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Writing error messages and instructional text isn’t exactly a sexy undertaking. Which is part of the reason it often gets left to the last minute.

Here’s an example of why that’s a really bad idea. I recently encountered this screen while reviewing my domain name renewal information (click on the image to enlarge):

I spent about two minutes here (which was about a minute and 45 seconds too long) trying to decipher the phrase “Bad username and/or password.” Because although I definitely had an account with the company, I couldn’t recall whether I’d previously activated my online customer service profile.

So I wasn’t clear on whether A) this was the place to create a username/password for that account and my entry wasn’t strong enough, or B) the username/password I entered simply didn’t match what I’d used to create the account.

Furthermore, I couldn’t tell whether the culprit was my username or my password, thanks to the clear-as-mud “and/or.”

Your users don’t notice your content unless it’s not working.
When you don’t take the time to carefully craft these seemingly dull and insignificant pieces of content, you end up with vague instructions and dead-end words like “bad.” And before long, you’ve got customers like me who are ready to jump ship. 

On the other hand, when this kind of supporting copy is carefully planned for and constructed, it disappears completely into the experience. Your users don’t even notice it’s there. And that’s a good thing.

Remember: Your users expect perfection online. Or close to it, anyway. Why? Because nobody’s there in person or on the phone to guide them as questions arise. Which means your content has to anticipate those questions and provide answers at every turn. Make sure you’re always one step ahead with clear, actionable copy.

So, make your content work harder.
If this all sounds like a big job, well, it is. Writers agonize over stuff like error messages, links, and headlines every day. Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet for writing killer instructional copy. Finding the right words depends on factors such as your audience, your business goals, your user needs, and your brand voice.

If you don’t have access to the kinds of metrics or processes that provide concrete insights, you can still cover many of your bases by asking yourself: 

• What questions does our current copy raise as users are trying to complete a particular task?

• What are the implications of changing this word or deleting this phrase?

• In how many different ways could this message be interpreted?

• How can we minimize ambiguity?

• How can we simplify or streamline?

• Would a graphic be more helpful here than a word or sentence? 

Even without tangible data to back up your changes, you’ll catch many of those careless copy oversights that frustrate your users and undermine business goals.

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Posted in Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Content, Web Writing

There’s a big fuss being made over the fact that Mr. Rupert Murdoch has said that his media empire will "probably remove our sites from Google’s index."

How DARE he hide his content behind the iron curtain of non-indexing?

Murdoch isn’t stupid. (Old and confused, yes. Stupid? Not so much.) He’s talking about making a seriously bold move, here, in the interest of keeping his empire from crumbling. So why are people freaking out?

It’s JUST WRONG. Right?
When the religion of the Web is that you can find anything you want, from anywhere, at any time, Murdoch’s plan is straight-up blasphemous.

With this in mind, our faithful interviewer asked, "One of the key, underlying principles of the Internet is that anyone from anywhere in the world can access information freely. Wouldn’t this change mean people have to afford it?"

Murdoch replied, "They’re already paying for newspapers. And anyone can afford a newspaper, they’re the cheapest things in the world. Electronically, it will be even cheaper."

(This cracks me up, because, of course, the majority of the world’s population either can’t afford newspapers or simply don’t have access to them …  at least, newspapers that offer unbiased, quality reporting.)

Here’s what Rupert thinks you should do.
Generally, Murdoch wants you to know that his content is actually Quality Content because he employs real reporters, real writers, and real editors who offer experienced, insightful points of view. Which, of course, is true. However, this argument also implies that people shouldn’t go looking for "quality content" on search engines. No, no. You should go straight to an established publisher’s website.

Unfortunately, the internets don’t care so much about the "should"s. There’s a reason Google gets about a bajillion times more traffic than every publication website in the world … combined.

More than anything else, Murdoch is counting on his current readership’s loyalty to his brands. He admits, though, that he’s not sure what that’s going to look like in five, ten, twenty years… which means that this ends up looking more like a Hail Mary pass than anything else.

Rupert, dear, you can’t kill search.
Online readers typically know what they’re looking for, and they want the fastest way to get it. They want to be educated or entertained. They want their questions answered, their lives made easier. They have the Google or Yahoo! or MSN toolbar built into their browsers. They’re going to use it.

Murdoch doesn’t seem to get this, or care. The rest of the world, of course, does. Including you. You’ve been obsessed with SEO and page rankings for years. You don’t have the option of breaking up with Google.

However, you also shouldn’t be so obsessed with Google that you neglect to remember this all-important fact: getting your content indexed by the search engines isn’t enough to win eyeballs that matter. Just because your users can find your content doesn’t mean you’ve won your battle.

