Content Strategy: Do It For Your Users

CONTENT STRATEGY DO IT FOR YOUR USERS

Anastasia Masurat and Andrea SartherOffice of Web Communications

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?

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

@NUTeamContent#NUTeamContent

LET’S GET SOCIAL

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

If your users don’t care about your content, what’s the point?

IT’S ABOUT YOUR USERS

If you don’t have a process, how do you stay on track?

AND A PLAN

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

Five signs you need a content strategy

YOUR SITE USED TO BE A HANDBOOK

Please upload this website copy, taken from our 1996 Policy Guide, and don’t change a thing.

Sure thing, boss!

Problem: One size does not fit all.

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.)

Problem: Users don’t like to work hard.

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….”

Problem: Real people don’t talk like that.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS We figure by placing our

department initiatives, strategic plan, and recent awards on the homepage, our users will start caring about them.

Problem: Users are self-serving.

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.

Problem: No such thing as Magic Web Elves.

So, how should you start?

Who are your primary users? What are their goals? What is important to them?

Get to know your users.

USER-DRIVEN CONTENT FOR THE WIN

• fGetting inside our users’ heads help us:Select the right wordsThe correct language will make your site understandable and help with search engine optimization.

Emphasize the right contentKey content items should be easiest to find.

Organize contentWe want to tap into their mental models…instead of reflecting our organizational structure.

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

• f

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.

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).

MORE LINKS, LESS COMPREHENSIONCritical facts to remember:The more links on a page, the lower readers’ comprehension, even if none are clicked.

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

WHEN LINKING, LESS IS MORETakeaways: Link strategicallyDetermine 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

MOBILE VISITORS ABOUNDThe 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.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

80%75%

55% All cell ownersAge 18-24Age 25-34

Age

0% 50% 100%

45%29%

11% 50+30-4918-29

31% of all smartphone users only (or usually) go online using a cell phone

…AND SOME ARE MOBILE ONLY

Race

0% 20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

24%51%

42% HispanicBlackWhite

If your content isn’t accessible from a mobile device, you are aren’t serving a significant portion of your audience.

REMEMBER YOUR MOBILE USERSTakeaways: 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.

KNOW YOUR ENTRY POINTSWe 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

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.

KNOW YOUR ENTRY POINTSTakeaways: 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.

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

PLAN FOR NOVICESTakeaways: 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.

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

Follow us!@NUTeamContent

THOUGHTS? QUESTIONS?