10 golden rules for writing for the web
DESCRIPTION
If church and Christian organisation websites were people, what would they speak and sound like? Clear, engaging and interesting? Or ambiguous, verbose and confusing? This presentation borrows tips and techniques from fields as diverse as marketing, psychology and the good old schoolroom to bring you 10 golden rules to help you sharpen your website's text.This presentation was given at Create 2009, a conference geared to help Christians be more creative and professional in using technology and design to promote the gospel.It's quite general, and intended for a broad -- rather than technical and industry-knowledgeable -- audience.TRANSCRIPT
Ben Crothers | 14 Nov 2009
I am a
user experience designer/
business consultant
I really enjoy
helping churches online/anything 2.0/painting
Work: PTG Global as a Senior Consultant
Blog: catchmedia.com.au
Twitter: @bencrothers
Format:
Landscape, not portrait
Not linear, but jumping around with links
Interactive, animation and show/hide effects
It takes time to download
People have more control over the format
Behaviour:
Cognitive load as we go from 'page' to 'page': Will
this link go where I expect it to go? Do I have time?
Will I change direction? Go back?
We scan rather than read, in an 'F-pattern'
We are (even more) fickle, impatient, task-focused
Think about the real intent of your content
Avoid clichés and phrases that don't actually
mean anything
Avoid acronyms and proprietary words that
may confuse and alienate
Sermon, worship, justification, non-Christian
Get someone else to read your content
Cut your text in half
Use shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs
Avoid the 'padding' content, e.g.
Welcome messages
Overly-long instructional text for online forms
Think about the reward for the reader in
reading your content
Know your audience and decide who to
grab first
Use keywords that resonate with your
audience (but maybe not you)
Be bold, be exciting and excited, be honest,
be real, be confident
Could there be a different way to present
your message, other than a title and five
paragraphs of text?
Like a billboard?
Like an IKEA catalogue?
Like a chart?
Like a packet of biscuits?
Replace or remove old content
Make sure the home page looks different
week-to-week, or at least month-to-month
Update content
Randomly-selected items of content
Write new blog posts
It is worth it, it does matter, people do notice
and it does reflect better on your
church/organisation
Why? It distracts from the message in the
content itself
Mind your it's and its
Separate, not seperate
One idea per paragraph
It is worth it, it does matter, people do notice
and it does reflect better on your
church/organisation
Why? It distracts from the message in the
content itself
Mind your it's and its
Separate, not seperate
One idea per paragraph
It is worth it, it does matter, people do notice
and it does reflect better on your
church/organisation
Why? It distracts from the message in the
content itself
Mind your it's and its
Separate, not seperate
One idea per paragraph
Use plenty of subtitles
Short paragraphs
Bulleted lists
Priority of messages: make the most
important message/call to action the most
prominent
Chunk and simplify your information, with
links to more detailed information if necessary
Use magazine layouts as inspiration...
Twitter:
Make those 140 characters count!
Punchy lead-ins for links: good
Making it personal and different: even better
This post just changed how I pray! http://bit.ly/KM096GY
Leave room for others to retweet
Use hashtags, like #createconf
Blogs:
Make the headline count! (50/50 rule)
Read this or the puppy gets it!
Top 10 reasons why...
What I didn't know about Jesus
Use subheadings within the post to tell the story:
“I used to mock Christians”
“Then He showed up”
“Now by God's grace I'm planting my third church”
Blogs (continued):
Front-load your post with the key pieces of
information
Start with the conclusion
The include the rest of the vital details
Then expand on detail
You may be the expert, but you may not be the
best person to write the content
Delegate and share the load, if you can
Assign one person to take charge of gathering all
content from all content-providers
Endorse this person and their job
Content workflow: who writes, reviews, edits,
approves and publishes
Content schedule: new content every month?
Easier for writing content
What 'boxes to fill in' rather than blank canvas
Easier for gathering content from others
Makes content consistent
Easier for writing content
What 'boxes to fill in' rather than blank canvas
Easier for gathering content from others
Makes content consistent
Ben Crothers
Blog: catchmedia.com.au
Twitter: @bencrothers