Lunch and Learn Writing for the Web PowerPoint

1. Writing for the Web.

2. Writing for the Web.
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
SPEAK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
POLISH YOUR STYLE
PERFECTING YOUR PROCESS

3. Know your purpose.
All marketing content is essentially composed to
achieve the same goal:
To get people to read it.

4. Know your purpose.
 Why do we want them to read?




To educate
To build rapport
To build credibility
To develop a relationship
To SELL!
( Generate Revenue)

5. Know your purpose.
Before you start: Get your head on straight.
 Don’t
assume viewers
will read what you’ve
written simply because
you wrote it
 Writing is selling, it is
not meant to meet your
emotional needs
 Forgive yourself
 Make
an adequate
timeline to achieve
your process
 Know your support
group
 Hold true to your
process

6. Know your purpose.
Before you start: Set goals.
 What do you want your viewers to do or learn?
Knowledge
Your agenda
EXAMPLE
Action
Their agenda
To foster an interest in the
home buying process.
Click on the link to visit the
website for more information.
HOW?
Share the number of houses
currently on the market and
buying incentives.
A big link button leading to a
page on the website with more
stats and a call to action to
contact an agent.

7. What’s your goal?

8. Know your purpose.
Before you start: Set deadlines.
 When do you need to:
 send your email
 publish your post
 finalize your content
 Create a timeline working from end to beginning

9. What will your timeline look like?
Allow for wiggle room.
Two days for revisions.
How MayeCreate works as a group.

10. Know your purpose.
Before you start: Brainstorm keywords.
 What are keywords and why are they important?
 Search terms or phrases
 Resonate terms or phrases that evoke emotion and/or action
 What are key words or phrases you need to include
for SEO or to relate to your audience?
 Make a list to use during brainstorming and editing
to include in blog post and page:



Content
Titles
Meta Tags

11. What keywords do people use to search
for your business online?
What keywords resonate with your
audience?

12. Speak to your audience.
When trying to reach to everyone you end up
touching to no one at all.

13. Speak to your audience.
Who are you
speaking to?
Will these factors
impact effective
delivery of your
message?
Income
Relationship
Gender
Education
Level
Interests
Location
Communication
Age
Style
Life Style

14. Who are you talking to?

15. Where are they?

16. Speak to your audience.
Building a online bridge to your customers.
Your
Audience
Facebook
Email
Marketing
Pinterest
Blog &
Website
Closed
Business
Other possible digital components of your marketing bridge:
Twitter, LinkedIn, Houzz, Google+, YouTube, Google AdWords

17. Speak to your audience.
Don’t just build a bridge, cast a net.
Blog
Your
Audience
WEBSITE
Email
Marketing
Facebook
Pinterest
Closed
Business

18. Sometimes in the process this is a good
stopping point. Let your thoughts
simmer and come back in a day or two to
start writing.
Now…What to write?

19. Speak to your audience.
Goal: Get people to read it…but what to write?
You don’t just have to write about what you do.
You do have to write about topics that interest your audience.
 Subscribe to RSS feed of other
 Check out your competition
popular blogs in your industry.
 Keep a list of FAQ from clients
& prospects.
 Share photos, video, events and
event summaries.
 Testimonials
and those you admire.
 Summaries explaining current
events or technological
advances in your industry.
 Featured clients
 Industry specific controversy

20. Speak to your audience.
When writing about a specific product or service place
yourself in the shoes of your audience:
?
What information would they expect to find?


Will you share pricing? (Does your competition?)

?
Read competitor sites to see how much information they provide.
What questions are you commonly asked in a first meetings or
phone conversations? Should those be addressed or left open to
encourage viewers to contact?
What will tip the scales in your favor?

Example: Brag about your competitive advantages using
video, testimonials, pricing and most importantly your
personality!

21. Speak to your audience.
When writing for social media:
?
Are you promoting or conversing?

?
Are you contributing too little or over contributing?

?
Everyone likes a chuckle or a helpful hit but steer clear of
continually talking about mundane tasks
Are you keeping true to company culture?

!
Social media is about building a relationship, selling constantly
and never bonding does not build relationships
If you’re formal everywhere else keep your conversation formal
yet inviting in social media, don’t change your persona.
Stay positive, no one likes a whiner.

