Writing for the web training

Date 09/06/14

Abigail Parris/ Web Content Editor

Identifying your audience

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Identifying your audience

Before you start writing content for your web page, you need to identify your audience – you should write content for them and not for you.

Before writing consider:• who you are writing for ( your target audience)• what they’ll be looking for on the website • the message(s) you want to convey.

Can you identify the audiences we may write for on our website? Which groups will you most likely be writing for?

Once you've decided who your audience is, think about the AIDA principle to help you get started with your writing.

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The AIDA principle

The AIDA principle stands for:• Attention (or attract)• Interest • Desire • Action.

Bear these points in mind when deciding what information you should include on your web page.

Tone/grammar/style

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Tone/grammar/style - key tips

When writing for the web, remember to:

• keep sentences short and snappy• have one idea per paragraph• avoid jargon • replace long words with shorter ones • use personal pronouns.

Example

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Tone/grammar/style key tips

Try to:• use contractions• write in the active voice rather than the passive• highlight key points in your content with bold • embed hyperlinks within the text • add bullet points if you’re listing items.

Example

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Tone/grammar/style – things to avoid

Try to avoid:• American spelling• tautology• using too many adjectives• repetition• capitalising words that don't start sentences• aligning images left • spelling mistakes and typos.

Follow our style guide to avoid errors: http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/iquad/training/contensis/styleguide.aspx

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

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Search engine optimisation

You can use social media to promote news stories.

 

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Search engine optimisation

You can also improve SEO by:• adding keywords to YouTube descriptions when uploading a video to this platform• including short headings with keywords on your page

• using meta data and adding keywords to this section• good practice:

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Search engine optimisation

Bad practice:

You can also try:• including keywords in the first couple of paragraphs of content• using words your audience will know • regularly updating content• setting up redirects if archiving pages, where necessary• re-using pages.

 

How to use components to improve layout

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How to use components

Use components to reduce the scrolling of a page if it has lots of content.In this case, use components such as tabbed or content boxes.

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How to use components

You can also use components to make a page look more appealing.You can highlight key pages by inserting quick links into the right-hand column.

You can also try employing our video component to highlight interactive content.

You may also like to use our testimonial component to highlight key facts/scholarships.

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How to use components

Feature tables are useful for 'quick facts' or information at a glance.

The FAQ module should be used when writing frequently asked questions.

Events and news should also be added using the events/ news modules.

Proof-reading

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Proof-reading

You can avoid errors in your content by:• previewing every page• checking spelling mistakes and typos by using the spell check tool within Contensis• proof-reading everything• reading the content out loud to make sure it makes sense• proof-reading in Word and going through the text backwards • changing the fonts or colours of sentences in Word • copying and pasting your content from Word to Notepad before pasting it into Contensis• or using the Import from Word tool.

 

Measuring your success

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Measuring your success

Now that you've spent time identifying your audience, tailoring your content to them and making your web page look appealing, how do you know if your content is successful?You can:• use Google Analytics to collect web statistics• see how many times your content has been shared on social media • see how many views your videos on YouTube have received• sometimes you'll get compliments on your pages from other people in your department

or visitors to the website.

A more indirect measure of editorial success will depend on the message you were trying to convey/ your call to action.