writing good content: wordcamp milwaukee 2014
DESCRIPTION
Presentation on "Writing Good Content" at WordCamp Milwaukee 2014 Foundation Friday, July 27, 2014TRANSCRIPT
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Writing Good Content with WordPress
Foundation Friday
Michael McCallister
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Who am I?
• Senior Document Architect, PKWARE
• Co-Author, WordPress in Depth, with Bud Smith (QUE, 2010-11)
• Notes from the Metaverse (metaverse.wordpress com)
• Past President, Wisconsin Society for Technical Communication (www.stc-wi.org)
© Michael McCallister WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Coming in May 2014
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Ask questions any time!
© Michael McCallister WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
•GRAMMAR
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What We’re Covering
• Defining your audience
• Banning Jargon
• Banning Passive Voice
• WordPress Tools That Can Help
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Defining Your Audience
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Secret #1
Nobody connects with
everybody overnight.
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Identifying Audience
• Basic Demographics• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Education Level
• Language(s)
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Identifying Audience
• Other characteristics• Life Status:
Married/Single/Parent/Just graduated
• Profession/Job
• Favorite Author(s)
• Other interests
From Rochelle Melander, Write-a-Thon
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Persona Resources
• A Web for Everyone: Designing Accessible User Experiences by Whitney Quesenbery
• http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/personas.html
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Exercise
Tell me about your audience
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Secret #2: It’s always about meeting readers’ needs!
Quality content = relevant material, presented in a way I can understand
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Quick Quiz
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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JargonEvil Scourge #1
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Can you scan this quickly?
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Passive VoiceEvil Scourge #2
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
To Be or Not To Be?
Is
Was
Has
Were
Been
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
WordPress to the Rescue!Some tools to help create quality content
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
5 Tools
• Editing Tools and Plugins• After the Deadline (WP.com
+ Jetpack
• Yoast WordPress SEO (plugin)
• FD Word Statistics (plugin)
• Human Help• WordPress Daily Post
• Request Feedback (WP.com)
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
After the Deadline
• Created by Automattic, 2011
• Default spell checker in WordPress.com
• Included with Jetpack
• Browser plugins: Firefox/Chrome
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Yoast WordPress SEO
• Created and maintained by Joost deValk
• Plugin
• Readability statistics
• Many other goodies
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
FD Word Statistics
• Created by John Watson
• Plugin
• Readability statistics: Gunning-Fog, Flesch & Flesch-Kincaid
• Old, but functional
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Request Feedback
• Help from humans you know
• WordPress.com only (form)
• Me
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
WordPress Blogging University
• Informal writing courses
• Daily prompts
• Inspiration
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Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
Secret #3Practice, Practice, Practice
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Want Some Writing Help?
• I’ll be in the building the rest of the day, all day tomorrow
• Write me (or Request Feedback) at [email protected]
• Visit me at www.michaelmccallister.com
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Free Webinar Wednesday
• Your Author Platform: Why You Need One and How to Get Started
• Wednesday, July 30 1-2PM Central Time
• Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3447338748608137730Webinar ID: 124-619-819
In this 60-minute webinar, Carole Jelen shows you how to create the basic framework of your author platform as a starting point to growing it over time. Once your author platform is built, it takes on a life of its own. This seminar also explains the 12 underlying New Rules that are foundations for your writer platform.
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014
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Questions?Have a great WordCamp!
Michael McCallister, WordCamp Milwaukee 2014