22. What is your communication style?

23. Speak to your audience.
Communication Style: DISC
D
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Strong-Willed
Competitive
Demanding
Independent
Direct
Self-Centered
Decisive
Tough
Impatient
I









S
Sociable
Talkative
Open
Enthusiastic
Energetic
Persuasive
Spontaneous
Emotional
Impulsive
C


Steady
Laid Back
Modest
Trustworthy

Family Oriented


Sincere
Patient
Careful
Calm
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Precise
Exact
Analytical
Systematic
Follows Rules
Quiet
Careful
Formal
Disciplined

24. What communication style are your readers?
It’s okay if they’re not the same.
Get mentally prepared…

25. Speak to your audience.
Communication Style: DISC
D




Brief and to
the point
Results
oriented
Focus on the
future
Get to
business
I

S
Positive and

conversational




Quirky and
friendly
Ask for
feedback
Get personal
Be excited!



Take your
time
Do what you
say you’ll do
Remember
the little
things
Human
interest
C




Go into
details
Keep it
formal
Explain why
Reflect on
the past
(working
results)
Doesn’t matter what style you are, everyone loves to see their own name!

26. Polish your style.
Tonality: What personality do you want to portray?
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Conservative
Clinical
Traditional
Professional
Resonate
Powerful





Distinct
Brave
Courageous
Heavy
Steady

27. Polish your style.
Tonality: What personality do you want to portray?
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






Agreeable
Fair
Friendly
Pleasant
Helpful
Tender
Kind
Quaint







Innocent
Warm
Calm
Easy going
Gentle
Laid back
Neutral

28. Polish your style.
Tonality: What personality do you want to portray?
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





Lively
Light
Charming
Curious
Thoughtful
Cheerful
Witty

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
Comfortable
Open
Encouraging
Energetic
Enthusiastic

29. Polish your style.
Tonality: What personality do you want to portray?






Trendy
Youthful
Clever
Alive
Outrageous
Bold





Unusual
Wild
Funny
Different
Noisy

30. Polish your style.
Tonality: What personality do you want to portray?
When we do website design
When we do website design
for others we make sure
for others we keep them on
they don’t stray too far from
track ensuring they reach
the yellow brick road. Now
-VS-
their goals. Now we need
we need your help to keep
your help to make sure we
us from being attacked by
don’t stray from our
those darn flying monkeys.
original objectives.

31. What tonality will you use?

32. Polish your style.
Format for success: Textbook meets inverted pyramid.
navigation
website
A textbook organizes information with a table of
contents, easily identifiable chapters, sub-titles and
captions on images.
page titles

33. Polish your style.
Format for success: Textbook meets inverted pyramid.
 Vocal story telling
 Build interest
 Inverted pyramid
 Bang!
This is so funny
 That reminds me of this
one time when…
 You won’t believe this



Supporting details
Bang!



If you don’t get past this
statement it’s OK, the
reader still got the
information they needed.
Supporting details
Less important
information
You only have 3-5 seconds to hook your reader.

34. Polish your style.
Speaking vs. Writing: Free flow then edit.
When you talk you add all
kinds of unnecessary words
into each sentence to get your
point across. I know my brain
clips along faster when I’m
speaking than when I’m
writing. When communicating
with your audience they
probably don’t want to read all
the fluffy stuff in between, they
want to get right to the point.
When speaking you add
extra words into each
sentence unnecessarily.
My brain clips along
faster when I’m speaking
than writing. Your
audience doesn’t want to
read all the fluff, so get
to the point.

35. Polish your style.
Format for success: Textbook meets inverted pyramid.
 Create visual hierarchy with text sizing and colors
 Bold key information
 Break apart information into bulleted lists
 Place captions with graphics to emphasize key
elements
 Use meaningful original graphics instead of clip art
or stock photos whenever possible

36. Polish your style.
How long is too long?
Blog Posts
 Keep entries around 250-300 words, less than 500

300 words not enough? Breakdown your article into logical
parts and make a series of entries.
 Keep paragraphs short, 3-5 sentences
 Break up every few paragraphs with a sub heading
to help viewers skim for content
 Remove all content that is not needed

37. Polish your style.
How long is too long?
Twitter


Max is 140 characters
This includes links names
and all! So shoot for 124.
Facebook


Ideal length is 100 to 119
characters
Max 63,206
Email Newsletter




Take the very best content
Put that in your newsletter
Link to everything else on
your website
Try for 500 characters or
less

38. Polish your style.
E-Newsletter Styles
Magazine-style
Short copy
Your newsletter is
primarily used as a
portal to content on
your website.
Hybrid
Medium-length copy
Both inform readers
and promote a
product or service —
one large excerpt
with link to site for
more.
Single-Topic
Long copy
Include all the
information readers
want into the email
itself. No links
necessary unless
needed.

