reader-centric publications workshop

Reader-Centric Publications Workshop How to create content that helps you succeed by working for those who look for it, read it, and use it

Agenda • Introduction • Principles of effective content • Your top-priority audiences • General best practices • Headlines and links

Hilary Marsh, content strategist Content strategy since 1999 Help content-rich organizations conceive, create, publish, promote, manage, and govern their content to maximize its findability, relevance, and usage.

Purpose of this workshop

• Understand the basic principles of reader-centric writing • Make your content •  more engaging •  easier to read •  easier to discover, engage with, and

act on

Principles of reader-centric writing

Effective writing •  Sounds like the organization • Has a goal •  Uses the active voice •  Is specific •  Is focused on the reader, NOT on your

organization

Ultimate goal Audience centric Business sensitive Content

What does it mean to be audience centric? • Delivered when, where, and how they want it • Using their words • Show the benefit, not just state the facts • Lead them to more

http://www.bluefroglondon.com/queerideas/the-fundraising-paradox/

http://xkcd.com/773/

h"ps://www.etsy.com/lis1ng/104303814/anais-‐nin-‐quote-‐le"erpress-‐poster-‐12

What audiences want

1.  Give me benefits, not just information (What’s in it for me?) 2.  Approach me as a person, understanding my life stage and

struggles 3.  Give me the freedom to use the site as I want 4.  Make it peer-centric 5.  Simplify! Shorten! Avoid jargon 6.  Don’t waste my time trying to find what I need

Source: American Medical Association content analysis document

“Users don’t care about your org chart”

--Lou Rosenfeld Author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web

What does it mean to be business sensitive? • Is created to meet an explicit business goal • Written in the organization’s voice • Crafted in partnership with subject matter experts

Old thinking Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

“What’s the government’s policy on Afghanistan?”

Organization: Programs, offerings

Audience

Content

Audience Audience Audience

New thinking

Committees Staff Departments

Multiple Audiences

Collaborate

Contextual Content

Co-designing for context & reuse

Article/Paper, Video, Webinar

Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

Committee

Staff department

Content

Audience

Working together for member satisfaction

How to do this • Context • Common voice • Trust • Collaboration • Editorial calendar

h"p://syndica1on.nih.gov/zika.htm

What does it mean to deliver a message? Watch these versions of the same information (2 clips from http://www.nbc.com/chicago-med/episode-guide/season-1/bound/106 – to parents, patient)

Who are you talking to? Write for the people who read and use your content

The student

• Ages 22 – 26 • Worked really hard to get

into dental school • High performer

The early career professional

• Age 25 – 35 • Money issues: juggling a lot

of school debt •  Joined an existing practice,

thinking about taking over the reins

The achiever

• Age 35 – 50 • Runs a busy practice, may

specialize • Went to school to learn

dentistry, but is a small business owner as much as a medical professional

The experienced pro

• Age 50+ • Has seen lots of changes in

every aspect of dentistry and business • Planning for / thinking

about retiring

What do you know about them?

• What are they already experts in? • What don’t they know now? • What keeps them up at night? • How tech-savvy are they? • What do they read? • What do they do outside of work?

What are their content needs?*

Exercise 1 * Not topics, but style, pace, channels, timing

Best practices

Smart online content… • Is like a conversation • Answers people’s questions • Lets readers “grab and go”

– Ginny Redish, Letting Go of the Words

Three principles

Focus on the reader

Focus on the words

Focus on the medium

Reader-centered content… • Has a goal • Helps the reader do a task • Is specific • Is focused on the reader, NOT on the organization

What is the goal of this page? Buy the product? Get budget to buy the product? Learn how to use the product? The page must explicitly address the goal The goal will translate to measures of success Without those measures, it’s impossible to know whether it’s working

Identify goals for your content • Each piece of content should have a clear, well-defined focus

• Don’t try to squeeze too much into one article

•  Think about what you want the user to take away from the article

h"p://www.iD.org/Public-‐Policy-‐and-‐Regula1ons/Policy-‐Developments/FSMA/FSMA-‐Updates.aspx

Introducing: the “we we” score

To convert a larger share of the visitors, you must focus more on the visitors than on the business.

http://www.customerfocuscalculator.com/

•  Useful •  Relevant •  Timely

•  Org-focused •  Narrow interest •  Not actionable

Planning for successful conversations •  What do I want to achieve from this content? •  Who am I talking to? •  What brings those people to my site or app? What are their

top tasks? Top questions? Conversations they want to start?

•  Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, and focused on what you want your site visitors to do.

- Ginny Redish, Content as Conversation

Write for the space •  Avoid long paragraphs or other heavy blocks of text

•  Write half as much as conventional writing – people read 25 percent more slowly online

•  Use bullet points, subheadings, and other visual cues to make information more manageable

•  Keep sentences short – ideally, no more than 15 words

Clear, friendly, understandable •  Use the second person (“you”)

•  Use contractions and a conversational tone

•  Avoid jargon and abbreviations. If unavoidable, explain them briefly.

•  If there are steps or lists, make them explicit.

•  Avoid qualifiers such as “generally” and “typically.”

•  Avoid long sentences. Cut repetitive material.

Avoid the passive voice Identify the passive voice Form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

•  Dog bitten by man

•  Request denied by management

•  “Your request has been denied” ßby whom?

Avoid the passive voice •  Passive voice example:

“It was determined by the committee that the report was inconclusive.”

•  Active: “The committee determined that the report was inconclusive.”

Some notes •  Passive voice is not a grammatical error, so Word’s

grammar check will not highlight examples.

