Learn to write better web pages — online, Nov. 2-30
More than half of your audience members now receive your emails, visit your web pages and engage with your social media channels via their mobile devices, not their laptops.
Problem is, reading your web page on a smartphone is like reading War and Peace through a keyhole.
- People spend half as long looking at web pages on their mobile devices than they do on their desktops. But they read 20% to 30% slower online.
- It’s 48% harder to understand information on a smartphone than on a laptop.
- And, thanks to fat-fingers/no-bars syndrome, they click 40% less often on mobile.
“Revolutionised the way my communications team and I approach writing for online consumption.”
— Nikki Van Dusen, manager, internet communications, Alberta Public Affairs Bureau
Read more rave reviews.
In fact, the folks at the Nielsen Norman Group have identified 335 obstacles to reading on a smartphone that don’t exist when reading on a laptop. No wonder Jakob Nielsen says, ““The phrase ‘mobile usability’ is pretty much an oxymoron.”
In this environment, how do we reach readers online?
At our mobile web-writing workshop, you’ll learn how to:
- Get To the Point Faster: Because web visitors spend 74% of their time on the first two smartphone screens
- Master the 5-notes Web Page Structure: It’s been proven in the lab to be more effective than the form you’re using now
- Cut Through the Clutter Online: Because “short is too long for mobile”
- Lift Ideas Off the Mobile Screen: Reach nonreaders with display copy
What you’ll learn in this mobile web-writing training program
In this workshop, you’ll polish your skills in writing for the web. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:
Get to the Point Faster
You know that web visitors pay more attention to the copy “above the fold,” or on the first screen, than below it. But where’s the fold? Web content that shows up above the fold on a 30-inch monitor can take as many as five screens on a smartphone.
So how do you reach readers where their eyes are?
In this session, you will learn how to:
- Stop dropping the best-read element on your web page. 95% of web visitors look here; 95% on web writers leave it off the page.
- Don’t let your head get cut off. Chances are, your headline is at least 150% longer than the recommended maximum for mobile.
- Write headlines that get the word out with our five-step test.
- Avoid burying your message. Web visitors don’t read your whole headline. So how many characters do they read?
- Learn Ann’s simple tricks for search engine optimization. And try out a cool tool that almost does the job for you.
“A great way to take a step back from your own company and learn some new tricks and techniques to make your own website stand out.”
— Susan van Barneveld, APR, Antarra Communications
Master the 5-Notes Web Page Structure
Writing content will be a breeze once you learn Ann’s structure. It’s been proven in the lab to increase reading, understanding, engagement, satisfaction and sharing.
In this session, you will learn how to:
- Create content easily with our fill-in-the-blanks structure. It just takes five easy pieces.
- Get out of your own way by removing four items from the top screen that may be getting between your mobile visitors and your message.
- Learn four types of web leads to try — and three to avoid — to increase reader engagement.
- Put your story into a nutshell so readers know where you’re taking them.
- Increase readership with a piece of cake. Change the F-shaped eye-gazing pattern to a layer-cake-shaped eye-gazing pattern to move readers further through your web page.
“How to shape writing for mobile – very concrete take-aways for evaluating my program’s communications.”
– Aimee Fasnacht, associate director, alumni relations, Franklin & Marshall College
Cut Through the Clutter on Mobile
It’s 48% harder to understand information on a smartphone than on a laptop. So how do you make your writing style easy to understand — even on the small screen?
In this session, you’ll learn content strategies that will help you:
- Avoid The Mobile Paradox: The No. 1 activity for mobile users is wasting time. But mobile users get “visibly angry” at verbose sites that waste their time. How do you avoid enraging readers?
- Write shorter pages. Because, according to the BBC, “Short is too long for mobile.”
- Pass the 1-2-3-4-5 Test for paragraph length. Because mobile web visitors can’t understand long paragraphs.
- Use a cool, free tool for measuring and managing readability.
- Find out how long is too long — for mobile paragraphs, sentences and words.
“All writers of mobile content should attend.”
– Cean Burgeson, senior content creator, Whirlpool Corp.
Lift Ideas Off the Smartphone Screen
Web visitors read, on average, 20% of the words on the page. But which words — and how can you put your messages there?
In this session, you will learn how to:
- Reach nonreaders with words with our simple Skim Test.
- Help visitors understand your web page better, read it faster and enjoy it more by passing The Palm Test.
- Write links that get scanned and clicked — even despite Fat-Fingers/No-Bars Syndrome — on mobile.
- Transform lists into freestanding information packages with our simple, six-step process.
- Break down walls of words to boost understanding, memory and satisfaction — in half the reading time.
“From the shock value of reading statistics on mobile to the humor and incisive recommendations, this master class changes the way we write.”
– Teresa McGaffic, senior copywriter, Golden I Credit Union
Get a web-content workout with Wylie.
In the crunch of writing headlines and meeting deadlines, it sometimes seems as if there’s not enough time to pause and consider how you’re doing. But in our case studies and practice sessions, you’ll get a great opportunity for reflection and improvement.
Bring your laptop and a story to work on. You’ll get a chance to write and rewrite, get and give feedback, and leave with a totally rewritten piece. In these practice sessions, you’ll:
- Master the techniques you learn in the workshop by applying them immediately. (That’s how we put the “Master” in the Master Class!)
- Gain valuable insights on your work from your peers and from Ann.
- Learn to analyze and improve others’ writing — the best skill you can develop for editing others or improving your own work.
Learn more
“It was a great course and time well spent.”
— Jo Oshiana Ogawa, associate manager, JTI
Location & logistics
Join us via Zoom and LinkedIn from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific on:
- Nov. 2: Intro, Class orientation, Screen Reading; Get to the Point Faster
- Nov. 9: Live coaching session; Master the 5-Notes Structure
- Nov. 16: Live coaching session; Cut Through the Clutter Online
- Nov. 23: Live coaching session; Lift Ideas Off the Mobile Screen
- Nov. 30: Live coaching session
Can’t make a date? You’ll have on-demand access to the online workshop until Dec. 6.
Fees
- Silver (online workshop only): $1,195
- Gold (Silver +$300 worth of learning tools): $1,295
- Platinum (Gold +$297 subscription to Rev Up Readership): $1,395
- Diamond (Platinum +$750 private coaching session with Ann): $1,795
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.
Please learn about our discounts, cancellation policy and more in our FAQ.
“Absolutely the best money I’ve ever spent. I learned more about writing for my audience from Ann in one day than I have in any other seminar.”
— Carie Behounek, marketing communications coordinator, COPIC Companies
PRSA members: Earn 4 APR maintenance credits.
Questions? Ann@WylieComm.com.