Three qualities of good web content

by JO MARSICANO

What makes divine website content? A few well-chosen qualities.

Good website content must:

1) Have adequate substance

2) Be free of excess volume

3) Please the website user


Let's start with substance. In her book, Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson says all content must either support a key business objective or support a user/customer in completing a task. No one piece of content has the right to be published. Content must earn its way onto the site.

Carmichael Lynch Spong, a major PR firm, has a nice section on client success stories. The overall site needs some branding and design refinements, but the success story content is effective. It communicates Carmichael Lynch Spong's role in advancing its clients' objectives. Anyone seeking a large PR agency could read this section and learn more about the agency's key competencies.

Keep it lean. On websites, substance often means less volume, not more. Target Commercial Interiors does a beautiful job on its home page. A clear tag line surrounded by just six words and descriptive photos communicate the product in just seconds. We are directed to look just where we need to and are rewarded with relevant, compelling information.

Many websites are dense with content that distracts and confuses. We seem to equate volume with quality. Our real aim should be relevance and substance. When run through these filters, only the leanest content will make it onto the site.

Please the user. A client of mine drafted some web copy that would have required users to do more work than necessary. Her external links brought users to a site that required them to guess where to look next. They had to search and do more clicks to get to the ultimate page. I found the exact page URL's needed and then replaced the original links with those. Now, when users click on the links, they travel to precisely where the link tells them they'll go. We are supposed to get our users to their destination within 3 clicks. If we can pare that back to 1 or 2, all the better.

Give your users what they’re looking for. Value their time and their need for hassle-free web experiences. They'll reward you by returning and responding to your site.

All of this requires content disciplinarians. These three qualities are easy to understand but harder to accomplish. They require content professionals who carefully think, plan, and execute. They require conversations with clients and employers about the need for strategy (and not just tactics). Check out this great article by Meghan Casey on how content strategy prevents all sorts of problems.

This disciplined investment will produce websites that are:

• More effective in selling the product
• Faster to read
• Easier to use

Substantive, lean, and easy. A win-win-win website.

Does your organization have a content specialist or strategist? If you're ready to move from tactics into strategy, consider hiring one.

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