Effective Content Techniques for Online Media Cindy Royal, Ph.D Associate Professor Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication tech.cindyroyal.net twitter.com/cindyroyal facebook.com/cindyroyal linkedin.com/in/cindyroyal

Basic habits for writing for the Web Utilize features of the Web Hyperlinking Multimedia Interactivity All posts should have links and visual media (photos, video, graphics) Share via social media Comments? Decide on a policy for handling comments, but do what you can to encourage interaction. If it's not happening on your site, it's happening somewhere else. Experiment – try basic news stories, longer form journalism, bloggers as columnists, user-generated content, multimedia packages, live streams, data-driven graphics – lots of opportunities

New opportunities for storytelling Reporter or Anchor Driven Character Driven

Think story, not tools Writing is still key Tell engaging stories A People Torn, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Focus on visual, sound Maximize use of photos, audio, video where appropriate Detroit Free Press – Motwoan at 50

Make it interactive Involve the user User as contributor Use data Use free tools Google Maps; Charts and Visualizations; Fusion Tables Wordle; Chartle NY Times - Rent vs. BuyRent vs. Buy

Integrate media Don’t fixate on one medium; seamlessly integrate text, audio, video, photos, interactivity, graphics Be comfortable working in teams Washington Post - Being a Black ManBeing a Black Man

Have a broad base of skills Pick the right tool for the job words.html?ref=multimedia

Pool your resources Combine existing work on the same topic into a cohesive package Las Vegas Sun – History of Las Vegas

Be creative Get ideas from other industries: advertising, technology, social networking. Seek best practices

Provide resources Age of Uncertainty – Roanoke Times

Search Engine Optimization Most important thing – get others to link to you Google Page Rank algorithm Link to others, they are more likely to link to you Participate on comments, forums – tactfully include links to your content Write meaningful headlines – different than print Write strong teasers – not necessarily your lead Use phrases (keywords) frequently that you think people will be using to search for relevant content Fresh content – update regularly and often Use keywords in URLs Consistently use alt tags for images and videos; put content on video/slideshow pages Pages should have meaningful titles Use social media to spread your content, allow users to share Monitor your search standings and traffic – Google Analytics or other services