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Archive for the ‘Style Guides and Such’ Category
For anyone who works with content, knowing how to format a web content document—or simply how to read it—is a crucial step in successful content creation.
Why? Because without a clearly structured web content document, you run the risk of confusing your content reviewers, designers, and developers. And that confusion can lead to mistakes and frustration—stuff that could end up manifesting itself on your website.
Remember, a web content document isn’t just used by web writers, even though they are often the people who create and manage it.
Content reviewers use it to make copy edits and review messaging/tone. Designers use it to get the right copy into their design mock-ups. Developers use it to determine which copy appears as links on the actual website, and when to display dynamic content—for example, content that goes live on a specific date.
Here are a few of the formatting essentials you’ll need to cover to make sure your web content document (commonly called a “copy deck”) works for everyone on your marketing and/or creative team(s):
Links and buttons
You can count on link and/or button copy to be in just about every web content document you work with. As you probably know, this is the content that takes the user to a new page, cross-references relevant information, or helps a user complete a task.
You’ll need to choose a style for representing links and buttons in your document. Our standard is to format this copy as blue, underlined text. This tends to be the industry standard, too.
Examples:
Read the Brain Traffic blog
Submit your request
If you do decide to format the links and buttons in your document in a different style, make sure it’s clear—and that everyone on your team knows what it is. Keep in mind that straying from the norm might confuse reviewers, designers, and developers used to working with the standard blue, underlined text style convention.
Regardless of the style you choose, follow the link and button text in your content document with its destination, which will likely be based on a site map or an external URL.
Examples:
Site map page ID:
Submit your request <link to 2.2>
External URL:
Read the Brain Traffic blog <link to http://blog.braintraffic.com/>
Descriptive content labels
If your copy isn’t properly labeled within your content document, designers and developers working with the document can have a difficult time figuring out which copy goes where.
So, make sure to identify all the content pieces on each page. For example, put the label "Heading" above your page headline, "Body copy" above the main content, and "Right column copy" above content that lives on this part of the web page. Or use whatever labeling convention your agency or organization may already have established.
Example:
The key is making sure the labels are clear and easy to understand for everyone referencing your document.
Dynamic content
Content that may change or is dependent on functionality conditions is often referred to as "dynamic" content. For instance, if you’re working on a project that includes content that launches on different dates or should only be displayed based on certain requirements (maybe after a user logs in, for example), your document will need to specifically state when to display that content.
I recommend writing a short note to the developer above the specific piece of dynamic content. Describe the rule for displaying it—for example, "only display this content for California residents."
I write these notes in gray text, so it’s easy for developers to skim and find them throughout the content document.
Example:
<Note to developers: Display this link on 1/1/2010>
See our 2010 plans<link to 3.4>
Meta data
Those of you well-versed in web content know what meta data is, but let’s do a quick review. It refers to specific information developers need to make your content searchable.
Meta data includes:
· Meta title (the title of the content page, which appears in your internet browser)
· Meta description (a keyword-loaded description of the content page)
· Meta keywords (words that refer to specific topics on the content page and make it easily findable)
A web writer or SEO expert is usually responsible for creating this information. Whether or not you create ityourself, you’ll need to include meta data in your content document. Which means you might also need to format this content, especially if you receive the meta data in a different type of document, like Microsoft Excel.
It’s a good idea to place the meta data in a separate section of your content document—say, at the top of each page—so it’s clearly distinguished from the actual web copy.
Example:
Remember, the web content document you create isn’t just black-and-white. Sometimes it’s blue. And underlined. With notes. Because that’s what works.
Posted in Content Strategy, Style Guides and Such, Uncategorized, Web Content, Web Writing
Welcome to this week’s edition of links we like. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
In Defense of Readers
YES! Users want content, which means the design of readability is very important. This post on A List Apart takes a careful, insightful look at how users read.
Make your Firefox work for you
We could all use some shortcuts, no?
Mind-mapping content strategy
It’s the first we’ve seen.
SEO and survival
We’d like to add that you also need a good content strategy.
How One Little Letter Can Sabotage Your Meaning
Editing still matters—spelling and grammar go a long way in helping readers understand your content. Even in the age of spell check, you must choose your words, and use your words, carefully.
Social media secrets
This ClickZ blog post, combined with a great MIMA event today by Jeff Rohrs from ExactTarget, are good reminders that you aren’t in control when it comes to social media. And that’s a good thing. It means people are interacting with your content. And, well, isn’t that the point?
Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, Style Guides and Such, User Experience, Web Writing
You may remember Kristina's post about style guides. Style guides make writers happy because they can follow the rules the first time, and they make businesses happy because the writers are speaking the language. And hammering out style details at the beginning saves needless time and expense to clean up these small details at the end of a large project.
As such, we writers have regular discussions about troubling words or troublesome tasks of cleaning up misunderstandings about capitalization, em dashes, and the like. Here's one of the latest, when we officially decided not to initial cap “internet” anymore, whether it’s used as a noun or an adjective.
As I recall, the decision came about something like this:
Angie 1.0 (me): Hey, everyone! Should we initial cap internet when we use it as a noun?
Angie 2.0: I don’t like capitalizing Internet. Or Web. Or InterWebs.
Katie: Yeah! I hate capping things.
Meghan: But didn’t we agree to initial cap “web” when we use it as a noun?
Angie 2.0: When did we agree to that?
Angie 1.0: Didn’t you get that email?
Meghan: Wired magazine doesn’t initial cap internet. And isn’t the rule about initial capping it in the process of changing?
Angie 2.0: And Wired is on the cutting edge of that change.
Angie 1.0: Right. Eventually nobody will initial cap internet.
Erin: Once the dictionaries catch up.
Meghan: Yes, let’s be on the cutting edge of change!
Everyone: Yeah!
Angie 1.0: Remember that movie The Net with Sandra Bullock?
Erin: Wasn’t that about identity theft on the internet?
Angie 2.0: Yeah, something like that. Do we have to initial cap “Net” when we use it as a noun?
Katie: We are NOT using “the Net.” Under any circumstances.
Everyone: YEAH!
A quick perusal of a few industry blogs revealed an inconsistent style on initial capping internet. So we turned to Wired for some guidance. In 2004, it declared that on its pages internet and web (and net) would not be initial capped anymore. We’re happy to officially join the trend—since we believe it will become a rule anyway.
It’s definitely becoming a rule in our house style guide.
Posted in Around the Office, Editorial Strategy, Style Guides and Such, Web Writing
I've been writing content for websites for 11 years.
I've worked on well over two hundred websites, maybe close to three hundred.
And how many times have I had a style guide to reference for a web content project?
Six.
Of those six style guides, exactly one of them was of any real use to me. (Thank you, Medtronic.)
Our brands are constantly evolving. New products are launched, old ones retired. Services expand and shift. Trademarks, usage, legal requirements . . . for some of us, it's a full-time job just to keep up with them.
No wonder, then, that our web content is always a few steps behind. Inaccurate, irrelevant, outdated, disorganized.
How can you prevent crappy web content?
You know what I'm going to say, here. The most important thing you can do to ensure useful, usable online content is to create a web content strategy.
But the second most important thing? Invest in a web content style guide that's actually useful to the people who are creating, reviewing and approving your content.
In her indispensable guide to writing web content, Letting Go of the Words, Ginny Redish devotes an entire chapter to creating what she calls an "organic" web content style guide. Here are some highlights:
- Start small. Let your style guide grow as issues and questions arise.
- Don't repeat the entire universe. There are dozens of great style guides out there for grammar and usage. Pick one, and point to it in yours.
- Focus on issues that keep coming up. Your web writers likely have the same questions over and over. Make a decision, record it, and move on.
- Put someone in charge. The style guide isn't going to update itself. Make sure someone owns it and is accountable for its accuracy, every day.
- Put it online. This is a no-brainer. It's your most accessible, flexible, most cost-efficient option. In fact, a wiki might be a perfect option for your organization. Just make sure it has an owner to oversee its evolution.
Don't forget voice and tone.
I'll add one more pointer:
- Demonstrate your brand voice and tone. I'm always frustrated by brand guidelines that tell writers to be "authentic," "conversational," "professional," "friendly" . . . these words mean different things to different writers, and they're useless when you're simultaneously trying to communicate information that has to be helpful, compelling, actionable and scannable. So don't just describe voice and tone. Demonstrate it. Create a list of words to use, and words NOT to use. Show before and after edits. Point to other websites that capture the spirit of what you're after.
Creating and managing web content is a complicated enough undertaking. Simplify the process with a style guide people will actually use.
Want help creating a web content style guide? Brain Traffic's expert team of web editors and writers would love to pitch in. Contact us.
Posted in Editorial Strategy, Style Guides and Such, Web Writing
