Transcript Shifting Language - University of Toronto

Shifting Language
Practical Content Strategies for the Web
Brendan Dellandrea
CASE Online Strategies
November 2 2007
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
(1)
Web readers are scan readers
This means:
• Web is not print
• Different expectations apply
Scan-friendly writing
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair some time declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
(1603 – 1609)
Why you’re better than a summer day:
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You’re better looking
You’re nicer to me
You’ll stay with me longer
You’ll always be beautiful
You’ll live forever through my poetry
Click Here for More
Writing for Scan Readers
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Short sentences
Break up large paragraphs
Use headlines, sub-heads
Use bullet points
Link to more information where
necessary
A real-world example
Athletic Centre
Continue to enjoy the outstanding facilities of U of T's
Athletic Centre. With squash courts, a 200m indoor
track, two swimming pools, exercise equipment, fitness
classes and more, the AC is a great place to exercise,
learn and play. Also available is a Strength and
Conditioning Centre with Nautilus, Hammer Strength,
free weights, barbells and dumbbells. The David L.
MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic (416-978-4678) has
sport physicians, chiropractors, athletic and massage
therapists, physiotherapists and an orthopedic surgeon
available for consultation and the treatment of sport
related injuries. For alumni who have graduated within
the past 24 months and who wish to acquire a
membership, the fees are $325 for a full-year
membership or you may pay in 12 monthly installments
by credit card at $30 per month. For all other alumni,
the membership costs are $480 per year or $43 per
month by credit card. All memberships of less than 12
months are $69 per month. Visit
www.utoronto.ca/physical or call 416-978-3436
(press"0") for more information.
www.alumni.utoronto.ca/privileges/clubs.asp
Stay fit with U of T
Enjoy cutting-edge facilities at the U of T Athletic
Centre, including:
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200m indoor track
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2 swimming pools
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Exercise equipment (Nautilus, Hammer Strength,
free weights, barbells, dumbells)
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Fitness classes
Learn more…
Get the best in sports medicine treatment from the
David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic:
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Sport physicians
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Chiropractors
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Massage Therapists
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Physiotherapists
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Orthopedic surgeon
Learn more…
Get the membership that’s right for you
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$325 per year for recent grads (2 yrs from
graduation)
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$480 per year for all other alumni
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$69 for a single month membership
Sign up now
Pages need to be readable
• Form after function
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High contrast text
Avoid the PDF monster
Avoid splash pages
Avoid massive header graphics
Never embed important text in a graphic
Be Direct
• Use ordinary words
– “acquire a membership” -> “sign up”
– “centennial” -> “100th anniversary”
– “your alma mater” -> “your university”
• Don’t bury the lead
(2)
Content should be
targeted, dynamic, relevant.
Engage your readers.
Know your audience
- What information are they looking for?
- Need to know vs. Nice to know
- Forget who you work for
Address your audience
• Assume nothing, not even an education
• Write from the viewpoint of your
audience
– Avoid jargon
– Connect with your readers’ expectations
Leverage your data
• Education, degree Research,
types
constituency news
• Grad year
 Reunions
• Giving history
 Campaign news
– Designations
– Levels
– Achievements, asks
– Benefits
• Clubs, athletics  Events, scores
Enable self-service
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“Manage my subscriptions”
“Manage my interests”
“My feeds”
“My account”
“My groups”
Call to action
• Content should always entice or direct
the user to do something
– Avoid stale “about us” pages
– Every page should have at least one call to
action
• Draw the reader in, setup a desirable
outcome
(3)
Organize your material
Not once.
Always.
Frequently Asked Questions
• Make an FAQ, and make it loud
• Poll the sources:
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Telemarketing & call centres
Help desk
Front-line staff
E-mail inquiries
Forums, yahoo answers, etc.
Create intelligent links
• Links as neural networks:
– Those that fire together, wire together
• Self-organization (Tag clouds)
• In other words:
– What is the dominant site traffic/behaviour?
• Review raw page hits: top 10?
• Review internal referrals on a per-page basis
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Re-wire accordingly
Increase linkage for popular actions
Demote linkage for unpopular pages
Combine related actions
Make a list… Check it every month.
• Review the top 10 pages each month
– What gets the most traffic?
• Raw stats
• Internal referrals
• Viral marketing
– How easy is it to navigate to these pages
from your index?
• What pages need constant updating?
(4)
Hire a specialist
This is a big job…
You’ll need:
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Vision
Dedication
Insight
Understanding
Inter-disciplinary expertise
Advocacy
Sample:
Manager, Interactive Communications
…responsible for overseeing the development and strategic direction of the University’s central
alumni & friends website content, e-mail marketing content, and online engagement initiatives.
The incumbent is required to be very hands-on, providing leadership in areas of effective web-based
content.
…develop compelling web-based content for the central alumni and friends website, and to edit
existing & proposed content for clarity, coherence, relevance, and usability …. maximize the
effectiveness of the Division’s interactive communications by ensuring that they address and satisfy
user expectations, thus positioning the Division to better achieve its alumni communication and
outreach objectives.
… ensure that Divisional website content is organized according to best practises and research
findings.
…act as a strategic resource… will be responsible for researching and planning new website
strategies which attract and engage a greater portion
of the University’s alumni, donors and friends.
