write more effective copy for your nonprofit website
TRANSCRIPT
Linda KolkerConsultant, copywriter, content manager
Best practices for your website
lindakolker.com [email protected] 434‐984‐6619
Audience profile
Motivations (benefits)
Action (s)
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People make decisions based on what they FEELWhole body is engaged, impulse to action begins in the body.
Justify decision with factual informationThe mind evaluates whether the feelings can be trusted.
And then they take action
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Benefits– emotional—what would motivate reader to take action?Support with factsBuild trustProvoke action
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Where to get info on benefits Interviews Testimonials Letters & email Others on staff Publications for target audience
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Find the benefit Congregation Beth Israel provides Charlottesville,
Albemarle and surrounding counties with a welcoming
Jewish environment in which people can study, worship,
socialize and take part in helping others. CBI offers both
Reform and Conservative worship services.
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CBIC Tech Tour: a day‐long event to introduce area high
school students to our region’s tech companies,
designed to expose students to the diverse career
possibilities offered by our regional tech community and
to help them envision themselves as technology
innovators.
Chaperoned groups of students spend the day traveling
to selected showcase tech companies for a hands‐on
visit to meet employees and experience the use of
technology in unique and specialized operations.7
Write a benefit
After nine months of closure for repair, the Broad Street
Bridge reopened to traffic on October 31st, slightly ahead of
schedule. The project was managed by the Waynesboro
Department of Public Works, Fairfield‐Echols of Fishersville
served as the general contractor and Schwartz Associates of
Lynchburg acted as design engineer. The $2.6 million project
was funded, in part, by a Revenue Sharing Grant from the
Virginia Department of Transportation.
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Build trust(credibility)
Testimonials Success stories Members of board of directors
Site easy to use (finding things) Easy to see what you’re all about by skimming Engaging writing Correct grammar Correct spelling Site is visually attractive
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Exercise: Look at your own site
Audiences?
Action?
Benefits?
The MAIN benefit?
Facts?
Trust‐builders?
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Sitting down to write content
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(handout)
Write an Outline1. (handout)
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How to organize and write content
13Source: http://historyofjournalism.onmason.com
Good web writing = how Google looks at pages
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Eye tracking
AND
Google tracking
Heat map
What Google looks at
Page titles (only available in html code)
Headline (tags <H1>, <H2> etc. in html code)
Page content, from top down Captions (& Image <alt> tags in html code)
Links
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Page Title (Meta Title)
Headlines & Sub‐heads
Captions – grab reader attention& Google looks at
18(before)
Captions
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What’s important about this image / use keyword
(after)
Use links liberally
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Forest planning for the GWNF
Engage skimmers and improve Google search ranking
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“Chunk” the page
• Subheads (<H2> tags>)
• Short sentences & paragraphs
• Bullets & numbering
• Boldface text (not underlines, they’re for links only)
Use subheads Tell the story on their own Capture essence of following paragraph
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23before
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Partnering to make communities better places to live
Bullets
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Fewer bullets, more paragraphs
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Use a chart; tell a story
CBIC Tech Tour: a day‐long event to introduce area high school
students to our region’s tech companies, designed to expose
students to the diverse career possibilities offered by our regional
tech community and to help them envision themselves as
technology innovators.
Revised
The CBIC Tech Tour helps students envision themselves as
technology innovators. This day‐long event introduces area high
school students to our region’s tech companies. It exposes students
to the diverse career possibilities offered by our regional tech
community.
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Shorten sentences
Shorten paragraphs
3‐4 lines – no more than 6
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5‐second test
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Example: shorten paragraphs, use bullets
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5‐second test
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5‐second test
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Shorter paragraph, bullets, boldface (highlights)
Readability
# sentences # words Words/sentence Syllables/word
Less=better
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Readability Scores
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
New Yorker‐‐5th Grade
New YorkTimes
‐‐6th grade
Economist‐‐8th grade
EaseGrade level
Magic wordsYOU (not “we”)
VERBS – lively, action Start heads, subheads & sentences Use ACTIVE verbs (avoid passive)
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The car was started by him
He started the car
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Sentences “Load” meaning in the first 3 words
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Capture meaning in the first 3 words
Make meaning early Let rest of sentence branch to the right
41Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark
“Companies keep saving, waiting for the economy to improve…”
“The Pete Rouse era began shortly before noon on Friday.”
