Writing for Public Relations 97202 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 33
About This Presentation
Title:

Writing for Public Relations 97202

Description:

Headlines and Bookmarks. Headlines often serve as page titles ... bookmark a story page on InfoWorld.com, and that headline will be what's stored ... Bookmarks ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:75
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 34
Provided by: elizabet142
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Writing for Public Relations 97202


1
Writing for Public Relations97202
  • Unit Leader / Lecturer - Elizabeth Dougall
  • August 11, 2000
  • Writing for the Web (Part 1)
  • An Overview

2
Learning Objectives
  • On completing the workload for this week you
    will be able to
  • Describe some of the principles of contemporary
    web site design
  • List and describe the fundamental requirements
    for content, style, design, layout and
    organisation of web pages.

3
(No Transcript)
4
The evolution of web sites
  • Broadcast (brochure-ware)
  • Interact
  • Transact
  • Integrate
  • Kirsty Garrett, GM Zivo Brisbane

5
The evolution of web sites
  • Commerce,
  • Community, and
  • Content
  • Today, content is dynamically built from complex
    back-end databases and applications.

6
Writing for the Web -The Challenges
  • Web users are typically impatient.
  • Many visitors are very goal-driven.
  • Content on web sites must be tailored to the
    audience. When its not, visitors wont stay.
  • Once visitors determine that the content is not
    aligned with their needs, theyre gone.
  • Search engines and outbound links on sites that
    send visitors to other destinations of
    questionable interest are not desirable.

7
Writing for the Web -The Challenges
  • Writing for the Web is very different from
    writing for print.
  • Print today remains superior to the Web when it
    comes to visible space, image and type quality,
    and speed.
  • As a result weve turned to Web animation,
    streaming audio and video, and other
    technologies.

8
Writing for the Web -The Challenges
  • Reading on the web is more difficult than reading
    from the printed page for most.
  • Reading speeds are around 25 percent slower on a
    monitor than on paper.
  • 90 of people reading a web page dont scroll
    down.
  • People tend to scan web pages, reading only the
    subheads.
  • Most wont take the additional time required to
    read online.

9
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Web pages must be written and organised to grab
    the readers attention.
  • Make the main points in the first screen.
  • Keep words, sentences, and paragraphs short.
  • Use meaningful, not clever, subheads to break up
    and summarize text.
  • Apply the inverted pyramid approach i.e. start
    with key messages.
  • write for scanability.

10
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Dont expect web site visitors to read lots of
    continuous text online - they wont.
  • Most users wont scroll unless theyre thoroughly
    engaged with the content.
  • Articles either should be short or have several
    sub headings to break up the text.
  • Apply bulleted lists to break up continuous text.

11
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • page chunking, is popular for Web content.
  • content is separated into nodes and connected via
    links.
  • the depth of the content should remain.

12
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Headlines and Bookmarks
  • Headlines often serve as page titles in the HTML.
  • These titles are used as the main reference to
    the page.
  • bookmark a story page on InfoWorld.com, and that
    headline will be whats stored in your file.

13
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Headlines and Bookmarks
  • Unlike print headlines, online headlines must be
    able to stand outside their origin, such as
    results on a search page.
  • Unlike print, online headlines are not always
    directly associated with the content.
  • Headlines should be short (six words). Most
    likely, the first word will be indexed so avoid
    A, The, and so on.

14
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Links and Search Engines
  • Providing a search engine is another way to let
    readers control their own surfing experience
  • Links are fundamental but dont subdivide pages
    too much.
  • Dont frustrate by forcing readers to tunnel
    down through too many links
  • With each page, provide a link back to the top.

15
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Links and Search Engines
  • Unfold the rest of your story through links to
    interior pages.
  • Make it clear up front how many links are
    involved so readers know what to expect.
  • dont straitjacket readers into one path.
  • If you dont let them take control, theyll do so
    anyway by clicking to another site.

16
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Infusing the Personal
  • The web is a personal communications medium.
  • Personality and style help to combat short
    attention spans.
  • Have a distinctive voice.
  • Infuse organisational or individual personality
    into your text.
  • Be conversational, (not chatty) using words such
    as you, we, us, and our.

17
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Watch your Language
  • But remember that your Web audience spans the
    borders.
  • 50 all surfers today are non-native English
    speakers, so avoid regional slang.
  • watch out for wit, charm, and humour that
    international visitors may not understand.

