Are you one of the lucky individuals who provide support for your organization’s Web content providers who have little, if any, Web experience? Does your organization think typing and word processing skills are all that are needed to be a Web content expert? Is the “Webmaster” role part of a job description’s “other duties as necessary,” If you answer yes to these questions, this presentation is for you. You can transform your Web content providers into Web content experts by teaching a few simple skills. Reveal the “magic” of the internet and how it differs from “the Web.” Show how their Word skills can help them create interesting and informative Web content. Explain writing for print and writing for Web and why it’s important to know the difference. Inspire your content providers to learn these skills and more to transform them into Web content experts and you into a Web support genius!

1. Web Content
Provider 101 -
When Knowing
How to Type Just
Isn’t Enough
Terri Vaughan
Web Customer Support Specialist
Office of Web Services

2. Who are Web Content Providers?
• Individuals responsible for the information provided on Web sites.
• They effectively organize text, images, video and other content.
• They write compelling titles for audience appropriate content.
• They add relevant and consistent metadata to ensure search
engine optimization.
• They review and update their sites regularly to keep content
fresh.
• They spell check each word, use consistent and proper grammar
and always have a colleague review and approve their content
before it is published.

3. Our Content Providers

4. Typical Content Provider
• Little or no Web experience.
• Novice to expert computer knowledge.
• Satisfactory to excellent word processing skills.
• Medium to high level of intimidation with learning.
• Web site maintenance duty assigned, not requested.

5. What Content Providers Want
• Content written for them.
• Familiar folder/file structure.
• Drag ‘n drop graphics/hyperlinks/tables.
• Content editing similar to word processing.
• Someone else to maintain their Web pages.

6. What Content Providers Get
• Content writing responsibility.
• Unfamiliar folder/file structures.
• Inadequate graphics editing tools.
• Unclear or hard-to-follow instructions.
• Pressure to meet content update deadlines before learning how to
update content.

7. What Content Providers Do
• Keep old content as long as possible.
• Create Web folders that contain only one page.
• Insert improperly formatted and sized graphics.
• Create Web pages with unfriendly URLs.
• Upload documents instead of creating Web pages.

8. What Content Providers Need
• Adequate technical experience.
• Clear understanding of Web best practices.
• Easy-to-use image editing tools.
• Ability to adapt print content to Web content.
• When to upload a file and when to create a Web page.

9. What to Do

10. What We Should Do
• Select content providers with adequate skills.
• Develop comprehensive training program.
• Require content providers to attend training before granting
update access to Web site.
• Provide positive reinforcement during and upon completion of
training program.
• Follow up with content providers regularly to provide feedback.

11. Training Workshops
• Computer skills + internet + Web.
• Web best practices + essential html.
• Multimedia formatting and best practices for use.
• Simple tips for writing well for the Web.
• Site specific, hands-on training with supported Web editing tools.

12. Learning Outcomes

13. What I Have Learned
• Confidence in content providers’ abilities.
• Avoid excessive tech-speak.
• Explain why skills are necessary.
• Analogies that content providers can relate to.
• Entertain and engage during and after training.

14. How I Engage Content Providers
• Recognize value to Web audiences.
• Keep tech speak minimal but stress importance of terminology.
• Describe what skills are needed and why they matter.
• How Web skills relate to skills they already possess.
• Follow up with reminders, cool tricks and compliments.

15. Helpful Features

16. What Content Providers Love
• Copy/paste from Microsoft Word.
• Activate previous version of updated page.
• Restore accidentally deleted Web pages.
• WYSIWYG – no html editing required!
• Seeing page updates instantly.

17. Content Stars

18. Q&A
(and stuff you want me to know)