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Content Strategy: Do It For Your Users
1. CONTENT STRATEGY
DO IT FOR YOUR USERS
Anastasia Masurat and Andrea Sarther
Office of Web Communications
2. Do you…
• Work on a university website?
• Feel frustrated by your web maintenance process?
• Know your site could be better, but not sure where to start?
• Want to meet other NU communicators who feel your joy (and
pain)?
AM I IN THE RIGHT PLACE?
3. YOU’VE BEEN DRAFTED
• f
Let’s share knowledge, resources, and insights:
• We’ll track down research and best practices on all
things content
• You can help: bring us your ideas, suggestions, and
expertise
5. So, what is content strategy?
“Planning for the
creation, delivery, and
governance of useful,
usable content.” –
Kristina Halvorson
“Planning for the creation,
aggregation, delivery, and
useful governance of
useful, usable, and
appropriate content in an
experience.”
– Margot Bloomstein
"Words and data to create unambiguous content
that supports meaningful, interactive experiences."
- Rachel Lovinger
6. If your users don’t care about your
content, what’s the point?
IT’S ABOUT YOUR USERS
7. If you don’t have a process,
how do you stay on track?
AND A PLAN
8. 1. Signs you need a content strategy.
2. User research to change the way you work.
3. Introduce an expert in the field.
4. Questions, discussion, cookies.
TODAY’S AGENDA
12. YOU NEED GPS TO NAVIGATE YOUR SITE
You’re looking for
the application?
Ok…
1. Go back to the homepage, and click on the link
called “Resources.”
2. Scroll to the middle of the page and click on the
link called “Apply for the Program.” …it’s in the
third paragraph.
3. Click on “Forms to Apply” at the bottom…
4. (etc.)
14. A COMMON RESPONSE TO
YOUR CONTENT IS, “HUH?”
“We seek students looking to both
leverage and optimize the multi-
dimensional and interdisciplinary
opportunities available in program
curricula that furthers substantive
and theoretical foundations in this
emerging subfield….”
16. UNREALISTIC
EXPECTATIONS
We figure by placing our
department initiatives,
strategic plan, and recent
awards on the homepage,
our users will start caring
about them.
18. NO ONE’S IN
CHARGE
We have to update
the internship
information on our
website. Who
handles that?
Dan. But he left
three months ago.
Maybe we could
assign it to Frank? I
think he has info on
the program.
Well…Frank’s not
exactly the best
writer…
And he refuses
to let anyone
edit his work…
The deadline is Friday.
Well, maybe I could
get to it in two weeks.
20. So, how should you start?
Who are your primary users? What are their goals?
What is important to them?
Get to know your users.
21. USER-DRIVEN CONTENT FOR THE WIN
• f
Getting inside our users’ heads help us:
Select the right words
The correct language will make your site understandable
and help with search engine optimization.
Emphasize the right content
Key content items should be easiest to find.
Organize content
We want to tap into their mental models…instead of
reflecting our organizational structure.
22. LEARN THE RESEARCH
• f
Five facts that should drive your content:
80% of your page isn’t being read
Links can do more harm than good
Many users never see your desktop site
…Nor your home page
Power users aren’t so powerful
23. READING ONLINE: THE 20%
St. Mary’s College:
Financing Your Education webpage
• 350 total words (not counting
sidebars or navigation) = 70 words
• The first 15 words: “Financing Your
Education: Saint Mary’s College
will provide you with a culturally
enriching education at…”
Critical facts to remember:
• People read 20-28% of content.
• Eyes move in an F-shaped pattern,
focusing on the first, largest, and
highest contrast text.
24. READING ONLINE: THE 20%
Takeaways: help your scanners
• Establish a visual hierarchy with clear, high-contrast
titles and subheadings
• Focus on the the first paragraph and move important
information to the top of the page
• Avoid jargon and technical words. “Low frequency”
words (like enriching) are read slower/more laboriously
than “high frequency” words (like cost).
25. MORE LINKS, LESS COMPREHENSION
Critical facts to remember:
The more links on a page, the lower readers’
comprehension, even if none are clicked.
26. Providing a vast set of navigational options often
backfires.
The more options provided, the less likely we are to
choose any them.
MORE LINKS, LESS CLICKS
27. WHEN LINKING, LESS IS MORE
Takeaways: Link strategically
Determine if you are catering to browsers or searchers;
this should drive link quantity and placement
Browsers (looking at IKEA for ideas)
• Glance at items one by one, skipping some
• Need scannable pages with more links
Searchers (hunting for a RIBBA frame)
• Focus on critical attributes
• Need a “tunnel” page with few links
28. MOBILE VISITORS ABOUND
The research:
• The circumstances for mobile usage is broader than we
thought.
• Most people are accessing the web on their mobile
devices, and many prefer them to traditional computers.
55% of cell owners access the internet on a phone.
80%
75%
55%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
All cell owners
Age 18-24
Age 25-34
29. 45%
29%
11%
0% 50% 100%
Age
50+
30-49
18-29
31% of all smartphone users only (or usually) go
online using a cell phone
…AND SOME ARE MOBILE ONLY
24%
51%
42%
0% 50% 100%
Race
Hispanic
Black
White
If your content isn’t accessible from a mobile device,
you are aren’t serving a significant portion of your
audience.
30. REMEMBER YOUR MOBILE USERS
Takeaways: optimize the mobile experience
• All content should appear on mobile devices
(Responsive design is one way to accomplish this.)
• Write with smaller screens in mind.
31. KNOW YOUR ENTRY POINTS
We spend a lot of time perfecting the home page,
assuming it’s the main entry into our site.
Great design
Clear title
& branding
Multiple entry points to help
with navigation
32. KNOW YOUR ENTRY POINTS
Reality: In most cases, users using search engines will
often enter from a (sometimes far-from-perfect) subpage
deep within the site.
Huh? Where am I?
Array of old files,
outdated events.
33. KNOW YOUR ENTRY POINTS
Takeaways: Plan for subpages to be an entry point.
• Research your entry points.
• Think carefully about your main navigation and other
elements visible from the subpages.
• Keep all content updated and on message.
The Buffet Center’s popular CFMS
subpage:
• 2,840 page views
• …but 36% of these views came
directly from a search engine,
skipping the rest of the Buffett
Center site entirely.
34. THE MYTH OF THE POWER USER
The research:
Statistically, power users are the minority
“Digital Natives” are more clueless than we think
• Many struggle with internet terms and concepts
• Online and social media engagement is lower than expected
• They are less likely to reach out for assistance
35. PLAN FOR NOVICES
Takeaways: Lower your expectations for your
audience
• Introduce concepts clearly and write as simply (jargon-
free) as possible.
• Make sure beginners can find core features without
clicking on anything.
• Provide guidance and make assistance readily
available.
36. Ginny Redish
• Expert in: web usability, information design, writing for the web
• PhD, Linguistics from Harvard
• Author: Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works
INTRODUCING THE EXPERT
@GinnyRedish