Archive | Writing For Web

#heweb10 - Content Strategy: Key to Effective Web Content

Rick Allen (@epublishmedia) began his session with the statement: “The moment you add content to a website, you become a publisher. Shouldn’t you act like one?”

Continue reading...

Content Strategy Roles and You

For all of the web shops out there that are already set up with eight different people devoted to the content strategy process for your university - see you later. You probably don’t need to worry about today’s post. For the rest of you (by which, I think we’re still talking about nearly everyone), well, [...]

Continue reading...

Web Analytics for HelpDesks and Trainers

If some of you have been wondering if I have perhaps dropped off the face of the earth, wonder no more.  Between parenting responsibilities and accepting a new position within the my university, I have had my hands full.  But now that the dust has settled, I am finally able to get back on track [...]

Continue reading...

Content Strategy is More than Marketing Strategy

I know that many of you are in the same camp as me when it comes to the ideal way of setting up effective web governance. The prime idea being that “web communications,” as a discipline and as an organizational unit, isn’t something that answers solely to marketing, public relations, or information technology. When you [...]

Continue reading...

Content Management Manifesto

It is the ocean. A never-ending sea of waves, storms, battles, and challenges. Where we think we see an island of solitude, it’s merely an illusion brought on by fatigue and frustration. What is it? Managing the content of our web sites. First piece of advice, go read Kristina Halvorson’s Content Strategy for the Web. [...]

Continue reading...

Talk Documentation to Me

If you’ve ever had a conversation with me that lasted longer than a few minutes, you know the one thing that will keep me talking is end-user documentation.  Whether you are writing documentation for your implementation of a CMS, a migration from one application to another, or simple instructions on using a Web form or [...]

Continue reading...

Organic Search: Make Their Efforts Work for You

As higher ed professionals, we learn to juggle many hats and tasks. Some wanted, some not. As we struggle to implement the latest social technologies and integrate personalized content, we may not have time to be well versed in SEO techniques or the importance of organic search. Why should we take the time to figure [...]

Continue reading...

Spring Cleaning: Finding your lost sock. The guide to content audits.

So how long has it been since you did a Web content audit on your institution’s homepage? A year? Two? Never? I’m not talking about just surfing from page to page making sure everything checks out but a real content inventory of every page and inspection of the content quality.

Continue reading...

3 Things Higher Ed Can Learn from the iPad (for Better or Worse)

I’ve been thinking about this one ever since the big announcement came. Rather than give Apple the halo effect or the horn effect and hold it up as the model of what to do or what not to do, I thought these few lessons were a bit of both:

Continue reading...

Best practices for training content contributors

The driving force of any web site is the content contributors, the people who know every detail of their department and hold the key to student success. These are the people you want publishing web content. What they have is value, the closer you can get them to the content creation process the better.

Continue reading...