1. Writing for the web
Training & guidance

2. What you’ll learn today
• How writing for the web is different
• How to plan and structure your web content
• How to write your web content

3. How is writing for the
web different?
Understanding your online audience

4. Why write “for the web”?
• Writing for online reading is not the same as
writing for print.
• Online you need to apply different skills and
techniques to:
• attract and retain your readers
• get your message across effectively
• achieve your business objectives

5. How do people read online?
• They don’t.
• Instead, they:
• skim, scan and select
• browse before foraging
• take quick glances and occasional brief stops
• read a little at a time, mostly in short bursts
• grab what they need and get on towards the goal

6. What does this mean for your content?
• Users won't read your text thoroughly
• It is rarely appropriate to cut and paste from a
printed document to produce an identical web
version
• You must approach writing for the web as a
separate task to writing for print

7. Planning your web
content
Only write what your users need

8. Prepare to create less
• Online, when it comes to informational,
marketing or promotional content, less is
always more:
• Less content is easier to manage
• Less content is more user-friendly
• Less content costs less to create

9. Before you begin . . .
• Define what “useful” web content is
• Your web content is useless unless it does
one or both of the following:
• supports a key business objective (promotes the
university; encourages students to apply;
convinces industry to collaborate)
• supports your audience in completing a task
(provides your audience with the information they
were looking for; helps them make informed
decisions)

10. Our business objectives
Our aim is to help provide an integrated web
presence, which supports the university's
strategic goal of attracting the best students and
staff, enhancing our research reputation and
portfolio, strengthening our collaborations with
industry and increasing our visibility and
presence on a global scale.

11. Our target web audiences
• Prospective •
Primary
Secondary
Opinion formers
students • Suppliers
(postgraduates / • Job seekers
undergraduates /
• Government
international)
• Journalists
• Alumni
• Local communities
• Commercial
clients

12. Define your web content objectives
• What are you trying to achieve?
• Do you simply want to inform your users, or do
you want to persuade, reassure or motivate them
too?
• What outcome do you want?
• What course of action do you want them to take
next?

13. Plan each web page
• Who cares?
• Is it compelling?
• Is it clear?
• Is it correct?
• Is it complete?
• Is it current?

14. Organise your content: site structure
• A good website structure:
• balances your goals and your users’ goals
• balances breadth and depth
• allows users to easily find what they need
• accurately represents the content
• exposes information as it’s needed
• www.hw.ac.uk/student-life/international-
students.htm

15. Building your site structure
• Group your content in to categories
• Use audience research, business goals and content
analysis to help
• Modify the structure until your content fits
• Create sub-groups where necessary
• Write your page descriptions
• Anticipate future content
• Keep it user focussed

16. Organise your content: labelling
• How do you choose your labels?
• User research
• Card-sorting
• Search / referrer terms
• Good labels:
• match concepts and reader’s word usage
• are used consistently
• accurately describe the content

17. Document your site structure

18. What next?

20. Identify what you have & what you need

21. Writing your content

22. 6 areas to focus on
• Succinct
• Scannable
• Actionable
• Searchable
• Personable
• HWU brand compliant

23. Succinct

24. Succinct
“Your website is not a murder mystery.
Short, sharp and active: that's web content.
Get to the point. Then stop.”
Gerry McGovern
http://giraffeforum.com

25. Succinct

26. Succinct: bite-sized pieces
• Write clear, simple sentences
• It’s not always possible to stick to a word limit
• Write a long sentence first, then edit back
• Look for commas, colons, and “which” as places to
split a long sentence in two
• Favour simple over short
• Remove unnecessary or superfluous words, like
tautologies and such like

27. Succinct: bite-sized pieces
• Don’t create new webpages for the sake of it
• Split content up into coherent chunks
• Don’t replicate printed documents online;
rewrite for the web or provide an overview
then link to a PDF instead
• It is a myth that all web pages should be short

28. Succinct: front-load your content
• Put the most important information at the start
so users can:
• instantly understand what the page/paragraph is
about
• decide if they want to read the rest
• The opening paragraph should answer:
• What?
• Why?

