Which of these would be the best way to speak to your audience? "Thoughts? Send 'em our way." "To submit a comment, please complete the form below." The answer: It depends. You need to define your voice and tone to determine which approach is appropriate. If you're...
We hear stories all the time—on TV, in songs, from friends. At its core, a story is simply a way of conveying information. But a story is more powerful than that. The difference between telling a story and reciting facts is that a story stays with you longer. We don't...
I love it when a plan comes together. —Hannibal Smith, The A-Team Have you decided it's time to create a content strategy? Ready, set...plan. The first stage of a content strategy should be to plan; otherwise how would you know what you're trying to create a strategy...
I've written before about what a content strategist does, but the field of content strategy continues to evolve—and splinter. Take a look at these definitions that Ahava Leibtag put together (nice job, Ahava!): Those give you some idea of the breadth of the roles and...
Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology at Duke, recently tweeted: "If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine." I think that sums up why data should be a part of your content strategy. I wrote a post for TriUXPA on how to use...
I wrote a post for Triangle UXPA's blog about how content strategy is essential in user experience design. Check it out: Content Strategy in User Experience Design: The Prophets in the Process
The content inventory is the unsung hero of content strategy – it’s an invaluable tool for content planning, but few people want to hike that deep into forest. It can get scary out there. I'll admit it: creating a content inventory is monotonous work. But the value of...
If you want a successful content project, start with step one. Before the content launches, before the writing begins -- before anything, really -- start with content requirements. Content requirements can be simple. Sometimes called a content brief, the document's...
In Don't Make Me Think, an excellent book on usability basics, Steve Krug talks about a trunk test. The gist: if you were stuffed in the trunk of a car, moved to a location, and then let out of the trunk, could you figure out where you are? The idea in relation to Web...