Writing for the Web

Writing for the Web:
Best Practices for Member
Communications and Engagement
Presented by Ray van Hilst
Vanguard Technology

Today’s Goals
• Maximize investment in the new website
• Improve usability
• Improve conversion

How we REALLY use the web
• When creating sites, we act as though people
are going to pore over every page
• If we’re lucky, they just glance at each page,
read some of the text and click on the first link
that catches their interest
- Steve Krug

Facts of Life
• Scan. Not read
• We “satisfice”
• We muddle through
- Steve Krug

Fact of Life 1: Scan not Read
• We’re usually in a hurry
▫ Web use is driven by saving time
▫ Facing an immediate need
• We know we don’t need to read everything
▫ Only interested in a fraction of what’s on the
page
▫ Looking for what’s only relevant
• We’re good at it
▫ We’ve been trained

Fact of Life 2: We “Satisfice”
• Satisfice – a cross between satisfying and
sufficing
• We don’t choose the best option
• We choose the first reasonable option
• Why?
▫ In a hurry
▫ Low penalty for guessing wrong

Fact of Life 3: We muddle through
• Few people read instructions
• We forge ahead and make up our own way
• Why?
▫ It’s not important to us HOW it works
▫ If we find something that works, we stick to it

How to make pages better
• Create a clear visual hierarchy
• Take advantage of conventions
• Break pages up into clearly defined areas
• Make it obvious what’s clickable
• Minimize noise

Sample 1 Questions
• Why is fun about West Virginia’s rivers?
• What are the top rivers in West Virginia?
• What structure is mentioned in the copy?
• Name 2 rapids on West Virginia’s rivers
• Name at least one other recreational river in
West Virginia

Sample 2 Questions
• What is the ranking of the top rivers in West
Virginia?
• How many rivers can you name?
• Name 2 big rapids on the rivers
• What structure is named in the copy?
• Where can I find more information?

The Short Version
• Keep it short
• Keep it simple
• Write top down
• Write for scanning

“Get rid of half the words on each page, then
get rid of half of what’s left.”
- Krug’s 3rd Law of Usability

Keeping it Short
• Excess words must die
▫ Happy talk
▫ Instructions
▫ Unnecessary adjectives (e.g. that)
• Shorter paragraphs

The following questionnaire is designed to provide
us with information that will help us improve the
site and make it more relevant to your needs.
Please select your answers from the drop-down
menus and radio buttons below.
The questionnaire should only take you 2 to 3
minutes to complete. At the bottom of the form
you can choose to leave your name, address, and
telephone number. If you leave your name and
number, you may be contacted in the future to
participate in a survey to help us improve the site.
If you have comments or concerns that require a
response please contact Customer Service

response please contact Customer Service.
Happy
Talk

Useless
Instructions

Too
many
“Asks”

Please help us improve the site by answering
these questions. It should only take you 2-3
minutes to complete the survey.
NOTE: If you have comments or concerns that
require a response, don’t use the form. Instead,
please contact Customer Service.

How Much Content
Headline
Short
Summary
Detailed
Summary/Abstract
Detailed Content SEO/Email/
Direct Links
NavigationTop of Site
Deep Pages

“If you can’t
explain it to a six
year old, you
don’t understand
it yourself”
- Albert Einstein

Stay on Topic
• Your reader is looking for specific information…
give it to them.
• Link to other pages for specific topics
• Added benefit – Each page is better optimized
for Search Engine Optimization

The New and Gauley rivers are two of the most famous whitewater rivers in North America.
The New River runs from historic Thurmont (once home of one of the largest resort hotels east of the Mississippi) through the
scenic New River Gorge that is now known for its endless miles of rock climbing walls, mountain bike trails and hiking.
The New River’s rapids range from Class II to Class V as the river drops an average gradient of 18 feet per mile. Some of the
biggest rapids on the river include:
• Surprise
• The Keeney’s (actually 3 rapids that are back to back)
• Double Z
• Fayette Station
The trip ends just below the majestic New River Gorge Bridge.
The Gauley River is one of the most sought after whitewater rivers in the country and is on every whitewater boater’s bucket
list. It starts at the base of the Summersville Dam and runs through the beautiful Gauley River Recreation Area.
The Gauley is typically divided into two sections - the upper and lower sections – with the lower section more geared toward
novice rafters and the upper section for experienced rafters only.
The Gauley’s rapids range from Class III to Class V+ (with some rapids sometimes rated a Class VI based on the water level)
as the river drops an average gradient of 81 feet per mile. Some of the most memorable rapids on the river include:
• Insignificant
• Pillow Rock
• Sweet’s Falls
• Iron Curtain
• Canyon Doors
• Pure Screaming Hell
The river is run year round depending on water level. However, starting the Friday after Labor Day, the Army Corps of
Engineers provides a series of twenty-two controlled releases for the express purpose of downriver recreation.

