the

supplementary period”

Write your page for your audience

Your message is key

What’s the point? • Empathise - What is your audience trying to achieve by visiting your page? • What do you need to tell them?

• Key messages • Secondary details • Call to action • Key dates and times • Next steps • Relevant background information

• What , Why, When, Where, Who and How

Tip: Always remember the 5 Ws

Your message is key

The inverted pyramid The inverted pyramid is a standard used writers to illustrate how information should be prioritised and structured. • Always give your page a strong start. Remember

the 5 Ws and include: • Key messages • Call to action • Key dates and times • Next steps • Secondary information • Relevant background information

• Tip: Never start a piece of writing with a history lesson

• Order your paragraphs by importance • Keep background and / or less important

information at the bottom Inverted pyramid

Most important information

(What , Why, When, Where, Who and How)

Important details

General information Background

Exercise (15 mins)

Apply the inverted pyramid to the text below: For the last ten years the University has endeavoured to meet the aims and objectives set out in the strategic plan written in 2012 and covering the period 2013 – 2016. These included an objective to enhance the student experience through better communication which is being spearheaded by student services. In the last 12 months, the department has been engaged in a piece of work designed to enhance the student experience by providing better web resources for the entire student body. The culmination of this work is a written report entitled Enhancing the Student Experience that can be found at www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssd/report Malcolm Roberts, the Student Communications Coordinator, has led the project and will give a presentation on the report at the next staff briefing being held in the Jessop West Exhibition space on 10 October at 4pm. All staff are encouraged to attend.

This is one way you could have done it

Enhancing the student experience: a briefing Jessop West Exhibition Space 10 October 4pm All staff are encouraged to attend This presentation is the result of a project led by Malcolm Roberts. The project was designed to enhance the student experience through the provision of better web-based resources. The project was conceived in response to the aims and objectives of the University’s strategic plan 2013 – 16. If you are unable to attend the briefing or wish to read Malcolm’s report in advance you can find it at: www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssd/report

Your message is key

Quick tips for web writing • Sentence length – 20 words maximum

• One point per sentence • Paragraph – 70 words maximum or three sentences

• One topic per paragraph • A paragraph can consist of only one sentence • Web page length – 500 words approximately

Find your style

Language • Be objective (avoid the first person and personal opinion) • Avoid “corporate speak”, clichés and jargon • Use plain English • Don’t capitalise (other than acronyms) • Always explain acronyms e.g. SSiD (Student Services Information Desk) • Develop a tone of voice • Adapt that tone of voice depending on audience and subject matter • Be specific • Be clear • Don’t write copy directly on to the web, write in Word first

Find your style

Headings • Headings should be 8 words or fewer • Use subheadings wisely (they help with findability and searchability) • Use a subheading every 2 or 3 paragraphs

Pros • Take up less space • Make text easier to scan • Useful for highlighting important information • Good for describing a process Cons • Can be off putting to some • Can be over used

• Try to use no more than 10 per page • Break long lists with subheadings

Bullet points

Find your style

Editing Editing copy properly can take time. Schedule in the time and avoid interruptions. Have a dictionary or thesaurus handy. Take your time and concentrate. Three strikes rule: • Strike one: Read your copy as the reader would. Does it make sense? • Strike two: Read again, this time checking the structure. Does it follow the 5 Ws

and the reverse pyramid • Strike three: Read a third time to carefully check spelling, grammar and

punctuation. Don’t trust a spellcheck. If anything seems wrong, check it.

• If you wrote the article, get someone else to look over it for you. • Remember, everybody makes mistakes so don’t beat yourself up over any that you

find.

And finally

Part 2: Good web writing

How people use the web

• People hunt first and don’t read while they are hunting

• People read less on line (only 16% read all words)

• People take more time to read the web (25% slower)

• People give up earlier online and go somewhere else

• People will stop at something that is ‘good enough’ rather than continue on to what is ideal

“People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.” Neilsen

Why improve our web writing?

• Findability

– help search engines find your pages

• Scanability

– help people find relevant copy on your page

• Readability

– help people read and understand your copy quickly

• Usability

– help people achieve what they need to achieve

• Engagement

- keep the attention of site visitors

• Credibility

– keep them coming back

Use simple words

“Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler” - Albert Einstein

Not Plain English Plain English alternatives additional extra, more alternative choice, other appropriate proper, right, suitable attend come to, go to, be at complete fill in, finish currently now demonstrate show, prove difficulties problems discuss talk about ensure make sure frequently often obtain get, receive option choice provide give regarding about, on relating to about require need, want, force specified given, written, set state say, tell us, write down substantial large, great, a lot of undertake agree, promise, do

Remove redundant words

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words” - Mark Twain

• (very) • (almost) • (generally) • (apparently) • (relatively) • (exactly) • (basic) necessity • (true and) accurate • first (and foremost) • (begin) to initiate • (completely) useless • (future) plans • (end) result • (past) experience

Remove redundant sentences

“I try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip.” - Elmore Leonard

Before: If you are planning to take time off from your studies in the future, e.g. there are other personal circumstances which will necessitate a prolonged period of absence or you want to take an extended period of time out to undertake a non-compulsory work placement, you will need to apply for an official Leave of Absence. After: If you are planning to take time off from your studies in the future you will need to apply for an official Leave of Absence.

Merge sentences together

Before: In addition to lectures, our teaching staff will probably expect you to discuss ideas in seminars, tutorials and group work. They will also expect you to spend a lot of time doing independent study. After: Our teaching staff will expect you to spend a lot of time doing independent study as well as discussing ideas in seminars, tutorials and group work.

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” - Thomas Jefferson

Change vague phrases

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” - Albert Einstein

Avoid Try

A considerable amount of Many, a lot

A number of Some, many

As a consequence of because

At the present time Now

Circumstances in which When or where

Due to the fact that Because

each individual everyone, all

for the purpose of For

in a case in which When, where

in accordance with by

given the fact that as, since

owing to the fact that since, because

on the grounds that because

with the exception of except

Last but not least

A few last hints and tips • Do not use use PDFs • Use pictures and / or icons to break up you content • Set up and review schedule • Think about creating videos to replace content (the Student Comms team might be

able to help here)

Recommended reading

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssd/web/design-guidelines

Any questions?

Tips and Tricks

Audience Who are you talking to? Capitalise Don’t capitalise Cut If in doubt, cut it out Edit Three strikes rule Headings 8 words or fewer Merge Join sentences / paragraphs Message What are you trying to say? Page length 500 words maximum Paragraphs 70 words maximum Redundancies Remove redundant words / sentences Sentence 20 words maximum Sub headings Every two or three paragraphs Vagueness Change vague phrases Words Use simple words / plain English