“The Americans moved ahead on Saturday, building a 6‐4 advantage…
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Put most important thought at the beginning – first sentence
Shorten to 6 lines or less
Optimum = 3‐4 lines
Paragraphs
Exercise
Work in pairs with someone from ANOTHER organizationSelect a page you would like feedback onShare FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Subheads Captions Paragraph length Sentence length Inverted pyramid
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Tell stories
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Ask clients, volunteers, staff to write a story for your site
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What stories could you tell?
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Questions & comments
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Best Practices Guru Jakob Nielsen – Alertbox ‐‐http://www.nngroup.com/articles/
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Who uses your site
What they’re looking for
How they use what they find
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Audience scenarios and personas
Words
adjectives adverbs –ings
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Adjectives quantity ‐ few, no, one, two, three, four, little, several, many, all, some, every, each, ... opinion ‐ good, better, best, bad, worse, worst, wonderful, splendid, mediocre, awful, fantastic, pretty, ugly, clean, dirty, wasteful, difficult, comfortable, uncomfortable, valuable, worthy,
worthless, useful, useless, important, evil, angelic, rare, scarce, poor, rich, lovely, disgusting, amazing, surprising, loathesome, unusual, usual, pointless, pertinent, ... personality/emotion ‐ happy, sad, excited, scared, frightened, outgoing, funny, sad, zany, grumpy, cheerful, jolly, carefree, quick‐witted, blissful, lonely, elated, ... sound ‐ loud, soft, silent, vociferous, screaming, shouting, thunderous, blaring, quiet, noisy, talkative, rowdy, deafening, faint, muffled, mute, speechless, whispered, hushed, ... taste ‐ sweet, sour, acidic, bitter, salty, tasty, delicious, savory, delectable, yummy, bland, tasteless, palatable, yummy, luscious, appetizing, tasteless, spicy, watery, ... touch ‐ hard, soft, silky, velvety, bumpy, smooth, grainy, coarse, pitted, irregular, scaly, polished, glossy, lumpy, wiry, scratchy, rough, glassy, ... size, weight ‐ heavy, light, big, small, little, tiny, tall, short, fat, thin, slender, willowy, lean, svelte, scrawny, skeletal, underweight, lanky, wide, enormous, huge, vast, great, gigantic,
monstrous, mountainous, jumbo, wee, dense, weighty, slim, trim, hulking, hefty, giant, plump, tubby, obese, portly, ... smell ‐ perfumed, acrid, putrid, burnt, smelly, reeking, noxious, pungent, aromatic, fragrant, scented, musty, sweet‐smelling,... speed ‐ quick, fast, slow, speeding, rushing, bustling, rapid, snappy, whirlwind, swift, hasty, prompt, brief, ... temperature ‐ hot, cold, freezing, icy, frigid, sweltering, wintry, frosty, frozen, nippy, chilly, sizzling, scalding, burning, feverish, fiery, steaming, ... age ‐ young, old, baby, babyish, teenage, ancient, antique, old‐fashioned, youthful, elderly, mature, adolescent, infantile, bygone, recent, modern, ... distance ‐ short, long, far, distant, nearby, close, faraway, outlying, remote, far‐flung, neighboring, handy, ... shape ‐ round, circular, square, triangular, oval, sleek, blobby, flat, rotund, globular, spherical, wavy, straight, cylindrical, oblong, elliptical, zigzag, squiggly, crooked, winding, serpentine,
warped, distorted, ... miscellaneous qualities‐ full, empty, wet, dry, open, closed , ornate, ... brightness ‐ light, dark, bright, shadowy, drab, radiant, shining, pale, dull, glowing, shimmering, luminous, gleaming, ... color ‐ pink, red, orange, yellowish, dark‐green, blue, purple, black, white, gray, brown, tanned, pastel, metallic, silver, colorless, transparent, translucent, ... time ‐ early, late, morning, night, evening, everlasting, initial, first, last, overdue, belated, long‐term, delayed, punctual, ... origin/location ‐ lunar, northern, oceanic, polar, equatorial, Floridian, American, Spanish, Canadian, Mexican, French, Irish, English, Australian, ... material ‐ glass, wooden, cloth, concrete, fabric, cotton, plastic, leather, ceramic, china, metal, steel, silicon, ... purpose ‐ folding, swinging, work, racing, cooking, sleeping, dance, rolling, walking, ...
Source: Enchanted Learning
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Weaken strong verbs. “She smiled happily”
55On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Adverbs
Take it easy on the –ings
Use simple verbs instead
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“Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying”
(Dusty Springfield)
57Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark
“Wish, hope, think and pray”
58Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark
(With apologies to Dusty Springfield)