39. Polish your style.
How often is too often?
 Facebook
 1-2 times per day, be consistent
 Twitter
 As many times as you want say the
message in different ways each time
 Blog
 At least 1 time every two weeks
 Email Marketing
 1 per month is effective, effectiveness
drops until 5 then holds steady

40. Polish your style.
Tasty title writing tips.
 Short and sweet is best, keep it 50 characters or less
 Pack a punch, make it interesting, the subject is the first thing




viewers see and maybe the only thing if it’s not intriguing
Capitalize Letters of Each Word for Easy Recognition.
Consider starting emails with the business name so they know
who the email is coming from
AVOID: help, percent off and reminder, special, ALL CAPS,
!!!!!!!, free
Create urgency and the must read feeling

41. Polish your style.
Tasty title writing tips.
 Examples from Bnet.com





Shut Up! Why Your Company Needs Quiet Time.
What Cleaning Toilets Taught One Exec.
Is Someone Stealing Your Ideas? Let Them.
Why you should go home early.
Stop the Whining: How to End Corrosive Complaining.

42. Polish your style.
Test your call to action.
 Close your eyes and open them, what do you see first?
 Put yourself in the shoes of a viewer, be objective
 Do you know where to click instinctively?
 Did you ask your viewers to take action? Is it front and
center?
 Look for consistent punctuation and capitalization of bulleted
lists and subtitles
 Don’t forget your contact information

43. Polish your style.

44. Polish your style.

45. Polish your style.

46. Polish your style.
The final edit.
 Plug in additional key words (web pages and blogs only)
 SPELL CHECK!!!
 Read it out loud
 Skim it backwards
 Send to the proofing authorities in your process

47. Polish your style.
The final edit: Grammar check.
 Grammar
 Consider composing in Word to easily recognize spelling and
grammar errors. Note: Writing in Word doesn’t negate reading
proofing your grammar and spelling upon completion!
 Look for consistent punctuation and capitalization of bulleted lists
and subtitles
 Check for correct comma, semicolon and colon usage

48. Perfecting Your Process.
Put your new found knowledge to work!

49. Knowledge
Action
Your agenda
Their agenda
To let readers know about the
Joplin situation.
GOAL:
Tell them how to donate
supplies.
HOW?
Tell our story about Home
Depot and share a picture.
Highlight needs list and how
to contact for pick up.
TIMELINE: Sooner the better, supplies are needed. No approval needed from
superiors, I’m the boss of my own blog!
AUDIENCE: Followers of the task force blog. Friends, family, fellow search and
rescue professionals. Varied communication styles and backgrounds.
KEYWORDS: Joplin, MO, Needs List, Search and Rescue, Task Force

50. OUTLINE:
• Explain the mission
• Share the GPS story
• Street sign not right
• What Home Depot?
• Share Nancy’s contact info
• Needs list

51. Our experience in Joplin.
Our taskforce was deployed to Joplin, MO to search for missing persons. We
were assigned to search the Home Depot area. We piled in the car and drove
toward the corner of Main and 20th Street. We drove in circles around the fallen
19th Street sign a few times in search of 20th Street, looking for Home Depot but
didn’t see the store anywhere in sight. Finally we consulted our GPS navigation
system and searched for the Home Depot. Turns out we were on the corner of
Main and 20th Street all along! The street sign from 19th Street had been torn out
of the ground by the tornado and thrown a full city block to the corner of Main
and 20th were it lay impaled in the ground. All that was left of Home Depot was a
bunch of shelves sticking out of a bunch of concrete that looked like a parking lot.
The people of Joplin would greatly appreciate all supplies and donations you can
provide. Much needed items are water, bandages, blankets and canned food.
Please contact Nancy with the Red Cross at nancy@theredcross.org to coordinate
supply pick up.
Get it all out.

52. First impression? Be a critic!
What information is the most important?
What makes you think, “Wow I’m glad I read that?”

