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Web Writing: Principles for Effective Content Creation

Learn the basic principles of web writing, including orientation, information, and action. Discover how to engage different types of web consumers and produce compelling content for various audiences. Editing tips, subtext elements, and techniques for global readers are also covered.

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Web Writing: Principles for Effective Content Creation

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  1. Writing for the Web: Basic Principles A Slide Show by Crawford Kilian

  2. Web Consumers • Lookers: TV refugees • Readers: Print refugees • Users: Information grabbers • Shoppers: Online bargain hunters • Listeners: Audiophiles

  3. Web Content Producers • Merchants • Governments • NGOs • Schools • Advocates • “Talkers”: Self-publishers, bloggers

  4. Communication Models • Instrumental model: • “Do what I say.” • Constructivist model: • “Is this what you want?”

  5. Web Readers: • Slower readers (-25%) • Skimmers and scanners • Impatient • Addicted to jolts

  6. Text on the Computer Screen • Low resolution = hard to read • Author can’t control page appearance • Print text doesn’t work except in archives

  7. Principles of Webwriting • Orientation • Information • Action

  8. Orientation • Where am I? • What’s this site about? • How do I get around it?

  9. Orientation Elements • Minimalism • Coherence • Headlines, subheads, blurbs, links

  10. Information • What do you have to tell me? • Is it in a format I can use?

  11. Information Elements: I • Who’s your audience? • What’s your “exformation”? • Organization: narrative, logical, categorical? • Clarity • Correctness

  12. Information Elements: IIWhat’s “Exformation”? • Information left out of the message because the recipient already knows it • Alluded to, not explicitly mentioned • The more exformation you share with audience, the less you have to tell them • Powerful way to create rapport, establish trust, and persuade 13

  13. Information Elements: III • Hooks: • Direct address • Quotation • Question • Unusual statement • Promise of conflict • News peg

  14. Information Elements: IV • Links are self-explanatory • Visit CBC Radio Overnight • Blurbs give more reasons to go there • Great programs for Canadian insomniacs

  15. Information Elements: V • Chunks • 80-100 words • Break into short paragraphs • Use subheads if helpful • Scrolling Text • Include internal links to speed navigation • Bulleted lists

  16. Action • “You” attitude • Positive attitude • Response cues • Solve a problem • Easy response • Quick response

  17. Editing Webtext: I • Active voice • Concrete Anglo-Saxon words • Strong verbs • Simple sentences (under 20 words) • Short paragraphs (under 5 sentences) • Frequent headings and subheads

  18. Editing Webtext: II • Don’t respect the text! • The 50% rule • Print out to proofread

  19. Edit for Global Readers • Short sentences, real subject first • Positive language • Avoid slang, idioms • Avoid phrasal verbs (write up, write down) • Avoid “miniword” clusters (as a kind of a way to make the reader confused)

  20. The Subtext of Webtext • Register: public or intimate? • Nonverbal message • Can undercut verbal message • Always more trusted than verbal message • Built into site structure and graphics as well as text

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