USER-CENTRED CONTENT

What makes writing for the Web different to print?

#1 - OUR EYES BOUNCE AS WE READ

1

2

3

Descriptive headline

Lead-in / summary of key points

Sections with sub-heads

Short paragraphs

Bulleted lists

Concise text

3

1 2

4

4

5

5

6

#2 - OUR SHORT-TERM MEMORY IS LIMITED TO 7 ITEMS

MINIMUM VIABLE CONTENT

HELP TEXT

#3 - WHEN WE ARE TASK FOCUSED WE DEVELOP TUNNEL VISION

#4 - OUR BRAINS PREFER STORIES TO STATISTICS

STORYTELLING ONBROOKES.AC.UK

STORYTELLING ONBROOKES.AC.UK

STORYTELLING ONBROOKES.AC.UK

“In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person - a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.”

John Steinbeck, (1902-1968) Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Start off by listeningUse Google Analytics

Review internal site-search dataCreate user stories

PICTURE YOUR USER

BUILD A PICTURE OF YOUR USER

Use story cards Who are they? (Actor) What do they need from the content? (Narrative) Why do they need it? (Goal)

WRITE SIMPLY

Write simply Use plain English Keep it short

DO THIS…

DON’T DO THIS…

“I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.

Mark Twain

ONWARD LINKS AND CTA’s

Golden rule of writing for the Web:Always provide next steps… Subscribe Register Learn more

REVIEWING LINKS

Are the next steps clear? Do you know what you are getting when

you click on a link?

Is the link easy to see? Is the link text descriptive and meaningful without surrounding text? Do they start with a keyword? Is the link unique (ie not duplicated on the page)? Can the reader clearly anticipate what will happen when they click on the link? Does it move them along in their journey?

CALL TO ACTIONCHECKLIST:

IN OUR TOOLKIT

6 devices that appeal to scanners Minimum viable content technique Tips on connecting with your reader Plain English audit tool Effective links – a checklist

Thanks for your time.

Jennifer Gunthardt helps teams and individuals developtheir services by providing advice on content planning, andwriting for the Web. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn formore tips, tools and hacks.

jgunthardt@brookes.ac.ukhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/jennifergunthardt@jengunthardt