Put Some Muscle In Your Web Presence

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• Put Some Muscle In Your Web Presence
• Bob Rost, EESC
• OSU Extension Service 2009 Spring Training

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• Bob Rost contact info.
• Telephone [phone]
• email bob.rost_at_oregonstate.edu

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• A useful reference
• 'Letting Go of the Words Writing Web Content
  that Works'
• by Janice Redish

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• Overview of OSUES county websites
• Review of web user behavior
• Web site organization
• Writing for the web
• Photos and video on the web

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• Review of web user behavior

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• Review of web user behavior
• People come to web sites to satisfy goals, to do
  tasks, to get answers to questions.
• People come to web sites for information, for the
  content.
• They dont read much, especially before they get
  to the page that has the information they want.
• Even on information pages, they skim and scan
  before they start to read.
• They want to read only enough to meet their
  needs.
•  
•  
• (Letting Go of the Words Writing Web content
  that Works 2007)

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• Review of web user behavior
• According to a study by Nielsen and Loranger
  average time on the home page was 25 to 35
  seconds! People want to get on with the task that
  brought them to the site.
• Nielsen and Loranger, 2006, Prioritizing Web
  Usability.

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• Web site organization

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Web site organization
Multipurpose
Navigation
Destination
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• Web site organization
• A useful home page is mostly links and short
  descriptions.
• A pathway page is like a table of contents for
  your website.
• Short descriptions help. If links arent
  instantly obvious, a few words of description may
  help your site visitors find the link they need.

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• Web site organization
• The smoothness of the path (to the information
  destination) is more important than the number of
  clicks (within reason).
• Dont make people think while theyre navigating
  the pathway to your content at least dont make
  them think too much.
• Another approach Build your site up from the
  contentnot only down from the home page.

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Web site organization
Multipurpose
Navigation
Destination
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• Web site organization
• A key question How much information on one web
  page?
• How much is too much?
• How much information will users look at on one
  page?
• How cohesive is the information?
• How long is the web page?
• How much content can we expect users to scan on
  one page?

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Web site organization
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• Web site organization
• PDFs can we overuse them?
• A PDF document is designed for delivery on paper.
  It is designed for printed document orientation
  rather than the landscape orientation of the
  computer screen.
• PDFs are usually written in narrative style
  rather than web style.
• PDFs, unless well-designed graphically, can
  basically be the wall of words that we strive to
  avoid on web pages.

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• PDF pros and cons
• PDF is easy to produce and post on a web site
• Easy to print
• Easy to share by sending the PDF link to others
• On the other hand a PDF
• May be awkward to read on a computer screen
• May provide more information than the user
  wants or needs

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• Writing for the web

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• Writing for the web
• Web writing should be more conversational in tone
• Web writing should answer peoples questions
  quickly
• When writing for the web, try for a writing style
  and structure that will let your web site users
  grab and go

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• Chunking content for the web.
• A method of presenting information by splitting
  larger
• portions of text into smaller pieces or chunks
  to make
• reading (and scanning) faster and easier.
• Chunked content includes
• Bulleted lists
• Short subheadings
• Short sentences with one or two ideas per
  sentence
• Short paragraphs that may even consist of one
  sentence

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• Inverted pyramid writing style
• A standard writing tool of journalism.

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Top of article
Bottom of article
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Traditional, narrative writing style
Top of article
Bottom of article
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• Writing for the web
• Guidelines for tuning up sentences
• Write in the active voice (most of the time)
• Write short, simple, straightforward sentences
• Cut unnecessary words
• Keep paragraphs short
• Put the action in the verbs, not the nouns

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• Writing for the web
• Good headings, and subheadings, help readers.
• They attract interest
• Provide a quick overview of content on the page
• Give context
• Makes scanning easy
• Separates sections and adds space to the page
• Makes information more readable, less dense

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• Writing for the web
• Focus on essential messages.
• Give people only what they need
• Cut Cut Cut and cut again
• Start with the key point. Write in inverted
  pyramid style
• Break down walls of words
• Market by giving useful information

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• Ultimately, it is the quality of the content that
• markets Extension to online audiences. Therefore,
• we move forward in achieving marketing goals
• when we post content that people want,update the
• content frequently and make it easy to find.

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• Photos and video on the web

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• Photos and video on the web
• You can attract attention with photos and video
• You can show services/products you offer with
  photos and video
• You can convey an idea or concept with photos and
  video
• You can show who you are and what you do with
  photos and video

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• Photos and video on the web
• Using imagery on web pages can greatly enhance
• communication. However, imagery can also
• confuse the message and detract from
• communication.

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• Photos and video on the web
• Get closer to the subject/s you photograph
• Show faces, preferably learning and enjoying the
  experience
• Shoot photos from different angles (to make
  images more interesting)
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• Photos and video on the web
• Show clearly, to the extent possible, the
  activity going on in the photo so the viewer can
  readily understand what is happening in the image
• Crop for effect
• Use a short caption if possible and if it will
  help
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• Photos and video on the web
• Take the same basic approach for video
• Get closer
• Show faces
• Frame for effect
• Try shooting from different angles
• Show action clearly, to the extent possible

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• Photos and video on the web
• Additional note EESC has a photo archive
• available to all OSU Extension faculty and staff.
• You may find photos there for your website.
• See
• eescphotos.extension.oregonstate.edu/photoark/
• Password Ph0t0s

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• Video to web demonstration

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• Questions?
• Contact Bob Rost, EESC
• Telephone [phone]
• Email bob.rost_at_oregonstate.edu

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