theWPshow with Sue Keogh

Here is the replay* from our theWPshow (The WordPress Show) where we talk to Sue Keogh about writing for the web.

(*here are all our recent replays).




Here are some key links for Sue:

  • Book in for a chat with Sue if you want to discuss any challenges in more detail: sookio.com/chat (a new thing we’re offering after all webinars)
  • Read the blog, for loads of insights on digital marketing trends: sookio.com/blog
  • Try our online courses at Sookio School: https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/sookioschool
    That link gives you two months’ free access to all our courses and anything on Skillshare, so fill yer boots.
  • Book in-house training in social media, video production and more: sookio.com/training
Other stuff:

The Show Notes

Firstly, I am asking for quick feedback on the wpPowerAcademy (WordPress Power Academy) the beta of the membership program I’m launching in Sept.

Ok, so here are the rough notes / links as I encounter them whilst playing the replay back.

If you are time short, feel free to scan down this list and jump to the time point in [square brackets].

  1. What % of words do we typically read on a web page?
  2. How people read a web page – the ‘F pattern‘ [3:50]
  3. How people scan a page [5:35]
  4. Graph of % of words people read v num words on page [09:00]
  5. Graph on where we spend our time on a web page [10:00]
    An interesting takeaway here is that people may scan the top, scan the very bottom, and then decide if they’ll read it all – so invest more in the bottom of your posts.
  6. Being aware of multiple devices [11:00]
  7. Q. Are people getting more impatience online? [12:45]
  8. When you are writing a blog post, give it a really good summary [14:45]
  9. What do users like? [15:00]
  10. Making users feel that they are in the right place for that [15:15]
  11. Sue asks me to guess what a website does [15:50]
    (sorry the audio goes a bit funny at this point – not sure what happened there, I didn’t notice anything at the time).
  12. Sue: ‘Google is just trying to replicate the human experience‘ [17:30]
  13. Another website example – ‘better proposals’ [17:50]
  14. Some useful tips [18:50]
  15. Acronyms – be careful, always explain at the top of the page [19:45]
  16. How a heading and text support each other [20:15]
  17. Frontloading content [20:45]
    How we read a website is NOT like how we read a novel!
  18. HMRC VAT page [21:45]
  19. Tip: when writing for the web, take a big red pen to most of it! [23:10]
  20. Example from Techcrunch [23:30]
    Takeaway here: really focus on how you write your headings/blog post titles! Front-load the titles.
    (Phew! audio gets better again around 24:30)
  21. How to write your links (again, frontloading!) [25:00]
  22. Work backwards in terms of pulling nuggets out of your content which can help with that title & introduction etc.
    Because you don’t know until you’ve written it, what the best bits are [26:35]
  23. Focus on the audience’s questions [26:45]
  24. Avoid being abstract [27:25]
  25. Examples of titles [27:45]
  26. Every title should be able to stand alone (without its contents [28:10]
  27. Being told where to go [30:00]
    We want to be lead.
  28. Avoiding ‘ing‘ (e.g. finding, booking, buying) [31:10]
  29. Being clear and direct [31:45]
  30. The issue with giving people too many option [34:20]
  31. A question from Thomas on websites which do not get most of the traffic via their homepage [36:00]
  32. People don’t always start on the homepage [36:20]
  33. A sidebar is a mini-homepage [37:00]
  34. Tips on layout [38:00]
  35. Formatting your page [38:45]
  36. Allowing your sub-headings to tell a story (without the content!) [39:45]
  37. An example of a well laid out page, and how it makes the content more accessible to people [40:40]
  38. A quick chat on line length [42:40]
  39. Sue’s “Chanel Approach” to design [44:25]
  40. The importance of plain English [45:40]
  41. The problem with long words! [46:45]
  42. Tips on writing content [48:45]
  43. Word quiz – putting me on the spot! [50:15]
  44. Idioms [53:00]
  45. Question from Thomas asks about Sue’s article where she says ‘no one cares about your brand’ [54:15]
  46. The problem with “I” and “WE” on a website [55:15]
  47. The other problem with “I” and “WE”! [57:00]

Thanks for reading – please feel free to ask any questions over on our Facebeook Group. Hang on! Based on what Sue says that should be written as…

Join our Facebook Group to chat about this replay and to be ready to access our upcoming episodes on #theWPshow.

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