Content first. Google second.
Here’s where you can take a page from our friend Rupert and start placing significant value on content people will care about. Editorial oversight. Quality research. Quality writing. These things actually do matter. They inspire trust and motivate action.

Getting to quality content is worth your organization’s investment: time, budget, people. Because once your readers arrive from Google, they’ll either like what they see and stick around for a bit, or lunge for the back button.

Remember, people: If you have a website, you’re a publisher. If you participate in social media, you’re a publisher. If you create emails, help text, product descriptions … you’re a publisher.

You may not be selling content, but your content is selling you. Google won’t solve your problems. Of course, ignoring Google won’t, either …  sorry, Rupert.

P.S.
I just have to add this little gem: In the interview, Murdoch says that public broadcasting should be of the highest quality, which commercial broadcasting can’t afford to be. Then he tells us that " most of the stuff [public broadcasting does] is stolen from the newspapers now. And we’ll be suing them for copyright. They’ll have to spend a lot more money paying a lot more reporters when they can’t steal from newspapers."

Old. Confused. Sigh.

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Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, Uncategorized, User Experience, Web Content, Web Writing

Whether you’re a writer, editor or content strategist, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about how to effectively reach your audience. Maybe you pore over personas and case studies for inspiration. But there’s probably one resource you’re not considering—you! As a web user, you can be your own content expert.

Think about it. You know what an effective user experience feels like when you come across it: An instantly identifiable objective. Clean, concise copy. Benefits front-and-center. Easy navigation and clear task instructions.

Sure, style guides and success metrics are important tools for creating better content. But as a web writer and editor, I’ve learned that considering my own user experience every step of the way is one of the best strategies for success.

Here are some tips for developing your inner content expert.

Change your perception of web writing
We all hear a lot about the differences between print writing and web writing. Overall, web writing has to be more concise—scannable, task-driven, presented in bulleted lists, etc.—than print copy.

On the surface those differences seem pretty straightforward. I mean, when it comes down to it, good writing is good writing, right?

Not exactly. Web writing is a whole other animal. It needs to work in harmony with the design and information architecture to create a seamless user experience. It needs to help people DO something. And once you recognize that, you might need to change your approach to creating content.

How? By answering this one simple—but very important—question:

Is this something I’d want to read?

In other words, if I landed on this web page and read the copy, would it hold my attention? Would I get the information I need to complete my task? It may sound like common sense, but this approach can make a huge difference in the quality of your web content. Trust me.

White space is your friend
You’ve most likely visited a website filled with paragraph after paragraph of copy. And you’ve most likely zoned out, stopped reading, and maybe even left the site. I know I have.

Keep this in mind when you’re creating your content. If you can, see how it looks in a design mock-up. How dense do those paragraphs appear? Does the copy length seem intimidating and time-consuming? Would you read it if you were trying to complete a task in the midst of juggling a million other things, as your users likely are?

If not, start slashin’. Create some white space. Web users want to find what they need as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next task. They don’t want to spend a lot of time sifting through unnecessary copy to find the information they really need.

Remember, attention spans are short. Make sure your content keeps readers engaged.

Say something that matters
Concise copy alone isn’t enough. Bulleted lists don’t guarantee good web content. You still need to make sure the limited words on the page actually help users do what they came to do or learn what they came to learn. We’re talking product or service benefits, clear instructional copy, user-friendly navigation nomenclature, etc.

When you’re trying to complete a task or order a product, you want the most direct path possible to making it happen. And that path can’t be cluttered with mission statements or "why we’re great" language—unless it supports what you’re trying to do. Does this content help you make a purchase decision? Complete your task?

Great web content is about so much more than just brevity. It’s about choosing the right words (and sometimes showing rather than telling with good design) to support an effective user experience that will keep people coming back for more.

Keep this in mind when creating your own content. It’s not about the story you want to tell—it’s about what the user wants to know. Talk to them, not at them.

Now get out there and create some killer web content. You’re the expert, after all.

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Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing

I love this sign.

I pass by it every day on my way to work. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but this sign is huge. I’d guess it’s six or seven feet tall.

I love it because it communicates information that’s useful to me (store name and hours) in a manner that is conscious of how I will be reading the information (quickly, from a bus, bike, or car).

Everything works together. It has both good information and an easy- to-read design. It’s a good reminder to not forget the how and when, in addition to the what, when looking at content for your site.
 

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Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, Information Architecture, User Experience, Web Writing

A while ago, our fearless leader blogged about how technology can’t fix your content problems. Of course, I agree.

