Helpful Hints for Writing on the Web

Over the years I have had the opportunity to teach many classes on different content management systems. While teaching folks about the steps they will use in order to get their content onto a site, I also found that many didn't understand how to write an article for the web. They didn't understand the differences that are needed for the web versus a newspaper. So I have put together a short list of helpful hints to get someone started. It is by no means a complete list but functional enough to make a difference. Please note that the more you think about your audience and the content, you will naturally start to drift towards the User Experience side of the web, there is a lot of natural overlapping.

1. Use Headlines- like a newspaper you want to grab someones attention and get them interested in your article. According to a Google expert, you have 5 seconds to impress. A very short time on the web to make your case, so do it quickly.
2. Use Headings to create natural breaks in the article. Do you have several points to clarify? Use headings to separate each point to make sure it stands out.
3. Use Bulleted lists- they are easiest to read and get your point across quickly.
4. Scannable- Make your article scannable. Make the structure and the points of action clear and easy to read.
5. Keep your audience in Mind - is this information useful? keep it short, direct and to the point.
6. Print it out. Give your audience the option to print it out. Not all folks have the time to read online, nor do they enjoy it. So give them the option to take your article with them.
7. Scrolling- If you can help it, try not to scroll vertically, keeping your readers attention. NEVER allow for horizontal scrolling.
8. Use visuals- Graphs, charts etc are always welcome to help drive your points home.
9. Don't center your text- people don't read that way.
10. Be clear on the actions you want the audience to take. If you want them to read more, then create a clear link for them to do so.

As I said before this is list to get new content writers started. I will be adding more on these topics in the upcoming months.

Ask the user

I was reading a good article from Social Computing Magazine by David Le Strat. The article discusses what is wrong with today's ECM where they may fall short but also how they can succeed. It explains that ECM (Enterprise Content Management Systems) are "playing perpetual catch-up to the ever changing behaviors of their knowledge worker". I wonder why is that. I'm sure there are alot of reasons as to why. But one answer seemed to pop into my head. Ask. Why don't people just ask the users what they want and how they work to create a solution that works for the user in the first place. Not the project sponsor, the user.

Last week I attend a webinar called "the Unexpected Retention Tool" presented by 1 to 1 media. Great Speaker, good topic and clear results presented. The unexpected retention tool, was to listen to your customers. In otherwords, ask. Ask your customer what is important to them to help build loyalty. Ask your customer what they need from your company to feel like they have received "excellent" customer service. And ask what can your company can do to continue to improve.

Do companies forget what it is like to be the customer? Do project sponsors forget what it is like to be the user? Save yourselves some trouble and just ask. Remember don't assume, it makes an ass out of you and me.

How to Motivate Content Managers

While reading Paul Chin's article on the 3 Stages of Content managers, it got me thinking about tips to keep Content Managers motivated, so they don't get to the "put me out of my misery years".

Understanding your audience.
Most folks don't volunteer to be a content manager, it is usually assigned to them. They could be assigned this new role because their department manager thinks they might have some room on their plate, or maybe they have good time management skills and they would be an asset to the role. But more than likely it goes to the "catch-all" person in the administration support position. Whatever the reason this person was chosen, chances are good they don't want to do this.

What's in it for me?
If you want a Content Managers to be enthusiastic about their new role, you have to demonstrate "what's in it for me". Help content managers understand what this new role could mean to them. That it can add to their writing skills, graphic skills, give them an understanding of Content Management Systems, workflow, content life-cycle etc. These are good skills to add to a resume making them more marketable and valuable to their team.

Content Control
Don't take a passive approach to good content. Teach Content Managers that there are great advantages to being able to maintain a site. Having good reliable content can gain them a positive reputation and possibly reflect in their annual review. Understanding the full content lifecycle will allow them to gain time management and quality control skills. Setting up a schedule to upload and expire content will help ensure that your content is fresh, up to date and reliable. And fresh new content will keeping users coming back.

Creativity
Not all jobs have a lot of creativity. Show Content Managers that they have control of not only over the text but the layout, graphics, and headlines. While staying within the style and web standards guidelines of your companies' intranet, there are ways to be creative as a Content Manager. You can change out graphics, add pictures, highlight important information and update layouts. You can also be creative with your writing. Play around with your options to get users to continue to come back to your site.

By giving people ideas to make this "dreaded" situation advantageous to them, it may inspire Content Managers to remain enthusiastic in their new role longer. It may even give them a new direction.

