Writing for Online 2013

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JOUR 5153: REPORTING, WRITING & EDITING THE NEWS
Writing
for Online
Tim Currie
tim.currie@ukings.ca
@tscurrie

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Online Writing
1. Structure
2. Links
3. Headlines & SEO
4. Social Media

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Jakob Nielsen:
• He researches usability: how
people consume content online
• At Sun Microsystems he
investigated how people
interacted with their computers
• He authored a 1997 landmark
study on Web usability NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP

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Nielsen’s Research
Reading online is different from reading on
paper (1997):
• Most people don’t read online — they scan
– Only 16% read a page word for word
– 79% of readers scan a page first
• Reading online is 25% slower than reading on
paper

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Research By Nielsen’s Peers
Stanford University/
Poynter Institute
EyeTracker studies
(2000 & 2004):
– Eyes go to text first
– Briefs/teasers are
popular
– A headline has less
than 1 sec. of a site
visitor's attention
STANFORD UNIVERSITY

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• People don’t want to read a lot online.
Why?
• Body position
• Eyestrain
• Many web pages are authored for print
• It’s difficult to judge the end of the story
• The web is action-driven. People love to
click

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Nielsen’s Recommendations
for Web Pages
Text should be scannable:
1) Highlighted keywords

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• Quartz:
Everything that led to Colorado’s
record-breaking flood, and why it
will only get worse

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for Web Pages
2) At least two levels of headlines

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• Toronto Star:
Costa Concordia: Italian agency gives
final OK to right cruise ship after
checking weather conditions

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for Web Pages
3) Bulleted lists

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• Globe and Mail:
Unemployment, grim public housing
fueling riots in Stockholm

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• Toronto Star:
10 fees you should avoid

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• Buzzfeed:
20 Uniquely Brilliant Business Cards
• Buzzfeed:
The Day Lehman Died

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for Web Pages
4) One idea per paragraph; no more than
three sentences in each
5) Inverted pyramid style
6)Write 50% less than you would in print
on each page

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Clang! Creak! Tink, tink, tink tink. TING!
In days past the sounds of a blacksmith’s shop were among the
most distinctive noises found in towns and villages across
North America. The sounds of village smithy pounding,
bending and twisting metal were commonplace in the 18th and
19th centuries.
Today, however, with commercial hardware stores in many
malls, the sounds of an operating blacksmith’s shop are pretty
much relegated to the past.
Or, maybe not, thanks to a new course offered at the Nova
Scotia Community College.
Most Nova Scotians under 60 have never heard the “clang!
tink, tink, tink!” of a blacksmith at work. But a new course
offered at the Nova Scotia Community College promises to
introduce a new generation to the piercing, but once-familiar,
sound.

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News Style Guide:
It's tempting to start a longer piece with some
scene-setting and a few rhetorical flourishes.
This is called "throat clearing" and is the product
of an age when a newspaper article was
something to be settled into gently, like favorite
armchair.

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"The place between 500 and
800 words is the place you don't
want to be.
It's not short and fast and
focused and shareable, [and]
it's not long enough to be a real
payoff for readers."
Kevin Delaney, president
& editor-in-chief

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for Web Pages
6) Graphical elements — tables, charts,
photos, maps — help people absorb
information
7) Casual language, sentence fragments
work fine
8) Hypertext links aid credibility

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A Newspaper Story

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An Online Story

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(Mobile Devices, 2009)
“Observing user suffering during our
sessions reminded us of the very first
usability studies we did with traditional
websites in 1994.
It was that bad."

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(Mobile Phones, 2009)
Poor experience because:
• Small screens
• Awkward input
• Slow download
• Sites not designed for
mobile
APPLE

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(Tablets, 2011)
1. Read–tap asymmetry
for websites
2. Touchable areas were
too small in many apps
3. Accidental activation a big
problem
4. Low discoverability
5. Users disliked typing
APPLE

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for Headlines
• The Issue: They are often displayed on
their own, out of context

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for Headlines
On the eve of a new show at the Museum of Modern Art that
celebrates his seminal works, legendary multimedia artist
Michael Snow talks to Sarah Milroy about his heady,
experimental days in New York.

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for Headlines (& Subheads)
1. Make it short & clear
2. No teasers
3. Write in plain
language: no puns,
no "cute" or "clever"
headlines.

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Exercise
http://goo.gl/75XKI0

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Headlines: Writing For SEO

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Military coffee supplier to take on Starbucks

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In headlines or meta descriptions:
• Must contain searchable keywords
• Plain, common words

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Writing Hypertext Links
1. They are recommendations
2. By nature they signify importance
3. They build trust with readers by
making the reporting transparent
4. They allow readers to further their own
interest

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• Chronicle Herald:
Liberals vow to cut wait times, add
family doctors

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• Three to five words
Link to:
• Official websites:
products or organizations
• Announcements
(news release or report)
• Related stories
• Facts: statistics or
comments

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• Indicate if content is other than a web
page (Eg. PDF, video)

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Click here to read the advisory group’s report.
Better:
The advisory group released its Recommendations for
Waterfront Renewal (PDF) Tuesday.
Check out this site for more information.
The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia has a list of
properties it considers threatened by development.

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Writing for Social Media
1. Keep it short

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2. Include links

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3. Make language casual

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4. Focus on action:
• “Watch the video clip”
• “Follow it live”
• “Read the full story”
• “View the picture gallery”

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4. Find the
Nugget
of Social

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In a news story, what is the Nugget of
Social?
1. A surprising fact
2. A vivid quote that humanizes the story
3. An issue or challenge that resonates

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Exercise: What’s the
Nugget of Social?
http://goo.gl/zZIWGT

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Exercise: What’s the Tweet?
http://goo.gl/QqpWpC

Writing for Online 2013

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