Wednesday’s book marketing & promotion tip for authors
Kristina Halvorson’s Content Strategy for the Web describes a 5-step approach for authors and business owners who want to take their web presence to a new level. Her approach transcends the traditional approach to web content that emphasizes sales letters, landing pages, and traditional direct response copywriting techniques.
Content Strategy for the Web argues for a balanced, function-driven approach, rather than a manipulative approach. She takes a long-term, brand-driven approach, but does so in a way that avoids the abstractness of most books on the topic.
Instead of viewing every page of every website as a sales letter or a landing page asking for the sale, she emphasizes creating an ongoing content process that a can be applied to websites of all sizes.
What’s wrong with most web content?
Kristina states her agenda quite clearly:
For web content to be successful, it needs to meet users’ needs and support key business objectives. But, visit any website, and you’ll discover that much of the content doesn’t remotely accomplish either of these goals. It’s unnecessary. Overwritten. Irrelevant. In the Way.
She then goes on to outline the reasons for the current state of affairs, and what can be done to improve the situation without causing total warfare among the many parties who often share responsibility, but not authority, for a firm’s website.
Better content starts now
Quoting from Chapter 1, Kristina clearly states her position:
Your content can be better. Much better. And you don’t need months of planning, a million dollars, and a new staff to succeed. In fact, if you can commit to these five efforts, you can radically improve your organization’s web content in a fairly short amount of time.
Like the language used in the above quotation, her list is very simple:
- Do less, not more.
- Figure out what you have and where it’s coming from.
- Learn how to listen.
- Put someone in charge.
- Start asking, Why?
Content Strategy for the Web is not a long book, and its neither theoretical nor overly detailed. Kristina writes as a companion who’s interested in helping you improve your website as quickly and easily as possible. Complicated topics, like visitor personas and the basic principles of information architecture, are touched upon in a pleasant conversational tone.
One of the things I like most about Content Strategy for the Web is its clear organization, frequent subheads, and numerous questions and lists.
Content Strategy for the Web is also the first book where I have seen a practical discussion of page tables. Page tables take the concept of “design templates” and applies them to selecting and creating appropriate contents for different pages of a website. She writes: Page tables are done in Microsoft Word and can be created far more quickly than wireframes and prototypes. It’s also easy for stakeholders to edit and change, which is critical when there are tons of pages to review.
The page table example shown on page 96, by itself, justifies the cost of buying this book!
The rewards can be great
…until we commit to treating content as a critical asset worthy of strategic planning and meaning spend, we’ll continue to churn out worthless content in reaction to unmeasured requests. … Our customers still won’t find what they’re looking for. And we’ll keep failing to deliver useful content that people actually care about.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Content strategy will help you deliver content that inspires trust. Drives action. Builds loyalty. On time. On budget.
Somehow, when I read paragraphs like the above, I feel I’m reading the words of a 21-st century “digital E. B. White,” who communicates with the clarity and passion that characterize the classic The Elements of Style.
Who is Kristina Halvorson?
Kristina Halvorson is the president and founder of Brain Traffic, a site worth visiting and a blog worth reading. The site’s headline says it all: Smart, Useful Web Content. Finally. The site’s navigation and design are an excellent example of the book’s principles at work. Kristina is a popular presenter. This may be her first book, but it’s unlikely to be her last.
Content Strategy for the Web was published by New Rider’s, Voices that Matter. The book lives up to the publisher’s intention.
September 2, 2009
I couldn’t agree more with the point about putting someone in charge. I am often surprised by the haphazard web publishing procedures some companies have — even someone doing a bit of light editing can help give content a bit of character and, more importantly, identity.