When you write for broadcast, conventional wisdom dictates leading either with a tease or with the most current information. You tease to create some suspense and (supposedly) pique viewer interest. Or, you bank on the viewer valuing whatever "late-breaking" development you place front and center.

These techniques can work in a newscast, where viewers are relatively passive even if they do have remote control in hand.

On the Web, however, these techniques are disastrous. Web users are aggressively trying to find and absorb the latest news as quickly as possible. They'll bolt in an instant if a headline or first sentence does not serve up the meat. Or, even worse, they will never find the story on your site in the first place.

Case in point: in July, a draft environmental report found serious problems associated with the plans for a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.

On its Web site, however, KRON Channel 4 devoted the first full sentence in its news story to the impact of the report ... on Santa Clara's city leaders. Probably not what the average viewer cares about all that much. In addition, the headline generally alludes to the topic of the story ... but doesn't encapsulate the important news hook of the story:

Of equal concern, this approach reduces the chance that search engines – the real gatekeepers – will return the story high on their search results pages. Why?

News seekers interested in this story are most likely to search for words like '49ers', 'stadium', 'environmental', 'problems', and 'report'. Three of those words do appear in the headline, but only 'report' is at the beginning of the headline, the best place to put keywords for search engines. And only two of those five likely keywords – '49ers' and 'stadium' – appear in the first sentence ... but near the end.

Over at KTVU.com, the same story gets much better Web treatment.

The headline could still be improved. But now, the story focuses on the reader, not city leaders. And likely keywords are abundant throughout the headline and story.

How would you take the story a step further?

New 49ers stadium could pose environmental problems, report says

An environmental impact report says the proposed new 49ers stadium could create big problems in Santa Clara for residents and their families. The report says the stadium, which would seat 68,500 people, could greatly increase traffic, noise and noise pollution.

Now, all five of the most likely keywords are in the headline AND in the first sentence. Not only that, they are at the beginning of the headline and first sentence, not buried deep within. And the headline now focuses on the important outcome of the report, not just the fact it was released.

When writing news for the Web, it is best to:

• Focus your headline on the important outcome. Make sure you fully encapsulate the impact of something, not that it took place or was released.
• Focus your first sentence on WIIFTV – 'what's in it for the viewer'.
• Position as many keywords in the headline and first sentence as possible, and at the beginning of the headline and first sentence, in particular.

Want to learn more about how to make your Web site a magnet for news seekers? Contact The Coaching Company to find out about our bringing our new workshop, "Winning the Future: Writing Newscontent for the Web" to your station.