•  Occasionally, passive voice can be useful or even preferable:

•  “4 percent pay hike approved by legislature”gets the important news up front

•  “Legislature approves pay hike of 4 percent” pushes it back. Getting keywords or the most important news up front can be important for Search Engine Optimization as well.

Bite, snack, meal • Bite: A headline with a message • Snack: A concise summary • Meal: The full thing

– Leslie O’Flahavan, ewriteonline

http://ewriteonline.com/articles/2011/11/bite-snack-and-meal-how-to-feed-content-hungry-site-visitors/

Focus on the Medium

How people read online •  They don’t read – when they first encounter a page, they scan it

•  Users are looking for information-carrying words

•  Users decide whether to continue reading a page based on the first few words

•  First paragraph or two must state the most important information

•  Users will scroll “below the fold” only if the information above it makes them believe the rest of the page will be worth their time

•  Users dislike and skip boilerplate welcome or introduction text, “marketese” with exaggerated claims

How people read online

http://www.useit.com/eyetracking/

How people read online

People scan, they don’t read •  They are pressed for time •  They’ve become “Twitter-ized” •  Screens are reflective and cause eye fatigue

Make text scannable • “Chunk” content into sections • Break up long passages with subheads • Present information in short bullet points • Use reader-focused keywords

What does this mean for writers? • Write short, descriptive headlines •  Use inverted pyramid style (most important

information first) •  Use half the words you’d use in conventional writing •  Stick to one idea per paragraph •  Keep sentences clear, descriptive, and simple •  Keep sentences short – ideally, no more than 15 words •  Use the active voice as much as possible

Focus on the Words Use fewer words • Shorten verbose text, say more with less • Write for clarity and impact • Use standard words

Writing shorter is not easier

“I have made this [letter] longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”

-- Blaise Pascal, 1657

http://hemingwayapp.com/ or http://www.hemingwayapp.com/Desktop.html

What is “usable” content? Four measures: 1.  Task time: How long it takes users to find answers for specific

questions about the content 2.  Errors: How well users do in getting the facts correct 3.  Memory: How well users can recall the information 4.  Satisfaction: How users rate the content on quality of language, ease

of use, likeability, and energy level after reading the content

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/

An example Nebraska is filled with interna1onally recognized a"rac1ons that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 2013, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Sco"s Bluff Na1onal Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

Shorter Concise text with about half the word count as the control condition

In 2013, six of the best-attended attractions in Nebraska were Fort Robinson State Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.

Usability improvement: 58%

Scannable Scannable layout using the same text in a layout that facilitated scanning

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 2013, some of the most popular places were: •  Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors) •  Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166) •  Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000) •  Carhenge (86,598) •  Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002) •  Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446)


Objective Objective language using neutral rather than subjective, boastful, or exaggerated language

Nebraska has several attractions. In 2013, some of the most-visited places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).


Shorter, Scannable, Objective Combined version using all three improvements in writing style together: concise, scannable, and objective

In 2013, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were: •  Fort Robinson State Park •  Scotts Bluff National Monument •  Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum •  Carhenge •  Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer •  Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park


Shorter is critical with mobile

Be clear…

Remove jargon

Avoid clichés

Explain acronyms

Time for a break!

The inverted pyramid •  Open with your conclusion or

most important point first

•  Provide the most relevant and compelling supporting information next

•  End with background information and links related pieces that help create context

Most Important Informa1on

Suppor1ng Informa1on

Background

Why do this? • Mobile

• Responsive

• More easily read by non-native English speakers

• More accessible -- > now a requirement

Exercise

Try your hand at the inverted pyramid style

Increase Your Content’s Readability Flesch-Kincaid readability score is based on • Average number of words per sentence • Average syllables per word • Number of passive sentences

Readability tools are a useful “early warning system” to let writers know when their writing might be too complex

Increase Your Content’s Readability Standard scoring 90-100 : Very Easy 80-89 : Easy 70-79 : Fairly Easy 60-69 : Standard 50-59 : Fairly Difficult 30-49 : Difficult 0-29 : Very Confusing

Increase Your Content’s Readability Target scores

• Flesch Reading Ease test: Strive for a score of 40 or higher

• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test: Strive for a 10th-grade level

• Passive sentences: Strive for a score of 15 percent or lower

Online Readability Calculator

http://read-able.com/

Exercise

Make this content more readable

Headlines and Links The entry points for every page

8 types of headlines

1.  Direct 2.  News 3.  How-to 4.  Question 5.  Command 6.  List 7.  Testimonial 8.  Teaser

Direct

• Often, more of a label than a headline • No verb (maybe not needed, because of context)

Direct

News

• Factual • Terse

New York Times….

As seen on Google….

How-to

Teaser

•  “You won’t believe what happened next” • Popular on many high-profile sites • Use with caution

NBC News….

Fortune….

Upworthy….

Just because it works for Upworthy….

Good headlines • Answer readers’ questions • Contain action words • Avoid puns •  Tout the features that are important to your audience

Another exercise

Rewrite the headline

Writing SEO-friendly content • Keep page goals and keywords in mind • Use key words and phrases early • Stay smart and user-friendly!

Writing mobile-friendly content • Write fewer words • Don’t rely on visual cues in the content – for example, “see

related links at right,” – since the visual placement of components is likely to be rendered differently on a mobile device

Writing reusable content • Clear vs clever, especially for headlines.

A magazine cover line is not a good model for a headline • Don’t assume context.

A headline will appear not only on a destination page but also on a landing page, in related links, on social media, etc.

Resources

Resources

www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/8_simple_yet_powerful_types_of_headlines__11276.aspx www.customerfocuscalculator.com www.hemingwayapp.com

read-able.com

reader-centric publications workshop

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