53. Our experience in Joplin.
Our taskforce was deployed to Joplin, MO to search for missing persons. We
were assigned to search the Home Depot area. We piled in the car and drove
toward the corner of Main and 20th Street. We drove in circles around the fallen
19th Street sign a few times in search of 20th Street, looking for Home Depot but
didn’t see the store anywhere in sight. Finally we consulted our GPS navigation
system and searched for the Home Depot. Turns out we were on the corner of
Main and 20th Street all along! The street sign from 19th Street had been torn out
of the ground by the tornado and thrown a full city block to the corner of Main
and 20th were it lay impaled in the ground. All that was left of Home Depot was a
bunch of shelves sticking out of a bunch of concrete that looked like a parking lot.
The people of Joplin would greatly appreciate all supplies and donations you can
provide. Much needed items are water, bandages, blankets and canned food.
Please contact Nancy with the Red Cross at nancy@theredcross.org to coordinate
supply pick up.
Get it all out.

54. Our experience in Joplin.
Our taskforce was deployed to Joplin, MO to search for missing persons. We
were assigned to search the Home Depot area. We piled in the car and drove
toward the corner of Main and 20th Street. We drove in circles around the fallen
19th Street sign a few times in search of 20th Street, looking for Home Depot but
didn’t see the store anywhere in sight. Finally we consulted our GPS navigation
system and searched for the Home Depot. Turns out we were on the corner of
Main and 20th Street all along! The street sign from 19th Street had been torn out
of the ground by the tornado and thrown a full city block to the corner of Main
and 20th were it lay impaled in the ground. All that was left of Home Depot was a
bunch of shelves sticking out of a bunch of concrete that looked like a parking lot.
The people of Joplin would greatly appreciate all supplies and donations you can
provide. Much needed items are water, bandages, blankets and canned food.
Please contact Nancy with the Red Cross at nancy@theredcross.org to coordinate
supply pick up.
What else can be done to improve this piece?
Revise for style.

55. Our experience in Joplin.
Our mission was to locate missing persons but first had to locate the missing
Home Depot store formerly located on the corner of Main and 20th Street. The
landscape in Joplin was so unrecognizable we needed a GPS to find our task force
location, the Home Depot
My task force circled the impaled 19th Street sign near Main Street for 15 min
before we thought to use our GPS. We then discovered we’d already reached our
destination; the street sign had flown a full city block to reach its new location.
What was once Home Depot is now shelving standing in a parking lot.
Help this city in need.
Email Nancy with the Red Cross at nancy@theredcorss.org to coordinate supply
pickups. Items needed include:
 Bottled water
 Bandages
 Blankets
 Canned Food
Revise for style.

56. Joplin: Shelving , Street Signs & Needed Supplies.
Our mission was to locate missing persons but first had to locate the missing
Home Depot store formerly located on the corner of Main and 20th Street. The
landscape in Joplin was so unrecognizable we needed a GPS to find our task force
location, the Home Depot.
My task force circled the impaled 19th Street sign near Main Street for 15 min
before we thought to use our GPS. We then discovered we’d already reached our
destination; the street sign had flown a full city block to reach its new location.
What was once Home Depot is now shelving standing in a parking lot.
Help this city in need.
Email Nancy with the Red Cross at nancy@theredcorss.org to coordinate supply
pickups. Items needed include:
I find I tend to write the most
important information last in my
 Bottled water
paragraphs. I often move the
 Bandages
last sentence to the beginning.
 Blankets
 Canned Food
Revise for style. Write title. Test call to action.

57. Joplin: Shelving , Street
Signs & Needed Supplies.
The landscape in Joplin was so
unrecognizable we needed a GPS to find our
task force location, the Home Depot. Our
mission was to locate missing persons but
first had to locate the missing Home Depot
store formerly located on the corner of Main
and 20th Street.
What was once Home Depot is now
shelving standing in a parking lot.
My task force circled the impaled 19th Street
sign near Main Street for 15 min before we
thought to use our GPS. We then discovered
we’d already reached our destination; the
street sign had flown a full city block to
reach its new location.
Joplin, MO Home Depot wreckage.
Help this city in need.
Email Nancy with the Red
Cross at
nancy@theredcorss.org to
coordinate supply pickups.
Items needed include:
•
•
•
•
Bottled water
Bandages
Blankets
Canned Food

58. Writing for the Web.
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
SPEAK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
POLISH YOUR STYLE
PERFECTING YOUR PROCESS