The New River runs from historic Thurmont (once home of one of the largest resort hotels east of the Mississippi)
through the scenic New River Gorge that is now known for its endless miles of rock climbing walls, mountain bike
trails and hiking.
The New River’s rapids range from Class II to Class V as the river drops an average gradient of 18 feet per mile.
Some of the biggest rapids on the river include:
• Surprise
• Double Z
• Fayette Station
The Gauley River is one of the most sought after whitewater rivers in the country and is on every whitewater boater’s bucket
list. It starts at the base of the Summersville Dam and runs through the beautiful Gauley River Recreation Area.
The Gauley is typically divided into two sections - the upper and lower sections – with the lower section more geared toward
novice rafters and the upper section for experienced rafters only.
The Gauley’s rapids range from Class III to Class V+ (with some rapids sometimes rated a Class VI based on the water level)
as the river drops an average gradient of 81 feet per mile. Some of the most memorable rapids on the river include:
• Insignificant
• Pillow Rock
• Sweet’s Falls
• Iron Curtain
• Canyon Doors
The river is run year round depending on water level. However, starting the Friday after Labor Day, the Army Corps of
Engineers provides a series of twenty-two controlled releases for the express purpose of downriver recreation.

The New River runs from historic Thurmont (once home of one of the largest resort hotels east of the Mississippi) through the
scenic New River Gorge that is now known for its endless miles of rock climbing walls, mountain bike trails and hiking.
The New River’s rapids range from Class II to Class V as the river drops an average gradient of 18 feet per mile. Some of the
biggest rapids on the river include:
• Surprise
• Double Z
• Fayette Station
The Gauley River is one of the most sought after whitewater rivers in the country and is on every whitewater boater’s
bucket list. It starts at the base of the Summersville Dam and runs through the beautiful Gauley River Recreation
Area.
The Gauley is typically divided into two sections - the upper and lower sections – with the lower section more
geared toward novice rafters and the upper section for experienced rafters only.
The Gauley’s rapids range from Class III to Class V+ (with some rapids sometimes rated a Class VI based on the
water level) as the river drops an average gradient of 81 feet per mile. Some of the most memorable rapids on the
river include:
• Insignificant
• Pillow Rock
• Sweet’s Falls
• Iron Curtain
• Canyon Doors
The river is run year round depending on water level. However, starting the Friday after Labor Day, the Army Corps
of Engineers provides a series of twenty-two controlled releases for the express purpose of downriver recreation.

Dispense with jargon & superfluous
vocabulary
• Speaks only to insiders
▫ Excludes new (or potential) members of your
community
▫ Hurts search discovery
• Harder to read and understand
▫ Did you understand this headline?
 “No buzzwords or fancy language”

Bad Good
riverine avifauna river birds
involuntarily undomiciled homeless
The patient is being given
positive-pressure ventilatory
support.
The patient is on a respirator.
Most refractory coatings to date
exhibit a lack of reliability when
subject to the impingement of
entrained particulate matter in
the propellant stream under
extended firing durations.
The exhaust gas eventually
damages the coating of most
existing ceramics.
plainlanguage.gov – Avoid Legal, Foreign and Technical Jargon
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/FederalPLGuidelines/writeNoJargon.cfm

“If we can keep people for 10 seconds, they
should understand our primary message. If
they stay for two minutes, some secondary
messages should be getting through.
All this feeds into a call to action.”
- Kristina Halvorson

Inverted Pyramid
Lead – Most Important
information
Helpful non
critical info
Nice but not
necessary

The calm water stretches before you as a
majestic blue heron soars over the river. A
glance up in all directions reveal a tree covered
gorge topped by a ring of some stone cliffs that
designate the edge of one of country’s most
iconic rivers which is managed by the United
States Park service.
Welcome to The New River Gorge, home of
some of West Virginia’s best and most scenic
whitewater.

The New River features West Virginia’s best
whitewater set in the scenic New River Gorge.
Rafters will paddle stretches of calm water
punctuated by a soaring blue heron and scenic
views of the tree lined gorge.
The New River Gorge National River is
managed by the United States Park Service.

