how to make your content future-ready
TRANSCRIPT
By Eva-Lotta Lamm
mo’ content, mo’ problems.
68% of U.S. adults own a smartphone. Pew Internet Project, October 2015
www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/
And 86% of those 18 to 29 have one. Pew Internet Project, October 2015
www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/
In 2010, 88% of 18-to-29s owned a desktop or laptop. Pew Internet Project, October 2015
www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/
In 2015, that number had dropped to 78%. Pew Internet Project, October 2015
www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/
42% use mobile during the B2B purchasing process.Google, “The Changing Face of B2B Marketing,” March 2015
www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/the-changing-face-b2b-marketing.html
screens of all sizes, all places.
www.flickr.com/photos/wordridden/6125516150
our content is stuck.
CONTENT GOES HERE.
CONTENT GOES HERE.
We need content on our website.
We need content on small screens.
We need content for our app.
We need content in the newsfeed.
We need content on a smartwatch.
We need content everywhere.
By moving from... • no clear goals • big blobs of text • lack of hierarchy • wysiwyg horrors • siloed pages
To... • purposeful content • modular chunks • logical patterns • cleanly stored info • connected content
We don’t need more content.
We need content that does more.
steps on the path to content everywhere4
Align your content vision1
‘‘We need to shed the notion that we create layouts from a canvas in.
We need to flip it on its head, and create layouts from the content out.
—Mark Boulton, “A Richer Canvas”
This doesn’t mean having all the content first.
It means having a shared vision of what’s important.
• Why do we have this site/section/page?
• Who are we speaking to?
• What do they need from us?
• What do we most need to say?
• How will we know if we’re successful?
‘‘Content Vision Deliver accurate, relatable content about all facets of college life—helping overwhelmed students find college matches that make them feel prepared and excited.
‘‘Content Vision Deliver accurate, relatable content about all facets of college life—helping overwhelmed students find college matches that make them feel prepared and excited.
‘‘Content Vision Deliver accurate, relatable content about all facets of college life—helping overwhelmed students find college matches that make them feel prepared and excited.
‘‘Content Vision Deliver accurate, relatable content about all facets of college life—helping overwhelmed students find college matches that make them feel prepared and excited.
‘‘Content Vision Deliver accurate, relatable content about all facets of college life—helping overwhelmed students find college matches that make them feel prepared and excited.
‘‘Principle: keep it simple Students have a lot going on: courses, clubs, jobs, sports. Make life easier, not more stressful.
Principles guide every decision that follows.
Simple content is:
• As brief as possible
• Written in plain language
• Chunked with clear headers/subheads and callouts
• Clearly prioritized, with critical info first
• Actionable
2 Map your users’ paths
Where do users’ relationships with your organization begin?
What paths might those relationships take over time?
Where and how can content support those paths?
Example: A bike company
commuter
triathlete
3 Find natural patterns
Which content types can we identify?
www.flickr.com/photos/peroshenka/408997641
not just pages...
www.flickr.com/photos/tdd/4493216417
not just content...
www.flickr.com/photos/28478778@N05/5728474385/
representative content.
By Eva Lotta-Lamm
patterns give us content “chunks.”
INTRO
SPEC 1
DESCRIPTION
SPEC 2
TITLE
FEATURES
CTA
Chunks make responsive design work better.
CONTENT
They allow us to design on the Z-axis.
Image from Wren Lanier on A List Apart
They make it easier to design for reading.
4 Make a content model
It’s a structural model that matches your users’ mental model.
structural editorial organizational
structural editorial organizational
Data modeling is nothing new.
From Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL by Hugh E. Williams and David Lane (O’Reilly, 2003)
What’s different about content modeling?
www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/4868415523
content is more human, squishy.
Structure may be less formal, more conceptual.
structural editorial organizational
An editorial eye helps us see our content clearly.
Editorial means... • messaging • prioritization • narrative forms • reader needs
structural editorial organizational
Changes affect... • authors • editors • developers • cms teams • translation teams
Not just: “What is the ideal structure for this content?”
But also: “What’s actually viable and sustainable?
What can we implement right now?
What can we implement over time?
Structured content enables publishing anywhere.
It allows faceted search.
It can feed algorithms and mashups.
www.flickr.com/photos/vanityblue/8694220424/
it lets you choose what to make, when.
www.flickr.com/photos/clanlife/4948367381
what’s in it for you?
• makes content more consistent
• sells better because it’s more relevant and helpful
• reduces copy-paste and duplicate work
• easier to track what you have and where it is
www.flickr.com/photos/clanlife/4948367381
what’s in it for customers?
• more helpful content—just when they need it
• less clutter in their way
• a better experience on any screen and in any section of the site
flickr.com/photos/Clam113/2666711074
let’s get started.
Flickr images used via Creative Commons Attribution license unless otherwise noted. Illustrations by Eva-Lotta Lamm. Used with permission.
sarawb.com @sara_ann_marie
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