Making Your Content Count

1. Making Your Content Count • An Invitation to Your Audience Nancy DuVergne Smith MIT Alumni Association Editorial Director

2. How Do Readers See? • F-shaped eye scans

3. What Do Readers See? • Eyes seek text first • Headlines • Summaries • Navigation • Captions • Images are secondary • Medium to large photos hold attention. • Small photos and thumbnails do not.

4. EyeTrack07 Key Findings • People read more online than in print • 77% online; 62% broadsheet; 57% tabloids • Alternative story forms—Q/As, bulleted lists— attract more attention that paragraphs • Photos of real people doing real things get more attention that staged photos Source: http://eyetrack.poynter.org/

5. How Do We Know? • Research tracks users • Poynter Institute-Stanford University • Eye-tracking study • Credibility guidelines • Web usability guru Jacob Nielsen • User experience • Web Style Guide, Yale Center for Advanced Instructional Media

6. Why Is Web Viewing Behavior Different from Print? • Limits of screen loads • Poor screen resolution • Lost scent of information • 25% slower reading online

7. Why Should We Care? • Web = professional front door • Global reach • 24/7 availability • Accurate and timely information • Matches audience needs • Provides a web of information

8. Why Use Writing Guidelines? • "The main ideas keep popping out at you. Boom. It's very easy to follow." • Nielsen found that concise writing, objective language, and scannable text improved usability by 159% in satisfaction, task time, task errors, and memory. Source: http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/rewriting.html

9. Online Writing Style • Web Style Guide recommendations • Concise, not verbose • Factual, not vague • Cultivate a voice • Think globally Example: http://web.mit.edu/mitpep/asp/index.html Source: http://www.webstyleguide.com/style/online-style.html

10. Using Microcontent Strategically • Readers look at headlines first. • Begin each page with a headline • Use subheads every three to four paragraphs. • Links should identify actual content. • Avoid generic “click here.” Instead use actions or key words, such as “Sign up for online services” or headlines. • Write captions for photos. • Readers do see captions, sometimes before the images. Example: http://www.nytimes.com/

11. Headline Style • Headline style • Initial caps for key words in the headline • Down style • Cap first word of subheads • Avoid all caps • Perceived as shouting • 10% slower to read Example: http://emailuniverse.com/ezine-tips/?id=1094

12. Sentence Style • Start with the subject ~ SVO • Use a dynamic, active verb • Limit sentences to 15-25 words • Limit paragraphs to two-three sentences • Use concrete, familiar words Example:http://storybank.stanford.edu/story.php?id=96

13. Attractive Web Images • Images related to page content • Real people, smiling at the reader • Single face • Small groups where faces are distinguishable • Items a reader might want to buy Source: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=103505

14. How Do We Bring This Home? • Fresh site, fresh content. • Focus on audience needs. • Make your ideas pop by using the MITAA Web Content Style Guide.

15. MITAA Web Content Style Guide I • Web writing should be clear, concise, and engaging. • Writing tone should be conversational. • Mostly use third person (he/she) • Second person (you) or direct address works for limited, informal use. • Only use first person (I/we) with an acknowledged author.

16. MITAA Web Content Style Guide II • Headlines should top every page; long articles need subheads every three-four paragraphs. • The lead—an inverted pyramid paragraph—should deliver the main point of the page's contents. • Sentences and paragraphs should be short and focused.

17. MITAA Web Content Style Guide III • Top level pages should be sticky—fresh content should be added on a regular basis. • Write captions for photos. • Use photos to tell a story or illustrate an event. • Set up photos with small groups so faces are visible; avoid lineups if possible.

18. Transitioning Our Web Pages • Example: Profile of Eric Mibuari ’06 http://alum.mit.edu/ne/noteworthy/profiles/mibuari.html • Microcontent checklist: • Headline? • Subheads? • Summary/Inverted Pyramid Lead? • Caption? • Midsized photo with face? • Conversational tone? • Short sentences and paragraphs?

19. Transforming Headlines • Noun phrase • Executive Education • Gerund phrase – verb+ing • Educating Executives • SVO – subject-verb-object • Executives Bring New Knowledge Back to Work

20. Headline Writing Exercise • Write a new headline for the ALC page: http://alum.mit.edu/ne/alc/index.html • Headlines: • Use an active verb • Capture the gist • Make sense independently • Run eight words or less

21. Inverted pyramid • An inverted pyramid paragraph presents the main idea immediately • Most news leads use the inverted pyramid style • Summarize or present the conclusion • Why, what, when, where, and why

22. Even those enriched by U.S. tax law generally acknowledge that it's a pitiable mess. Devoid of underlying principles and with provisions variously inspired by noble purpose, opportunism, and outright bribery, it's a labyrinth that annually absorbs billions of unproductive dollars in advice, preparation, and enforcement. U.S. tax law is generally acknowledged as a pitiable mess, even by those it benefits. Tax law is devoid of underlying principles and shaped by both noble purpose and opportunism. Annually this labyrinth absorbs billons of unproductive dollars in advice, preparation, and enforcement. The solution? A universal transaction tax. Which paragraph is an inverted pyramid?

23. How Are We Going to Get There? • Web Redesign Content Team Support • Content Inventory assignments • Image galley development • Content partners work witharea managers • Editing and feedback

24. Content Resources • MITAA Web Content Style Guide: server location ~ \\Addsalum\assocsrv\PUBLIC\Work Area\AA Web Redesign 2007\Content and Style\Web Style Guide • Making Your Content Count: http://web.mit.edu/ndsmith/www/ • Web writers resources (Nancy): http://members.aol.com/nancyds/resources.html • Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org/ • Jacob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com/ • Web Style Guide: http://www.webstyleguide.com/ • Stanford Credibility: http://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/ • Contentious: http://www.contentious.com/