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Defining content for a Web Site

Reprinted with permission from the STC Intercom magazine - June 1998 Volume 45, Issue 6.

Designing a Web site is an enormous task. The idea of building a Web site is a great one that usually comes from one of the higher-ups in your company. Then, if you are like me, you are given a task defined by the worlds of "just go ahead and build one." But how?

In a previous article ("Web Site Planning" from the December 1997 Intercom), I suggested that you start by defining goals, identifying a target audience, and creating a task list. Once those things are done, you can concentrate on the most important characteristic of your Web site -- the content.

Defining content areas

Web content is any information that goes on a Web site, from a company overview to technical specifications. It should be the central focus of any site design.

Your job is to determine what content is valuable to your users and meets the purpose of your site. But how do you that do that? The answer is to think like your user. The ability to think like a user is something all good technical communicators can excel in Web design.

In my "Web Site Planning" article, I started an example I would like to continue. Let's say that my company wants to develop content that provides customer service and allows users to download software. I defined the site's goals as follows:

General Goals

• To promote the company and its products and services
• To provide the customers with high-quality, downloadable software and fast, efficient customer service

Specific Goals

• To provide an area where our customers can download software for a variety of platforms
• To provide customers with a personalized area where they can obtain documentation for their specific products, search capability to find additional information about available products, and obtain customer service support through an email link or chat capability

In this example, the audience was identified as follows:

• Computer programmers or managers looking for information on products
• Technically sophisticated programmers
• People who want to purchase (download) our products
• Current users of our products who want upgrades
• Current users of our products who want documentation
• Current users of our products who want customer service

The task list (from which the majority of the content areas will come) was defined as follows:

• Obtain information on products and services
• Obtain information about our company
• Obtain press releases
• Obtain relevant or new product information
• Download product software
• Download upgraded product software
• Obtain product documentation
• Search for additional product documentation
• Obtain customer support
• Obtain employment information
• Obtain stock information (if applicable)

By compiling the goals, audience, and task list, I identified the following content areas:

• Main page
• Company area
• Press room area
• Products and Services area
• Customer Service area

Each of these areas, except the Main page (also called home page) will link to more detailed information that the user will value. The Main page is what the users see when they first land on your site. When they do, you have about one minute to show them the most important information about your company.

So what would it be? You have to answer that question based on your company's priorities. It may require a meeting with management and several revisions. But once you have that answer, the rest of your content falls into line.

Writing for the Web

While attending the "Web Wisdom from Sun" session at the 1997 STC International Conference, I heard something that I don't think I will ever forget: If you can write it a paragraph, re-write it using a sentence. If you can write it in a sentence, re-write it using a phrase. If you write it in a phrase, re-write it using a word. I sat mesmerized by this statement, because it is so useful!

Web users don't want to read -- reading speeds are more than 25% slower on computer screens than on paper documents. Users skip over any text that they deem to be "fluff" (for example, welcome or introductory messages) and scan for highlighted terms (hypertext links).

Because users scan text, it's important to keep text concise. Remember the user's goal: to find useful information as quickly as possible. Use the following online writing and formatting elements to keep your text scannable:

• Highlighted keywords (links, typeface variations, and color)
• Meaningful subheadings
• Bulleted lists
• One-idea per paragraphs
• An inverted pyramid approach that gives the most important information up front
• Half the word count of conventional writing

Defining contact information

On every page, include contact information to encourage your users to communicate with you -- for example, include a statement such as "Contact the Webmaster with any comments or suggestions." Use a title, like Webmaster, or a name (which can be fictional). Include an email link or a link to another mail comment form.

This may generate considerable mail, and you must make sure that most messages are answered. Respond to your users' feedback, act on it, and thank users for taking the time to help you. This is a great opportunity to converse one-on-one with your customers, to establish relationships and potential sales leads.

Defining a content schedule

Relevant, updated content will engage your users and keep them coming back to your site. But how often will your content change? Every day? Every week? Plan ahead by developing content schedules.

Include your content areas within your content schedule (and design document as well). Be as detailed as you can. Think about the type of content you would like to include in each area and record names of possible contacts for that content. Whether you write the content or just edit it, ensure that is valuable to your users and advances in the overall site objectives.

Important note: Remember to have all content and information approved by your legal department.

Planning is the key to building a successful site -- by identifying your goals, audience, and task list, you can develop major content areas that respond to the needs of your users and your company to develop major content areas. As with any well-planned project, you will spend majority of your time in the analysis and design phase just planning before you code a single line.

References

Apple Web Design Guidelines, Apple Computer, Inc.
Cutler, Matthew, The Seven Pillars of Webdom: Evangelism, CIO Magazine.
Morkes, John, Nielsen, Jakob, Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web, Sun Microsystems, Alertbox.
Nielsen, Jakob, Interface Design for Sun's WWW Site, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Nielsen, Jakob, How Users Read on the Web, Sun Microsystems, Alertbox.
Nielsen, Jakob, Why Web Users Scan Instead of Read, Sun Microsystems, Alertbox.
Spool, Jarod M., Scanlon, Tara, Schroeder, Will, Snyder, Carolyn, DeAngelo, Terri. Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide, Massachusetts: User Interface Engineering, 1997.

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