29. Succinct: front-load your content
Inverted pyramid style of writing:
Information users must have
for your communication to
be successful
Additional
information that is
helpful but not
crucial
Nice to
have

30. Succinct: front-load your content

31. Succinct: don’t state the obvious
• Phrases to avoid:
• “Welcome to…”
• “On this page you will find…”
• “Click here for information on…”
• “The links on the left of the page will take you to…”

32. Succinct: hyperlink rather than repeat
• Link out to the corporate website
• Link to external sources
• FAQs: are they real FAQs and do you really
need them?

33. Scannable

34. Scannable
• Users scan webpages for:
• headings / subheadings
• bulleted lists
• links

35. Scannable: add structure with headings
• Structure your content with headings and
sub-headings
• Only 1 “Heading 1” on each page
• Sub-headings should be correctly nested
• Include relevant keywords in your headings
• www.hw.ac.uk/new-students/uk/before-you-
arrive/direct-entrants.htm

36. Scannable: use bulleted lists
• Breaking up paragraphs into bulleted lists
makes them:
• easier to scan
• less intimidating
• more succinct
• Don’t go overboard
• 3–7 items is enough
• 9+ and your writing loses impact

37. Exercise
Succinct & scannable

38. Succinct & scannable exercise question
Re-write the following text to make it succinct
and scannable:
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 (100,00), Carhenge
(86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002),
and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

39. Succinct & scannable exercise answer
• 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
• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
• Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park

40. Exercise answer: succinct & scannable

41. Actionable

42. Actionable: include a “call to action”
• Think about what you want your user to do
• Give them a direction
• Make it easy for them

43. Actionable: use descriptive link text
• Descriptive link text helps:
• users with screenreaders
• SEO

44. Actionable: use descriptive link text
• Never make “click here” a link
• Link text is already obvious
• It’s not a proper call to action
• It doesn’t tell you where it’s going to take you
• Lots of “click here” links on one page can be
confusing

45. Actionable: use patterns
• People like patterns because:
• We grasp information more quickly if we can
anticipate a pattern
• We try to see patterns in information even when
there are none
• When we have to switch patterns, we use extra
mental energy

46. Actionable: use patterns

47. Exercise
Actionable

48. Actionable exercise question
• Look at these pages on the website and
suggest suitable “calls to action”:
• About SLS
• EPS student placements

49. Searchable

50. Searchable
• How will users find your content?
• Most users get to web pages from search
engines, links on other websites, or links within a
website
• Every page should be written as if the user hasn’t
seen the rest of the site
• Some users may not even know where they are

51. Searchable: SEO keywords
• Keywords should be used in:
• page headings
• page descriptions
• sub-headings
• body text

52. Searchable: SEO titles
Each page should
have a unique title
that is meaningful
out of context

53. Searchable: SEO descriptions
The page description should accurately
describe the content of the page

54. Searchable: SEO titles & descriptions

55. Searchable: SEO titles & descriptions

56. Searchable: SEO links
Links should have meaningful link text (not
“click here”) title and text

57. Searchable: SEO images
Images should have a meaningful “alternative”
text

58. Personable

59. Personable: the HWU tone of voice

60. Personable: the HWU tone of voice
• Welcoming and friendly:

61. Personable: the HWU tone of voice
• Use “you” and “we”:

62. Personable: the HWU tone of voice
• Active verbs:

63. Personable: the HWU tone of voice
• Talk about benefits, not just features:

64. Personable: the HWU tone of voice
• Focus on the positives:

65. Heriot-Watt brand
compliant

66. Heriot-Watt brand compliant
• Only use the standard CMS styles
• Avoid:
• Unnecessary Use Of Capital Letters
• bold, italics and underlined text
• justified, centred and right-aligned text
• tables (unless for tabular data)
• writing numbers as words

67. Heriot-Watt brand compliant
Refer to:
• Brand Guidelines (communications toolkit)
• Heriot-Watt Web Team website:
www.hw.ac.uk/webteam/training.htm
• Plain English: www.plainenglish.co.uk
• Guardian Style Guide:
www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide

68. Monitoring &
measuring
Is it working?

69. Monitoring & measuring
• Aim to revisit all pages within 3-6 months
• Check for ROT:
• Redundant
• Outdated
• Trivial
• Check Google Analytics
• User testing

70. Further reading
• www.hw.ac.uk/webteam/training.htm