Online Getting there, staying there

1
OnlineGetting there, staying there

• How to get people to see, read and enjoy your
  stories
• Michael Baker, Local Editor of The Oklahoman
• July 9, 2009
• Maynard Institute
• Reno, Nev.

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Why the Web

• Print circulation in decline
• Numbers TK
• Web circulation new hope
• Numbers TK
• We want people to see our work

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What we will learn

• How to drive people to Web stories by writing
  headlines that use effective search engine
  optimization (SEO) strategies
• How to write for online so that people stay with
  the story

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Bad headlines
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Another questionable head
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The story goes on - and on and on ...

• Readers on the Web want information quickly
• And they want it broken up
• Not like this recent story on NewsOK.com
• But something more like this story, also from
  NewsOK.com

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Its a new world
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Its a sideways world

• Users dont browse they search
• 80 of Internet sessions begin with a search
  engine
• About 40 of traffic comes from search engines
  50 of that from Google
• Traffic also comes from other Web sites
• Drudge, Digg, Facebook, Twitter, blogs
• Visitors come to a story sideways, bypassing the
  homepage

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What Google looks for

• Google crawls, searches for and indexes words in
  the title bar of homepage, URL, headline and tops
  of articles

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Say what?

• Web heads are often displayed out of context.
  They need to stand on their own
• Ask yourself Can you tell from the headline what
  the story is about?
• Avoid puns and clever headlines perfect for print
  be straightforward online

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In print there is context
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A good headline for print
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A better headline for Web
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One more example

• When the pope died, The New York Times had this
  headline
• Thousands flock to Vatican
• Nobody flocked to the Web page
• Then, an SEO expert saw it
• Pope dies
• People slammed the servers

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Headline rules and regs

• Start with keywords
• Such as Pope dies
• First 11 characters, about 60 characters long
• Use names, not descriptions, in headlines when a
  famous person is involved
• (Oklahoma) Governor Henry, not just Gov.
• Michael Jackson, not just Pop icon

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Michael Jackson or Pop Icon?
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A few more rules and regs

• If the person is not a celebrity, use keywords
  not names
• Woman gives birth to eight children (until the
  name becomes well-known, then you can use Nadya
  Suleman or even better, Octomom)
• Put company names in headlines

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More rules and regs

• Use city names
• Yes Oklahoma City fire kills three
• No Fire kills three
• City names should be used with sports teams
• Yes Oklahoma City Thunder win home opener
• No Thunder win home opener
• OKC is not a well-known abbreviation outside
  Oklahoma.
• For columnists, put names upfront
• Painter Tulsa looking for a new hospital
• Know your readers
• Oklahoma Oil, Sooners, Cowboys, Underwood

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Helpful tools

• Finding effective keywords
• http//freekeywords.wordtracker.com
• Example weather forecaster used in 9 searches.
  Meteorologist 435
• http//google.com/trends
• Example No ranking for weather forecaster vs.
  1 for meteorologist.

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About articles

• Hard news ledes outperform feature ledes because
  of front-loaded keywords
• Who, what, when, where and why the old inverted
  pyramid
• Remember the first reader is likely a Web spider
• Remember how Google searches title bar, URL,
  headline, tops of articles
• What goes up first, gets picked up first
• File short and quick, then update
• Wire service thinking with constant updates
• Make a new article when theres enough to merit it

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Write for the scanner

• On the Web, its even more important to serve the
  scanner (F-shaped Nielsen Norman Group, 2006)

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What makes a good Web story?

• Good writing is good writing
• Dont change the text just to stick in keywords
• Pages with many references to location, rank
  higher in search engines
• But avoid local jargon
• Dont use nicknames for locations like Big
  Apple for N.Y., or Charm City for Baltimore
• Disconnect briefs and letters to post them
  separately so they can be indexed individually

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What would Google think?
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Web writing is good writing

• 10 tips to writing on the Web
• Having a good story always helps
• Break up long blocks of copy with subheads
• One thought per paragraph
• Paraphrase long quotes
• Avoid listing numbers and stats in the text
  make a box instead

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Web writing (cont.)

1. Write for the eye Not just scanners, but look
   for some white space and get rid of long blocks
   of text. Use boxes, timelines and other devices
2. Be obvious
3. Active voice
4. Strong verbs
5. Look at the art while youre writing they could
   be right next to each other online

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But thats just good writing?

• Yes, it is

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Head games

• IF ITS A GROUP FROM DIFFERENT PLACES, PUT
  EXAMPLES OF THEIR WEB PAGES HERE AND GO THROUGH
  AND CRITIQUE

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Other exercises

• Lets go to the handouts

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Summary

• Front load headlines and text 11, 60
• Think about keywords
• Control what you can headlines, subheads,
  breakout boxes
• Online readers are scanners, grab their attention
  and dont let go

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SEO sources

• SEOmoz.org http//seomoz.org
• SEOmoz Blog http//www.seomoz.org/blog
• Matt Cutts Gadgets, Google SEO
  http//www.mattcutts.com/blog/
• SEO Browser.com http//seo-browser.com
• PPC Blog http//tools.ppcblog.com/
• Wordtracker.com http//freekeywords.wordtracker.c
  om
• Google.com/trends http//google.com/trends
• Google Webmaster Tools http//www.google.com/webm
  asters/
• ReelSEO http//www.reelseo.com/
• SEO Egghead http//www.seoegghead.com/blog/
• Search Engine Journal http//www.searchenginejour
  nal.com/
• Search Engine Watch http//searchenginewatch.com/
  

• Search Engine Watch Blog http//blog.searchengine
  watch.com/
• John Battelles Searchblog http//battellemedia.c
  om/
• SEO Chat http//www.seochat.com/
• SEO Chats SEO Tools http//www.seochat.com/seo-t
  ools/
• SEO Scoop http//www.seo-scoop.com/
• Natural Search Blog http//www.naturalsearchblog.
  com/
• Applied SEO http//www.appliedseo.com/
• Mashable The Social Media Guide
  http//mashable.com
• Micro Persuasion Steve Rubel
  http//www.micropersuasion.com/
• Website Analytics Toolbox (great list of tools)
  http//designm.ag/resources/website-analytics-tool
  box/
• Compiled by Gil Asakawa
• Manager of Audience Development, MediaNews Group
  Interactive
• gasakawa_at_medianewsgroup.com

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My sources

• Outside the obvious in this presentation, the
  following sources where used
• Gil Asakawa, Manager of Audience Development with
  MediaNewsGroup (June 29, Maynard Institute in
  Reno, Nev.)
• Dennis Joyce, an editor of the Data Circle in the
  newsroom of The Tampa Tribune, News Channel 8 and
  TBO.com (June, Maynard Institute)
• Amy Eisman, director of writing programs, School
  of Communication, American University (June 15,
  Maynard Institute)