This is a communications, editing and copy-writing position, rather than a webmaster or system
Administrator position. Computer programming experience is not required.
(5)
Integrate with existing content resources
The content already exists:
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Magazines
Newsletters
Research news
Upcoming events
Sports results
• Use RSS to bring it in!
Use the web to shape print publications
• Viral marketing
– “Send this page to a friend”
• Page views
• Visit duration
• Localization of viewership
– IP address geography
Resources
• Traffic monitoring:
– Clicky: www.getclicky.com
– Google analytics: www.google.com/analytics
• Web Editing:
– www.webstyleguide.com
• Examples & strategic direction
– www.supportingadvancement.com
– www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com
– CASE
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Wikipedia
• The potential:
– Globally-oriented resource
– Readership among desired demographic
– High search engine ranking
Wikipedia
• The need:
– Ensure factual accuracy
– Remove inappropriate content
– Reinforce your brand
Wikipedia
• The approach:
– Monitor
– Contribute
Monitoring Wikipedia
• Appoint staff to “watchlist” articles
– A checkup takes approx 5 seconds
• Could be done daily
• Review the article history
Contributing to Wikipedia
• Things to add:
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Campaign history
Campaign announcements
Endowment statistics
Scholarship statistics
Enrolment statistics
Rankings
Awards
Institutional history
Campus photos
Research news
Learn the Rules of Wikipedia
• Neutral Point of View
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NPOV
• Notability Criteria
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTE
• Reliable Sources
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:RS
• Verifiability
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:V
WP:NPOV
• Wikipedia articles aspire to a NPOV
– Adjectives & adverbs are automatically
suspect:
stunning unfortunate spectacular unlucky amazing
undeniable glorious terrible passionately fantastic
lousy unfortunate unlucky
• Issues must be represented from all sides
– If you can’t eliminate bias, balance it!
WP:NOTE
• Wikipedia articles should by worthy of
notice:
– “this guideline properly considers the longterm written coverage of persons and
events”
• Passing controversies usually are NN by
this standard
WP:RS
• Sources should be trustworthy and
authoritative
• Campus newspapers are iffy
• Self-published sources are out
– E.g. Myspace, student blogs, forums, bulletin
boards, etc.
• “Propagandized” official publications may
be suspect too
WP:V
• Information must be verifiable
– “The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is
verifiability, not truth.”
• Rumours, speculation, gossip should be
removed
• Leverage press releases to provide
content
A Practical Guide to Wikipedia
• Take responsibility
• Create a user account, identify yourself
– If you don’t, someone else will
• http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/
• Get critical: re-write & remove
• Revert vandalism & inappropriate
additions
• Use the Talk Page to build consensus on
difficult issues!
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Facebook
• Is it the be-all and end-all?
– No.
• Can you afford to ignore it?
– No.
Position your institution
• Create “groups” for your institution,
alumni associations, etc.
• Inforce your brand
• Same content principles apply
• Link to more information
Promote your group
• Magazines, newsletters, e-mail
• Drive everyone to one place
Remedial work:
• Eager alumni may have already created a
group for your institution
– Uncontrolled message
– Wrongful appearance of authenticity
– Brand mismanagement
• This situation requires tact:
– These alumni could be a vital resource!
Facebook is about fun…
• Tone should be casual
• Plug your events, giveaways, etc.
• Encourage networking
...it’s also about Information
• Find lost alumni
• Send targeted blasts to alumni groups
• Plug other social initiatives
– networking, media, marketing, activism
Practise makes perfect
• Play with the system for a while before
you go official
• Make a decision about your group:
– Should it be inside a network? Global?
• Test the group messaging tool, then use it
sparingly
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Why an Alumni Community?
• Closed and Branded:
– User authentication against true identity
– Branded for a specific organization
– Based on trusted University brand
• Control over messaging
• Data Collection
• Offer a higher level of service
– Professional networking
– Alumni programming, etc
Networking Opportunities
• See and be seen
– Look up old friends, classmates
– Be looked up
– Reconnect
• Professional networking
– Mentorship
– Career postings
– Find local alumni
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
Overview
• Introduction
• 5 Core strategies for effective web pages
• Leveraging social media
– Wikipedia
– Facebook
– Alumni Communities
• Case Study: University of Toronto
The Components
• Integrated solution by iModules:
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Content management
Mass e-mailing
Social networking
Event registration & management
Online donations
The Vision:
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One site. Many users.
Prepopulation of data & “roles”
Integration across internet & intranet
Seamless transition across the divisions
– Consistent look & feel, central branding
• One portal for all alumni interactions
– Giving, events, news, networking, careers
Personalized Content
• Address user by name
• Target specific content, based on:
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Grad year
Academic & institutional relationships
Co-curricular relationships
Giving history
Self-identified interests
Dynamic Content
• Many techniques available to keep
content dynamic:
– Randomization
– Instantaneous response to user activity
• E.g. giving, event registrations, news prefs
Relevant Content
• Timely
• Targeted
• Informed by statistics:
– Web stats
Some project focal points
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Off-campus hosting
Privacy
First-time login
Marketing
Scalability
Staffing
Training
Staged Launch
Wrap-up & questions:
• Presentation & MP3 will be available:
– http://advancement.utoronto.ca/case
• Contact:
– [email protected]
– 416-978-7154