18
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Think Visual
  • Think visually as well as verbally to make web
    content compelling.
  • Use drawings, photographs, animation, audio, or
    video where appropriate.
  • Multimedia enhancements must relate to the words
    - not just be inserted as gratuitous glitz.

19
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Integrate and Interact
  • More than anything else, the web differentiates
    itself from other media by its interactivity.
  • Tap into this by building in ways for readers to
    react to what you write e.g. email feedback,
    discussion boards and chat rooms.

20
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • R.I.P. Brochure-ware
  • One of the worst mistakes made in web sites is to
    re-purpose stuffy bureaucratic-sounding text from
    printed sources
  • avoid marketese-exaggerated, self-congratulatory
    puffery.
  • Web users are skeptical. The more you exaggerate,
    the more theyll blow you off.

21
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Making the Rules
  • Finally, keep in mind that the web is a young
    medium, like TV was in the 1950s, says Matt
    Friedman, author of the book Fuzzy Logic
  • Not all of the rules have been ironed out yet.

22
Writing for the Web - Effective strategies for
writing and content organisation
  • Some clues on content follow from Brisbane based
    web content specialist, Yvette Nielsen.

23
Content is by Yvette Nielsen http//www.brizcomm
.com.au
  • the reason people surf
  • the message, words, graphics, structure
  • the missing link
  • often badly written, confusing, annoying
  • interesting, helpful, educational or entertaining

24
Content must be by Yvette Nielsen
http//www.brizcomm.com.au
  • clear
  • concise
  • consistent
  • client-centric (cut the fluff)
  • interactive (but accessible)
  • fresh
  • credible
  • accountable

25
How to build a sucky site - 1by Yvette Nielsen
http//www.brizcomm.com.au
  • start with no purpose, goals or target reader
  • make it slow (bloated graphics, gratuitous
    animation and obscure plug-ins)
  • make it ugly and overly fancy
  • make it confusing and difficult to use
  • include lots of broken links
  • leave content as an afterthought (then scan in
    existing print material)

26
How to build a sucky site - 2
  • include typos and spelling mistakes
  • use small, illegible fonts
  • dont use white space
  • use cryptic category labels
  • use a bold watermark or busy background
  • loop background MIDI music
  • keep spinning that logo
  • choose a cheap or free web host

27
How to build a sucky site - 3
  • lead with our history, mission statement or
    audio welcome from our director
  • write long, wordy waffle with lots of hype,
    marketing speak and internal jargon
  • sell, sell, sell at every opportunity
  • dont let your visitors interact
  • dont tell anyone your URL
  • spam visitors to your site
  • by Yvette Nielsen http//www.brizcomm.com.au

28
How to build a sucky site - 4
  • never offer anything free
  • never update
  • never respond
  • never promote
  • never monitor
  • never mind
  • by Yvette Nielsen http//www.brizcomm.com.au

29
The content team
  • content writer/manager/creator/producer
  • programmer
  • graphic designer
  • marketer
  • business strategist
  • project leader

30
Next Week
  • Writing for the Web (Part 2) - Media Relations
    Online

31
Readings for this week
  • Text - N C, ch 16

32
Preparation for tutorials
  • Your task -
  • Researching and Writing a Media Release
  • Contact an organisation you know. Research the
    facts associated with something newsworthy
    associated with that organisation and its
    operations. That is, you need to gather as much
    information as possible about some event,
    announcement or occurrence that will have news
    value for the local Toowoomba media or some other
    media grouping. Think carefully about the news
    angle or angles that will make your story work
    and ensure that you undertake sufficient research
    to draft a release that answers the "who, what,
    why, when, where and how" questions and provides
    appropriate sources and direct and indirect
    quotes.
  • Come to class
  • a) prepared to brief others about this newsworthy
    story
  • b) prepared to describe the "news angle" you
    think will work to attract media coverage
  • c) prepared to write a news release of at least
    250 words.

33
Contact Details
  • Lecturer Elizabeth Dougall
  • Tutors Elizabeth Dougall Alison Feldman
  • Location Q211
  • Phone 4631 1055
  • Consutation Times
  • Monday 12 - 2 pm Friday 12 - 1 pm.
  • Ancillary materials are located at
  • http//www.usq.edu.au/ancil/foa/97202/
  • or via P drive accessed on-campus (Computer
    Lab)
  • Links to PR Resources
  • http//www.usq.edu.au/faculty/arts/MASSCOMM/PRHOTL
    1.HTM
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com