WRITING FOR THE WEB

JN2053 and JN3800

Textual information flow

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INFORMATION FLOW

The Link Economy

Today: Multiplicity of text 41 bn web pages - maybe

But the internet is infinite

Question: How does your content stand out? Can it be found?

How do search engines function?

What perspectives are there on writing for the web?

What is SEO?

SEO explained Ensures content is findable

Search engines detect web pages and list them

Text, video, audio and images are ‘optimised’ to make them more searchable and therefore findable

Constructing websites and content with search engines in mind

Dual role of developer and content generators

So, how do search engines work?

ModomaticRobots and spiders

Google Penguins

V2.1

What factors are search engines interested in…?

They like websites that have good-quality textual and video content that is relevant to users’ search terms

They recognise sites that attract visitors and are used by incoming traffic

Include ‘Metadata’– engines appreciate what is your site/pages are called

Engines like relevant URLs, rather than random numbers

They hate it when someone tries to trick them

Search engines like order – if you’re tagging your content into organised groupings, it’ll be appreciated by the engines

Pictures and video are searchable via tags, names and captions

Search engines like to see hyperlinks that direct users around your site, and the rest of the web

Search engines closely guard their algorithms, and many give different values to certain variables, but a few standard factors can be indentified…

Personalisation

LESSON: Tell the web what your content is

WRITING FOR SERPS: Search engine results page(s)

Heat maps – where search meets humanity in the shape of an F

Establish your keywords

Writing, SERPs, and keyword positioning Relevant keywords are better at the very beginning of

a sentence, rather than mid-way through or at the end

If this isn’t possible, instead place relevant keywords as close as possible to the beginning of a sentence or story.

A third option is to use a relatively high paragraph or the end of a paragraph to include your relevant keywords.

Even the final paragraph is a worthwhile place to include your optimised phrase, or synonym. It’s better to include them here than not at all.

By including phrases in this way, you run a better chance of not only appearing on search engines, but actually getting human beings to click on the pages themselves. Without these clicks, the pages (key phrases or not) aren’t delivering what you want them to – which is readers ….

Top SEO tips for writers Understand your audience – write for

humans, not bots and crawlers. Adopt the correct tone and linguistic

approach Ensure the content is highly relevant

Integrate keywords using a standard keyword tool (such as Google Trends and Google Adwords). But remember, don’t overdo it. Search engines are always on the lookout for spam.

Don’t use puns in headlines – they need to be easily read by Googlebot et al

Build a strong architecture - this includes classification and internal and external links

Update regularly and seek to spread the word using social media. Through providing new pages that are ‘on brief’, which are then linked to by people who pick up your content, search engines will add additional value to your website

It’s all gone a bit Meta

Tagging Categorisation URLs SEO headline Excerpt Author

Multiplicity of text #2

Stories: Headlines Alternative headlines Body text Excerpts Meta-text URLs Categories Tags

Images Titles Descriptions Tags

Audio Titles Descriptions Tags Comments

Videos Titles Descriptions

Social Media Platform-specific Self-generated text Polls Shared posts and

ReTweets Curated groups Direct communication

Mobile content Style and approach

Visualisation tool Word cloud Infographics

Platforms: consider the form

. in the beginning was the word . 

in thi beginning was thi wurd 

in thi beginnin was thi wurd 

in thi biginnin was thi wurd 

in thi biginnin wuz thi wurd 

n thi biginnin wuz thiwurd 

nthi biginnin wuzthiwurd 

nthibiginnin wuzthiwurd 

Nthibiginninwuzthiwurd 

. in the beginning was the sound . 

Tom Leonard

Considerations: Style and ToneWho are you writing for and why?

Mobile

Curate: make the web work for you

Storify Twitter Lists Facebook

Groups LinkedIn

Groups Flickr Groups Pinterest

Take away Write good-quality and relevant copy

Engage with the Link Economy

Write for search engines and humans

Take writing beyond the textual story: think video, audio, images. Think multimedia

Be cross platform

Remember to adopt the right style, tone and approach (for your audience, the story, the device and the platform).

Know your audience and what they want

Curate content and communities

Resources

Media Briefing: Why Newspapers are writing the wrong articles for the web

Malcom Coles on SEO

Econsultancy SEO

SEOMoz

flickr Nathan Harper Light Lines

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