Editing that works

Focus your content for the web
You've got your content, you've got your graphic design. Something still isn't quite right. The content isn't really working for your users. Sounds familiar?
If so, you need ‘editing that works’.

It’s not about originating content. It's about reshaping existing content so that it works on the web, so that it works for your users, and so that meets your business goals.

“ A great way to learn. ”

Outline of the Course

You will learn four nine research-based principles for editing for the web:

1. Understand context of use: users, contexts and business goals
2. Choose what to say: using headings to guide your choices
3. Slash everything else: why cutting helps
4. Edit sentences: sorting out the words
5. Put into logical order: first things first, second things second
6. Demolish walls of words
7. Choose links: writing links that work across pages
8. Check consistency: desk checks for content
9. Rest it then test it: usability testing of content

This is not ‘ordeal by PowerPoint’. The principles are short and easy to learn. The challenge comes from having to use them on real material.

Everyone attends together in the morning. You learn the nine principles by using them on a series of exercises that build your expertise. We use examples of material drawn from your own organization. Each exercise includes the opportunity to compare your new version with a reference version.

In the afternoon, we split into smaller groups for personalized clinics, each lasting one hour. Each group choses a particular set of pages that are important for their current work, and we tackle them together. This immediate work on their own pages consolidates ideas from the morning and ensures that everyone has the chance to try out their new knowledge on work that is immediately relevant.