1. WRITING FOR THE WEB PUTTING YOUR CONTENT FIRST

2. SOME QUICK NUMBERS  21,774,931 user sessions  70% of users were on the site for less than10 seconds  66% of users viewed one page then left  82% of users viewed two or fewer pages and then left  10 pages (out of about 45,000 pages viewed) accounted for 25% of all page views  25 pages accounted for 35%, 50 pages accounted for 43%, 100 pages accounted for 52%  The remaining 44,900 pages viewed received less that 48% of the remaining total page views ED.GOV USAGE DURING CALENDAR YEAR 2014

3. WHAT ABOUT MY CONTENT?  You are competing for the attention of a relatively small number of ED.gov users  Your users don’t stay on the site very long (measured in seconds) and they don’t click through your pages to see what you’re doing  Your users are on the site to complete a task and want to complete it quickly  Your users act just like most of us do when we visit most web sites SOME TOUGH TRUTHS

4. WEB WRITING: FEWER, BETTER WORDS 1.Why do people visit websites? o To complete a specific task. They don’t care about your website.They don’t care about your website 2.How do people read on the web? o They don't. They scan. If you're lucky, they’ll read half the words. o Fewer words on the page means more of the words are read. 3.How should you present information online? o Make text scannable: i.Bulleted lists ii.Short paragraphs iii.Highlight keywords iv.Meaningful headings BASIC GUIDELINES

5. GOING FURTHER 1.Improve page titlesImprove page titles o Page titles are key to getting your pages in search results o Half of the visits to our site come to a page directly from search o Use words that people are searching for, not our jargon Examples: Original: “ED.gov”; Improved: “Disclaimer of Endorsement | U.S. Department of Education” Original: “Department Roadmap for Incorporating Principles of Openness Into Core Agency Missions”; Improved: “Open Government Roadmap” THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR WEB CONTENT

6. GOING FURTHER 2.Write effective linksWrite effective links o Never link the words “here” or “click here.” o Include the title or name of the linked item. o If using the title or name is awkward, describe the information the item provides. o Avoid linking phrases that contain verbs. 3.Use data to find what words people are using o Google Analytics o Google Trends THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR WEB CONTENT

7. GOING FURTHER 4.Get more help o Read Jacob Nielsen's “Writing for the Web”“Writing for the Web o Read the Federal Plain Language GuidelinesFederal Plain Language Guidelines o Run draft language by OCO o For high traffic pages, ask OCO about page analysis o ED.gov Web Contacts ED.gov Web Contacts o ED.gov Style Guide ED.gov Style Guide o ED.gov Web Traffic Statistics ED.gov Web Traffic Statistics o Consider using the Readability Checker tools in MS Word THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR WEB CONTENT

8. GOING FURTHER In Microsoft Word, spell checker can give you ratings on: o Grade reading level o Reading ease o Passive sentences These tools aren’t perfect, but they give you a sense and can help you measure improvement Good benchmarks: o For an expert audience: 12 th grade level o For a general audience: 6 th grade level o 60-70% reading ease or higher o Less than 5% passive sentences THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR WEB CONTENT

9. GOING FURTHER How to turn the readability checker on: o In Word: Select File > Options > Proofing > Show Readability Statistics > OK o To see the statistics, run spell checker: Select Review > Spelling and Grammar o More details on MS Office Help: Test Your Document’s ReadabilityMS Office Help: Test Your Document’s Readability THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR WEB CONTENT

10. SUPPORTING DATA  79% of test users scan new pages  16% read word-by-word  Users, on average, read at most 28% of the words on a webpage  20% is more likely Nielsen's research shows when combining 3 writing styles – concise, scannable, objective (rather than promotional) – usability increased 124% FROM JACOB NIELSEN'S "HOW USERS READ ON THE WEB"HOW USERS READ ON THE WEB

11. WRITING EXAMPLE Promotional writing (control condition) Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).Carhenge INCREASING READABILITY

12. WRITING EXAMPLE Concise text (Readability Improvement, 58%) In 1996, six of the best-attended attractions in Nebraska were Fort Robinson State Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.Carhenge INCREASING READABILITY

13. WRITING EXAMPLE Scannable layout (Readability Improvement, 47%) Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were:  Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors)  Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166)  Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000)  Carhenge (86,598) Carhenge  Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002)  Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446). INCREASING READABILITY

14. WRITING EXAMPLE Objective language (Readability Improvement, 27%) Nebraska has several attractions. In 1996, some of the most- visited places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).Carhenge INCREASING READABILITY

15. WRITING EXAMPLE Combined version (Readability Improvement, 124%) In 1996, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were:  Fort Robinson State Park  Scotts Bluff National Monument  Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum  Carhenge Carhenge  Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer  Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park INCREASING READABILITY

16. PRACTICE  Divide into groups  Each group will improve one of these titles: – 2009 Parts B and C American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Formula Grant Award Memos and Enclosures, August 31, 2009 – White House and U.S. Department of Education Officials Join Philadelphia Mayor to Kick-Off Connecting Communities for the Common Good Conference Series – Invitation to June 10 Race to the Top Assessment Public Meeting on Automated Scoring – February 15, 2002 -- Letter to Chief State School Officers highlighting key provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and listing early deadline dates for implementation – Frederick M. Hess, Ph.D. -- Tear Down This Wall: The Case for a Radical Overhaul of Teacher Certification -- White House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers  Discuss the improvements IMPROVING TITLES

17. RESOURCES http://www.ed.gov/web-guidance WEB@ed.gov DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES AND MORE