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Online Getting there, staying there

Online Getting 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. Why the Web. Print circulation in decline Numbers TK Web circulation new hope Numbers TK

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Online Getting there, staying there

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  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.

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

  3. 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

  4. Bad headlines

  5. Another questionable head

  6. 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

  7. It’s a new world

  8. It’s a sideways world • Users don’t 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

  9. What Google looks for Google crawls, searches for and indexes words in the title bar of homepage, URL, headline and tops of articles

  10. 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

  11. In print there is context

  12. A good headline for print

  13. A better headline for Web

  14. 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

  15. 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”

  16. Michael Jackson or Pop Icon?

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. 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.”

  20. 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 there’s enough to merit it

  21. Write for the scanner • On the Web, it’s even more important to serve the scanner (F-shaped: Nielsen Norman Group, 2006)

  22. What makes a good Web story? • Good writing is good writing • Don’t change the text just to stick in keywords • Pages with many references to location, rank higher in search engines • But avoid local jargon • Don’t 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

  23. What would Google think?

  24. 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

  25. Web writing (cont.) • 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 • Be obvious • Active voice • Strong verbs • Look at the art while you’re writing — they could be right next to each other online

  26. But that’s just good writing? • Yes, it is

  27. Head games • IF IT’S A GROUP FROM DIFFERENT PLACES, PUT EXAMPLES OF THEIR WEB PAGES HERE AND GO THROUGH AND CRITIQUE

  28. Other exercises • Let’s go to the handouts

  29. 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 don’t let go

  30. 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.com Google.com/trends: http://google.com/trends Google Webmaster Tools: http://www.google.com/webmasters/ ReelSEO: http://www.reelseo.com/ SEO Egghead: http://www.seoegghead.com/blog/ Search Engine Journal: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/ Search Engine Watch: http://searchenginewatch.com/ Search Engine Watch Blog: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/ John Battelle’s Searchblog: http://battellemedia.com/ SEO Chat: http://www.seochat.com/ SEO Chat’s SEO Tools: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/ 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-toolbox/ Compiled by Gil Asakawa Manager of Audience Development, MediaNews Group Interactive gasakawa@medianewsgroup.com SEO sources

  31. 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)

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