Comm 200 - Professor Roberts Writing for the Web Comm 200 - Professor Roberts

What We Know About Online Readers

What We Know About Online Readers Time-Strapped 55% of pageviews get less than 15 seconds of attention Task Oriented Searching for specific information and looking to accomplish a task Stay at the Top of the Page Readers spend more than 80 percent of their time on page ”above the fold.” Visually Oriented Far more likely to be drawn to images (especially faces) rather than text. Cursory Most likely to make judgements from the headline and summary They Just Don’t Read Average user reads less than 62 words on a page.

Needs to be: Simple Scannable Direct Task-Oriented Writing for the Web Needs to be: Simple Scannable Direct Task-Oriented

WRITE LIKE YOU DON’t EXPECT PEOPLE TO READ Writing for the Web WRITE LIKE YOU DON’t EXPECT PEOPLE TO READ

Writing for the Web WAYs to achieve that: Descriptive Headlines Short Summaries Bullet Points / Lists Scannable Section Headers Use Visuals and Graphics

Writing for the Web USE CLEAR, CONCISE, EFFICIENT LANGUAGE TALK WITH YOUR AUDIENCE, NOT AT THEM BE TIMELY AND RELEVANT BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE AND PLATFORM

Building a Digital Strategy Defining the GOAL: What are you hoping to achieve? How do you quantify success?

Building a Digital Strategy Defining the Audience: Who are you trying to reach? What do you know about them? Demographic vs Behavioral targeting Demographic: Age, race, gender, location Behavioral: Visits, likes, interests

Building a Digital Strategy Defining the ASK: What is the one thing you’re asking your audience to do? How likely are they to take that action? How aggressive of an ask can you make? Driving up the ladder of engagement.

Building a Digital Strategy

Building a Digital Strategy Defining The Products: Where are you directing your readers? What is the best way(s) to convey the information? What will your audience respond to? Blog post? Video? Interactive Graphics?

Building a Digital Strategy Defining The PLATFORMS: Where do you reach your audience? How well does the platform generate action? How do you optimize your content to play to the strengths of the platform?

Digital Platforms Email: Still the primary driver of online action High-value and low-value subscribers Typically reaches an older audience Fighting for attention in crowded inboxes

Digital Platforms WRITING FOR Email: Subject line is crucial to open rates Short, direct emails perform better Clear Call to Action with multiple links Clear, direct language with bullet points Personalization Helps

Digital Platforms BLOG POSTs: Provides longer-form opportunities Probably won’t generate native traffic Controlled environment

Digital Platforms WRITING BLOG POSTs: Good descriptive headlines Strong lede that quickly summarizes the article Use bullet points and lists when possible Use section headers Active voice and clear, concise language

Digital Platforms FAcebook: Audience tends to skew older Will engage with content (like, share, comment) Unlikely to take substantive action Good for visibility, but not for action

Digital Platforms WRITING FOR FAcebook: Conversational style Should feel timely and important Can go longer, but keep as brief as possible Put key information above the break Clear Call-to-Action with a strong “why” Include photo/video for better visibility

Digital Platforms TWITTER: Audience tends to be tastemakers, info junkies Users skew young, male and urban Harder to get to engage, but once engaged, more active Good for visibility with key audiences

Digital Platforms WRITiNG FOR TWITTER: Strict character limits Preach to the choir Be conversational and to the point Capitalize on existing hashtags if possible