Seward Incorporated

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In my last post, Hidden Treasure: How Faculty Can Be Your Source for Fresh Web Content, I told you how to use your faculty’s knowledge and research to create fresh web content, which increases traffic to your site. So, you’ve started the conversation with faculty, and you’ve gotten some great content. Now what? Use this list of my favorite web writing best practices to make your content useful to your readers.

• Remember, your institution is not the center of the universe. Gerry McGovern advises, “It can be a fatal mistake to think that what you care about most is what your reader cares about most. You sell yourself, your product, your service, your idea, or your beliefs by first and foremost connecting with what your audience really cares about.” (Killer Web Content, 2006) Enough said.
• Use second person voice (you) in your headings and throughout your web site. This choice allows you to adopt a conversational tone with your readers. Remember! Your web site is your side of a helpful, action-oriented conversation with prospective students and the general public.
• Keep your headings to eight words or fewer. Headings should not read like a sentence, so edit out redundant words and phrases. It should also make sense on its own, because it will often be on its own in search results or on a menu page.
• Use words in your headings that your readers care about. Your heading is the hook for readers who are scanning for the information they need. Answer: “What about this faculty research will my visitors find most interesting and useful? What words can I use to compel them to click on links and explore the site?”
• Never start a link, heading, or sentence with your college or university’s name. Your readers are already on your web site. So, they have the context for the content presented.
• Keep your sentences and paragraphs short and sweet. Keep sentences to 20 words or fewer and paragraphs to 70 words or fewer (about four sentences).
• Never have a dead-end in your web content. Always put a call to action link at the end of your profiles and stories. These links allow you to guide readers to content that will be useful and informative. Answer: “What do I want my readers to do after they have read this faculty research profile? Navigate to programs? Learn more about the university?”
• Use active voice in your call to action links. Remember your readers are on your site to find useful information and complete tasks. Don’t make them guess about what they can accomplish when they follow a link.
• Keep links short. Links should be short, specific, action-oriented phrases with eight words or fewer. Say, “Apply this research to your work.” Not, “Click here for more.” Tell the reader what task they can complete by following the link.
• Put links on separate lines, below the main content. Links embedded in paragraphs and sentences can get lost in the shuffle. Put a link on its own line to focus your reader’s attention.

Want more information? Read Gerry McGovern’s blog for more ways to create killer content. The source for many of these tips is Gerry McGovern’s Killer Web Content—a great read.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Content Development, Web Writing. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Content Development, Gerry McGovern, Higher Education Marketing, web best practices, web writing