technical communication and web content strategy
DESCRIPTION
A presentation I built for a research paper about Content Strategy for a Theory of Technical Communication course at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.TRANSCRIPT
Technical Communication
Web Content Strategy
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Content strategy is an emerging discipline, one that technical communicators should be aware of.
http://content-strategy.meetup.com/
WHAT IS CONTENT STRATEGY?
Still wondering?
“Content strategy is about publishing.” – Erin Kissane
"Content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.” – Rachel Lovinger
"Ultimately the content strategist’s central question is this: what strategies can I implement to improve the content?” – Tom Johnson
WHAT DOES WRITING HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
Kristina HalvorsonContent Strategy for the Web
“Most of the content on the web is text.Text instructs, guides, informs, confirms, communicates, connects. [Text] is the most complex kind of content to produce, and it’s the easiest to lose control of.”
WE CAN DO BETTER.
Karen McGrane"Content Strategy for Everyone (Even You)”, Interactions
“Ever wonder why so many websites feature dense, unreadable prose? Force you to navigate through pages of brochure copy and legalese? Look like they backed up a truck full of PDFs and dumped them in the content management system?”
Most web projects start with design and functionality, leaving actual content for subject matter experts to take care of.
Planning is focused on the launch of a web site, not on the life of a web site.
Even the most brilliantly written/designed content can be lost if it does not fit the delivery vehicle.
The existing process is flawed.
TECHNICAL JARGON AHEAD!
CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Confused? Think of it like this …
A Web Content Management System (WCMS) is a software system which provides website authoring and administration tools designed to allow users with little knowledge of web programming languages or markup languages to create and manage the site's content with relative ease.
wikipedia.org
When things are difficult …
… technology makes things easier.
Starting a website used to be difficult.
“Webmasters” required many tools in order to design, code, and deploy a site.
Content management systems put all these tasks behind a user-friendly interface.
Now anyone can publish on the web.
(Anyone.)
Web teams can package an empty website template (design + code) and quickly hand it over to subject matter experts.
The subject matter experts use the simple CMS entry tools to add content (no code or design skills required).
There was increased site consistency (branding) and sites could be updated often.
Everyone was happy.
Businesses quickly adopted the CMS model.
Except…
The content was crap.mostly
Many web projects follow this process.
Experienced web teams use a more formal process.
When did we write all this important text?
Right before the site launch.
A CMS reinforces the existing process.
A CMS with a functional design template is handed off to the site owners as a packaged product.
All the “work” is focused on building the tool, not what goes into the tool.
Content strategists suggest a new process.
WHY WILL TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS MAKE GREAT CONTENT STRATEGISTS?
Tom Johnson
I’d Rather Be Writing (idratherbewriting.com)
“Content strategy is clearly gaining momentum as a discipline alongside other disciplines related to tech comm, such as content management, information architecture, usability, and information design.”
Web content often uses three rhetorical modes.
Technical communicators can apply rhetorical principles to creating web content that is
This semester, we surveyed the following topics.
Important abilities of a content strategist include
THE BOTTOM LINE.
daniel spillers
“We are learning how to be thoughtful and effective communicators. Becoming a content strategist would also let us plan and control the entire lifecycle of any content we create: how it is used, changed, and retired.”
DANIEL SPILLERS
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
@almostdaniel
almostdaniel.com