Sure, the CMS is important – the right one makes content publishing easier and the published pages more consistent. But it can’t ensure that your content is useful and usable. Only a person or team of people can do that.

Consider this smaller-scale example:

I just read a blog post by Ben Parr on mashable about an online resume builder tool – JobSpice – that he describes as shockingly simple to use.

It does look pretty darn easy to use, making it a great way to create a dapper dandy resume. It’s as easy as filling in the blanks. Cool. It’s sorta like a CMS. Just enter your content, check some boxes, add some parameters, and ta da: Content. Published.

But, the person building the resume still needs to think about what content goes in the blanks. Right? The shockingly simple tool can’t do that. Neither can a CMS. A person has to determine:

• Who is the resume for?

• What kind of job am I looking for?

• What will the employer care about?

• What do I want them to do after reading my resume?

Real, live people are the key to content that meets users’ needs and drives results. And that’s where content strategy comes in. It answers the questions that help ensure your content – however it gets published – hits the mark.
 

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Posted in Content Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing

The simplest sentences and websites take the most thought. Ruthlessly revising and deleting is the hallmark of great writing — and how you keep readers on your site. Jakob Nielsen reports that readers read at most only 20 to 28 percent of the contents on a web page. Many stay for less than FOUR SECONDS.

To reiterate: You have FOUR SECONDS OR LESS to show a user that you have the information that he or she is looking for. Anything that’s not entirely relevant or usable has got to go. Or your user’s gonna leave your site.

Knowing that, here’s some advice from the pros that I rely upon when I’m getting too wordy:

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
Ernest Hemingway

“Words, like glass, obscure when they do not aid vision.”
Joseph Joubert

My favorite book on writing is On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. The lessons are incredibly relevant, even if the bulk of the book was written before the dawn of the internet. There are a million golden rules on every page, but it’s not overwhelming. I’ve highlighted nearly everything in the book.

Here’s what’s most relevant in terms of the work we do every day:

“Clutter is the official language used by corporations . . .

Beware, then, of the long word that’s no better than the short word:
•    assistance (help)
•    numerous (many)
•    facilitate (ease)
•    individual (man or woman)
•    remainder (rest)
•    initial (first)
•    implement (do)
•    sufficient (enough)
•    attempt (try)
•    referred to as (called)
•    and hundreds more

Beware of slippery new fad words: paradigm and parameter, prioritize and potentialize. They are all weeds that smother what you write. Don’t dialogue with someone you can talk to. Don’t interface with anybody.”

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Posted in Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Content, Web Writing

Now that the social media tools that define Web 2.0 have moved into the mainstream—and believe me, it’s mainstream now that our moms are on Facebook—the interactive community has moved on to the next big thing: Web 3.0.

Recently I’ve seen an increase in tweets and blogs about the topic. After trying to follow the conversation, I had to admit to myself I didn’t really know what “web 3.0” meant. So I decided to see what the buzz was all about.

Here’s your crash course in Web 3.0, in case you were wondering, too.

What is Web 3.0?
The first thing you should know is that the definition of Web 3.0 is still a little murky.

Here’s what some people are saying about it:

• "Web 3.0 is about making the web a more personal web. [It’s] an internet that can anticipate my needs, understand my meaning and even allow me to find information better than ever. " Judy Shapiro, Ad Age

•  " The core idea behind Web 3.0 is to extract much more meaningful, actionable insight from information. The goal of Web 3.0 is to reorganize information so users can capture what things are and how they are related."  Web 3.0 Conference site

• "… Web 3.0 is about open and more structured data – which essentially makes the Web more ‘intelligent’. The smarter the data, the more things we can do with it. The current trends we’re seeing today – filtering content, real-time data, personalization – are evidence that ‘Web 3.0′ is upon us, if not yet well defined." Richard MacManus, Read Write Web

Web 3.0 is also sometimes called the semantic web. But sometimes the semantic web is referred to as a component of Web 3.0. Like I said: murky.

Why could  Web 3.0 be awesome?
According to the various definitions out there, we’re on the verge of the BEST INTERWEBS EVER. In a nutshell, it sounds like Web 3.0 aims to be a customized information delivery system that intuitively caters to your every want and need—wherever you are.

Yes, this includes more and better mobile apps. And not just for the iPhone. (Please? Thank you.)

According to the Web 3.0 Conference people, the benefits of Web 3.0 are totally rad:
 

• This seemingly simple concept will have a profound effect at every level of information consumption, from the individual end user to the enterprise.

