It all starts with the content.
Technollama has been posting some great posts lately, and this one caught my eye.
In his words…
So, let this be a lesson for everyone out there thinking of closing content down. Sharing is good. Sharing produces more hits. Sharing = WIN.
Here is the link:
See what people really care about, not what you think they should care about.
In the last 48 hours, at least three events have affected millions of people.
Twitter alerted them, not traditional media sources.
Twitter trends alerts people to what is going on in real time.
Learning what people really care about can help developing web content.
With developing web content, we need to connect with people. On the Internet, connecting with people quickly is essential.
People search with words they care about. If we don’t use them, people won’t find our sites.
Usability is also effected. People who see the words they care about will be reassured they are on the correct website.
This can be a usability feature if used correctly.
Websites like Twitscoop and Twist allow you to see and examine trends. Twitter clients like Tweetdeck make managing all this information slightly easier.
People care about the content. Tools like Twitter can unlock the thoughts of people. The same people who are looking for your website.
Recession is here. The web is still here.
Job losses tales abound. Management looks for savings, so it seems natural for traditional targets to go: marketing and anything web related.
Management never seem to look at their own websites, so why should anyone else? Stick a contact button on the site – at least they can call us.
People are using websites though: they skim, they scan, they want to complete a task. It’s not asking for a lot, but still web content screws up.
Ego gets in the way of good useful content, but still people seem to struggle through and do their tasks.
We should applaud them.
Writing for them would be better: usable text (“Buy Tickets”), words that lets people move through a task.
People go to the web with a task in mind. Search gives them a list of sites that might help them.
But Search is the first step. Websites must complete the task.
Website Managers should focus on:
Management should care because:
Being first on the Google results just isn’t enough. Websites that help people accomplish their tasks easily succeed. Those that don’t, don’t.
Websites often have business goals: business goals accomplished help companies make money. Analytics data helps companies see what business goals their website is achieving.
Search gets people to your website. Data tells you what they do on it.
This deeply effects how you develop and manage web content on your website.
Websites are your shop window to the world. Leaving a vase filled with dead flowers there will not inspire confidence.
Content management and content development will soon be ignored by many. This is the worst time to consider doing so.