Find Your Tone
Social
Media
Blog Posts
Articles, Press
Releases
Landing Pages, Long Form
Content
Evergreen Content Formal
Informal Right Now
3 Years
from Now

“Having an effective call to action
is an essential part of any website.
A call to action is not just limited to
ecommerce sites. Every website
should have an objective it wants
users to complete whether it is
filling in a contact form, signup for
a newsletter or volunteering their
time.”
- Paul Boag

Encourage Action
• We want users to DO something
▫ “Finding our information” is not an action
• Give them someplace to go and keep them
engaged
• Think about Life Time Value and nurturing

For more information about becoming a
Diabetes Educator, download the AADE Career
Path Guidebook for Diabetes Educators.
If you found this helpful, share it on Facebook
or Twitter
Connect with fellow members on LinkedIn
Stay informed of this and other important policy
issues by signing up for our Action Alerts.

On the average
Web page, users
have time to read
at most 28% of
the words during
an average visit;
20% is more
likely.
- Jakob Nielsen

Write (and Layout) for Scanning
• Embrace heads and sub-heads
▫ Use properly in Word for easy importing
• Break up content with bullets and lists
▫ Like this one
• Use formatting to call out copy
▫ Bold sparingly (but effectively)
▫ Italics
• Leave white space between content
• Use strategic images

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the
mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in
my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily
pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up
the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially
whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me,
that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent
me from deliberately stepping into the street, and
methodically knocking people's hats off -- then, I
account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."

I must go to sea when:
• I'm depressed or melancholy
• I stop in front of coffin warehouses
• I follow funerals
• I have a powerful urge to knock
people's hats off
Credit: Writing for Readers Who Scan by Kathy Henning
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1716452/writing-readers-who-scan

Passive vs Active Voice?
“Active voice is best for most web content, but
using passive voice can let you front-load
important keywords in headings, blurbs and lead
sentences. This enhances scanability and thus
SEO effectiveness.”
- Jakob Nielsen

Passive vs Active Voice
• Passive Voice: Best for Headlines and Subheads
▫ Front load keywords with passive voice
▫ Put the most important words first
▫ Think ROI (Return on Investment)
• Active Voice: Best for body copy
▫ Increases readability and understanding
▫ Writing best practices

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“It's the little
details that are
vital. Little things
make big things
happen.”
- John Wooden

http://readwrite.com/2011/12/13/googles-matt-cutts-good-conten
Good content trumps SEO
"Even if you do brain-dead
stupid things and shoot yourself
in the foot, but have good
content, we still want to return
it,”
“Google tries to make it so that
sites don't have to do SEO."
Matt Cutts
Google Webmaster
Extraordinaire

SEO Tips
• Make it visible
▫ Relevant content can’t be hidden behind a login
• Know your relevant keywords… and use them!
▫ Headlines
▫ Body Copy
▫ Internal Links
• Build links back to your site
▫ Press Releases
▫ Partner Sites
▫ Social Media and Communities

SEO Basics
• SEO Friendly URL
• Title Tag
• Keywords
• Descriptions

Pictures Improve Engagement
• Eye tracking studies document a gap in how
users view website images:
▫ Some are completely ignored
 Big feel-good, decorative images
▫ Other pictures are treated as important content
and scrutinized
 Products
 Real people

Finishing Touches
• Reconsider PDFs
▫ Designed for printing, not reading on screen
▫ Do not “flex” with browser
▫ May require other software
• Best for select uses
▫ Forms
▫ Long form documentation

Link Appropriately
• Use descriptive links
▫ Bad: “Click here”
▫ Good: “Download your copy of the admissions
requirements”
• Use links based on the search description
• Don’t underline text that isn’t a link
▫ Users assume underlined copy is a link

Wrapping Up
• Get to your point quickly
▫ Remove unnecessary words
▫ Inverted pyramid writing
• Focus on simplicity
▫ No jargon
▫ Single topic
• Include an effective call to action
▫ Give the user something to do
• Write for scanners
▫ Break up copy
▫ Use bullets and lists

Sources and Other Reading
• Writing for the Web, Steve Krug
▫ http://www.sensible.com
• Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson &
Melissa Rach
▫ http://contentstrategy.com
• Letting Go of Words, Writing Web Content that Works
by Ginny Redish
▫ http://www.redish.net

Sources and Other Reading
• Nielsen Norman Group Articles
▫ http://www.nngroup.com/articles/
• Passive Voice is Redeemed for Web Headings
▫ http://www.nngroup.com/articles/passive-voice-is-redeemed-
for-web/
• Photos as Web Content
▫ http://www.nngroup.com/articles/photos-as-web-content/
• How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages?
▫ http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-long-do-users-stay-on-
web-pages/

Group Exercise
• Let’s edit together!!!

Writing for the Web

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