• Web 3.0 technologies make the organization of information radically more fluid and allow for new types of analysis based on things like text semantics, machine learning, and what we call serendipity — the stumbling upon insights based on just having better organized and connected information.

Why might Web 3.0 Suck?
Besides the inherent fear that a “smart” web is the first step to a Terminator-style robot revolution, some valid concerns have been raised about Web 3.0.

Recently, Advertising Age’s Judy Shapiro wrote a blog to express her concerns. Her post “In Web 3.0 We Trust – or Not” explores the need to integrate the human element of trust into the forthcoming “intelligent” web.

She writes that Web 3.0 risks disaster:

"… because as our dependence on the internet grows, a lack of trust will unravel any or all of the marvelous innovations being conceived now.

What good is more linked data when we have no idea which data to trust? Wouldn’t you rather get a product recommendation from a trusted friend than a "paid" digital butler, ah, I mean agent?"
 

Besides wondering whether we can trust the content Web 3.0 serves up, we’ll also struggle with issues of privacy. In order to make the data more customized, Web 3.0 gadgets will need to gather more of our personal information. Which begs the questions:

• What will they do with our personal information?

•  Will it be protected?

• How will we know?

Will we like Web 3.0?
I think that depends, on many factors. And of course it will be heavily influenced by personal choice.

Factors to consider:
 

• Will the technology deliver what it promises? Gadgets are cool, but only if they work.

• How will the technology change our lives, in a tangible way? It has to be intuitive and easy-to-use to improve our everyday lives.

• Can we overcome the feelings of mistrust brought on by an “intelligent” web? We have to be able to trust the content it serves up—and trust that our private information is protected.

• How does Web 3.0’s focus on technology affect the need for publishing useful, useable content? This last factor is the most important, in my opinion.

Here’s what Rachel Lovinger, Content Strategy Lead at Razorfish, has to say about the influence of Web 3.0 on content:

“The promise is that [Web 3.0 is] going to help make content more readily accessible. So, the call-to-arms for content strategy is a big one. Like my tweet quoting Tom Tague [from his keynote at the Semantic Technology Conference on June 16], there’s a lot of content, not enough information.

Web 3.0 is going to help the good stuff rise to the top, but in order for that to happen, there has to be good stuff.”

Exactly. We need to continue planning for content the same way we’ve always needed to—but with more urgency. But don’t worry. Brain Traffic can help. Just give us a call. (The telephone may be so Web 0.0, but it’ll still work in Web 3.0. Promise.)
 

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Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, Information Architecture, Resources, User Experience, Web Content, Web Writing

I saw this sign during a recent trip to Midtown Global Market.

I liked it for the following reasons:

• It clearly communicated that there was still a play area but it had been moved.
• It helped me understand where I was in the market (northeast)  and where I would need to go (southwest).
• The graphic gave me additional information (rather than acting as unnecessary decoration) and reinforced which direction I should go to find the play area.
• The design isn’t any fancier than it needs to be. It’s clear, simple, and readable from a distance. 

There are only two improvements I could offer:

• Use sentence case to improve the readability.
• Change relocated to moved. Same message, only simpler.

Nice job, Midtown.

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Posted in Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing

I've been getting a lot of messages in my mailbox lately from CEOs and the like trying to reassure me about the state of their business. No, your money didn't go towards that $30,000 antique rug in my office. I swear.

A great example of this phenomenon is a recent TV campaign with Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. In it, he strolls through Central Park in a luxe overcoat pitching a new product, all while empathizing about the "trying times" we're in. Bill Clinton feeling my pain this isn't.

Occasionally, we get asked at Brain Traffic to make space for this kind of thing as part of a larger content development project.

It seems like a lame holdover of a (much) older style of advertising . . . say from the 1950s. I guess I just can't get my Gen X brain around the idea that an appeal from authority is an effective way to retain a customer, let alone a good means to convert a sales prospect.

It's as if they think a few platitudes and a reassuring word from the Person in Charge can fix a deeper issue.

Well maybe it can, and maybe it can't. But I'm skeptical that putting executive marketing messages on your website is an effective way to soothe a nervous customer.

The customer is on your site to accomplish a task. Maybe they want to learn more about a product, or service an existing product. A leadership message doesn’t help accomplish that task. 

The best way to convince a customer that your company is still trustworthy is to prove it with action. Continue to provide value. Make the customer service process easy. Make it clear why you’re offering something your competitors aren’t.

As hard as it is for an old editor to say, there are times when content alone can't fix the problem.

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Posted in Content Strategy, Editorial Strategy, User Experience, Web Writing

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Posted in User Experience