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Learn with us. Improve with us. Influence with us | www.cih.org

Writing for the web March 2012

Learn with us. Improve with us. Influence with us | www.cih.org 2

What we know

Print content is author driven and linear. Web content is driven by what readers want and doesn’t follow a specific order.

But how do I become a better writer? • Know your website

• Know your visitors…

• …and speak their language

Reading from computer screens

is 25% slower than from paper

79% of users scan instead of

reading

word-for-word

On the average web page, users

read around 28% of the text


What makes a great website?

Great content

Great functionality

Great design

www.cih.org should do what our

members want:

• Provide knowledge and information in an easy-to-find, accessible way

• Engage the reader

• Be interactive

http://www.cih.org/


Who is it for?

The housing sector

Chief executives

Journalists

Members

Students Government

Front line staff

Tenants

With visitors from such

a wide range of

backgrounds, we need

to

avoid technical

language and

use plain english


Masterclass – 1

Stories are told for two main reasons:

• TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO ACT, THINK OR FEEL as in an advert or film review

• TO ENABLE PEOPLE as in a recipe, applications or joining instructions


Masterclass – 1

ENCOURAGE: BE PART OF A COMMUNITY WITH CIH

Do you want to develop your career in housing? Do you want to be part of a community of like-minded housing professionals? Share experience and learn from others? Why not join CIH?

ENABLE: CIH MEMBERSHIP

CIH membership is available to anyone who works in or has an interest in the housing sector. Costing from as little as £151 per year, membership can support you to develop your career, network with other housing professionals and access advice and support to improve the services you provide to your customers.

EXERCISE

Look at London page and the way it is addressing our audience. Is it encouraging them to do something? Or enabling? What would you have to do to the language and structure to create a piece of writing that encourages?


Speak their language

The golden rule: Less is more

• On the web, people don’t read – they scan

• Scan readers are impatient

• Aim for 50% fewer words than for print

• First two paragraphs are key

• As a guide:

– Headings = 8 words or less

– Sentences = 15-20 words

– Paragraphs = 40-70 words


Good web writing should:

• Include crucial information in the first two paragraphs

• Save detail for lower down

• Link to PDFs for nice to know

Structure


Masterclass - 2

HEADLINES

Given that web readers often scan pages and skip information, you need to support your structure using headlines and sub-headings. These are signposts that help the reader to decide their route through your information.

Your most important piece of information should be contained in the headline because this is the focus of your story. It needs to be telling and descriptive.

EXERCISE

In June 2012 new ASB tools and powers will be introduced for landlords. Imagine you’re writing a news feature for the website on this topic. Write a headline that is five words or less, that sums up the most important piece of information.


Masterclass – 3

TELL IT FROM THE TOP

The first sentence is very important in this structure – it needs to contain as much information as possible, to help the reader decide whether to continue reading. These opening lines (as you see in newspapers and magazine articles) are known as lead lines.

EXERCISE Write a lead-line for your ASB feature that includes all the six essential pieces of information, (who, what, when, where, why, how). This can be one or two sentences, and should be no more than 20 words long.


Ask yourself:

– Who cares?

– Is it clear?

– Is it concise?

– Is it compelling?

– Is it consistent?

– Is it correct?

Content


Top tips for great writing

Use headings and sub-headings to signpost readers to content

Keep link text short and ensure it makes sense out of context

Avoid unnecessary words like “click here”

Be consistent

Keep your writing informal and friendly


Top tips: Style

Avoid jargon and acronyms

Avoid using “CIH” too frequently

Use sentence case for titles

Avoid punctuation on bulleted lists (use the bullet point tool)

Use lower case for job titles


Top tips: Style

Use the format DD Month YYYY for dates

Write out numbers one to ten in full

Avoid using “&” - use “and” instead

Avoid using italics (for accessibility)

Use active rather than passive voice


Masterclass - 4

WHAT IS AN OFFER?

• It is a service, event or experience that we provide for the customer. They connect the provider with the customer; they sum up the relationship. If the customer asks: what’s in it for me? They would be able to answer this easily.

WHY USE THESE?

• Customers can easily understand the relevance of our information: what it means to them.

EXAMPLE

SERVICE Information and advice on welfare reform

OFFER We can help you understand how welfare reform affects your organisation

EXERCISE

Turn these following statements into offers:

• Latest developments in housing

• Practical advice on anti-social behaviour

• We run housing courses

Learn with us. Improve with us. Influence with us | www.cih.org

And finally…

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