Content Migration-Yikes!

I read this great white paper the other day by James Robertson of Step Two. In it he goes over some great concepts and preparatory work that must to go into your project for a large scale content migration. Content migration: options and strategies.

I read the article and then thought "Hey, I just worked on a project just like that." So here are some of my thoughts in response to James' white paper.

1. Planning: You can never do enough of this. And part of the planning phase needs to include Stakeholder agreement and support. Tell the VPs and Directors of departments you need X number of content managers for X amount of time, BEFORE you start the project. It sets expectations on the resources needed for the project. Create a Content Owner Agreement, stating if this department wishes to have a presence on the intranet this is what they are required to do.

2. Automated Migration: The Automated migration sounds great but can be completely disastrous if you have not completed proper pilot for the migration. Do not choose a small site in which to run the pilot. And if you have more than one source of content. Most big companies that do not have good intranets. Content can be found on both the CMS and front page homegrown sites making the automation process impossible. So you may have to come up with a few strategies for each type of content.

Content Migration can be a life safer for some companies, finally have one place to find information, saving time doing endless searches and having your new CMS system work better with your existing tools. But you need to be prepared before taking on a project of this magnitude. Plan Carefully.

Social Media and Intranets

I just attended an online webinar about Social Media. It was called “Get Past the Social Media Hype” and presented by 1to1 media. I found it very informative. The subtopics included community building, content sharing and content syndication. All of this was presented well and made a lot of sense. And for me, it gave me a lot of ideas and thoughts. Please check it out.

However one of the presenters made an umbrella statement about Social Media and Intranets that truly surprised me. It was "an internal blog will replace the company's intranet". They went on to explain that CEO blogs are increasingly important and popular. It allows employees to find out what is happening inside the company. The blog is an excellent way to market internally to employees letting them know about new products, launches and direction the company is going. But can a blog that completely replace a company's intranet?

I know the webinar was presented with marketers in mind as the main consumer of this content, so I am not the intended audience. But a blog to replace a whole intranet is misleading statement to make. Blogs can be an essential part of an intranet but not to take over the entire thing. Most Intranets serve many functions within the company. Intranets can be used collaboratively, like on projects. It can be used to engage employees, as document repository or to increase employee productivity.

While it is obvious that blogs will help engage employees and help teams collaborate on projects, but how will it increase employee productivity? How will a blog help the employee do their job? It is great for providing information and opinion but what about job process and documentation?

I believe that Social Media is vital to the collaboration and information sharing across a company. And it will be a huge benefit to employees when a company decides to add these features to grow the organization. Social Media and Intranets should work together, seamlessly as components of a knowledge repository of a company, not as competitors.

Governance- Seriously who is in charge?!

When first dealing with intranets years ago, one could assume that anything IT/Web related must belong to the IT department. However times have changed and other departments such as marketing and communications even HR are interested in the intranet. But as one department learns more about intranet and how this business tool can be used for their objectives, it becomes clear that no one department should have final say over the intranet. It belongs to everyone. This is the company's universal tool. So when creating structure around the intranet it is important to understand what current uses are and how the company can grow it.

I just completed an assignment for a large Pharmaceutical company where the governance of the intranet belonged to the Communications department. Part of the difficulty of managing something like the intranet many times you or your department will only focus on what the tool can do for you, and not the company as a whole. Each department has very different needs.

That is why I have suggested to several large companies that I have consulted for, to have a council system set up for the governance:

1. The Governance council should be composed of departments that use the intranet and wish to grow it. They can be IT, Communications and a third department like HR or Marketing.
2. The Governance council should consist of very high powered and influential stakeholders in the company, otherwise it will lose momentum and relevance.
3. The Governance council should be directly connected to the steering/operations committee via the program executive.
4. The Steering committee should be a direct representation of the business users. The idea being departments/regions/locations will be represented on this committee.
5. The program executive will be the "go between" the steering committee and the governance council.

The reasoning behind this structure is to make sure all voices are heard (steering), the direction of the intranet reflects the goals and values of the company(governance) and the tool is truly useful to many. When the governance structure is dominated by one group it tends to only serve those in that group. By making a more structured council system it will lead to a more balanced, marriage-like approach to running and overseeing intranets, especially global ones.

Where to begin

Intranets are often overlooked as a great employee tool and knowledge resource. For many reasons intranets are the low man on the priority list of many companies. This blog is being developed as a place for businesses and consultants to gain knowledge on how to make their intranets better. Welcome!