Many organizations grapple with how to best present reports and research online in a way that engages their audiences beyond the dreaded downloadable PDF.
Yet at the same time, all around the web it’s been confirmed: audiences are willing to spend time consuming longer content that is interesting to them.
They read the longer articles published by media outlets like Quartz, and have allowed interactive storytelling pieces like “Snow Fall” by The New York Times and “Cycling’s Road Forward” by the Washington Post to become some of the most popular online content of the past few years. They spend more time reviewing data-like information such as the interactive graphics in “The perils at Great Falls” (from the Washington Post) and the animated drawings and videos in Polygon’s “Playstation 4: The Review”. They are more engaged, spend longer amounts of time on these websites and are sharing this type of content more frequently.
So how can you move away from the print-centric model of the past, and shift your organization toward publishing long-form reports and research that include rich imagery, interactive elements, and better sharing capabilities?
In this presentation, John Osterman of the Center for Global Development and Lisa Drobek of Forum One share the insights they’ve gained, the tools they use, and the approaches they’ve taken on creating successful long-form report projects.
IN THIS PRESENTATION YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT:
• Defining long-form content and finding its value for your organization
• Methods for creating long-form content according to level of effort
• How your organization can make the transition to digital-first publishing
PRESENTED BY:
John Osterman
Deputy Director for Communications and Publications
Center for Global Development (cgdev.org)
Lisa Drobek
Senior User Experience Designer
Forum One (forumone.com)
*These slides are from a Forum One Webinar. Check out our YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/forumonevideo) for the audio/video of this virtual event.*
Crafting Long-Form Content: Transitioning to Digital-First Publishing
1. Transitioning to Digital-first Publishing
CRAFTING
LONG-FORM CONTENT
Presented by John Osterman,
@johnaosterman
Lisa Drobek,
@ldrobek
2.
3. Forum One is a digital agency that partners
with influential organizations to craft solutions
for the world’s most pressing problems.
Open
Source Since
1996
2000
Successful
Projects
750
Influential
Clients
100%
Mission-
driven
4.
5. Introductions
Lisa Drobek
Senior User Experience Designer,
Forum One
John Osterman
Deputy Director for Communications
and Publications,
Center for Global Development
14. SEO Benefits
● Higher rank in
Google (SEO)
● Higher rank for
long-tail keywords
● Attracts backlinks
and sharing on
social media
50x
LONG-FORM CONTENT WITH VIDEO
MORE
LIKELY
TO
SHOWON THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE
THE AVERAGE WEB PAGE THAT RANKS
ON THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE HAS OVER
2,000 WORDS
12%INFOGRAPHICS CAN
IMPROVE TRAFFIC BY
16. ● Long-form is a great
platform for telling
stories.
Allows for
Storytelling
“Do.. or do not...
there is no try.”
17. DIGITAL-FIRST PUBLISHING
LEVELS OF EFFORT
High
One Flagship Reading
Experience
Medium
A Couple Noteworthy
Reports
Low
The Majority of Your
Publications
18. HIGHER LEVEL OF EFFORT
DIGITAL-FIRST
Publishing enhanced long-form content
30. ● Readable 1 column of text
● Imagery to break up text
● Call outs and quotes to emphasize
key information
● Give context to data visualizations
and timelines
● Use video to explain complex pieces
● Add animations to delight users
Best Practices
for Reading
Experience
31. MEDIUM LEVEL OF EFFORT
USING DIGITAL TOOLS
Not just text, visuals and data too
57. But Does It
Work? Analytics
7x MORE
4x MORE
NEWSLETTER
SIGNUPS
TWEETS AND FACEBOOK LIKES
(USING THE SHARE BUTTONS)
2x FEWER(IT’S OK, MORE PEOPLE ARE READING CONTENT ONLINE)
PDF DOWNLOAD
CONVERSIONS
60. CGD’s Digital-first
Publishing Steps
1. Convert your Word Doc to HTML.
a. Clean up Doc with tools like
Word2CleanHTML.
2. Input content into your existing
CMS.
3. Make minor adjustments to your
CSS styles (font sizes, etc) to ensure
a good reading experience.
62. ● Positions you as thought leaders
● Attracts target audiences
● Increases engagement
Extends your reach
63. ● Low barrier for entry
● Start small
● Scalable for your organization
Is easy and can scale
64. ● Examples from each section
● CGD case study
Has been done effectively
65. Learning Curve:
The first report that you create digital-
first will take more time to implement,
but subsequent reports will be quicker
and easier.
66. THANK YOU
Lisa Drobek @ldrobek, ldrobek@forumone.com
John Osterman @johnaosterman, josterman@cgdev.org
68. Lisa Drobek’s
Blog Posts
Crafting Long-form Content: Transitioning from
Print-centric PDFs to Digital-first Publishing - http:
//forumone.com/insights/crafting-long-form-
content-transitioning-from-print-pdfs-to-digital-
first-publishing/
Repurpose Your PDFs as Long-Form Content on the
Web - http://forumone.com/insights/repurpose-
your-pdfs-as-long-form-content-on-the-web/
69. Steps for most
publications
(low)
1. Convert your Word Doc to HTML.
a. Clean up Doc with tools like
Word2CleanHTML.
2. Input content into your existing
CMS.
3. Make minor adjustments to your
CSS styles (font sizes, etc) to ensure
a good reading experience.
70. 1. Think about the story you want to
tell and how you can best tell that
story online:
● What action are you driving
your audience toward?
● What tools will help you achieve
your goals?
Steps for that
Noteworthy
Reports (Medium)
71. 2. Find an online tool or organization
to partner with
● The more complex projects may
require you to get some outside
help.
Steps for that
Noteworthy
Reports (Medium)
73. Steps for that
Flagship Reading
Experience (High)
1. Think about the story you want to
tell and how to best tell that story
online (like steps for medium):
● What action are you driving
your audience toward?
● What tools will help you achieve
your goals?
○ Think about your imagery
○ Think about interactives for
your data
74. 2. Get some outside help.
● Modify your current CMS
● Stand-up a stand-alone reading
experience (like a microsite)
● Develop an experience from
scratch for data rich
experiences
Steps for that
Flagship Reading
Experience (High)
75. ● Storytelling
● Imagery
● Graphics and Charts
● Infographics
● Video/Audio
● Animations
Flagship Reading
Experience
Features (High)
76. THANK YOU
Lisa Drobek @ldrobek, ldrobek@forumone.com
John Osterman @johnaosterman, josterman@cgdev.org