Dutchability » User Experience

A clear call to action goes a long way

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:59:45 +0000

When researching websites, I often see a lot of call to actions like “Read more” linking to an article or deeper content. There are a number of reasons why this is not a great idea.

The most obvious is that the “Read more” description isn’t a description at all. It doesn’t tell me anything about what I will be reading next. A great number of users merely scan websites and since links usually stand out in color or style, will only read text stands stands out from the crowd. Those users will likely not follow a ‘read more’ link.

Another group of users is the one that relies on screen readers. Screen readers read out links to visually impaired users, and if you have 20 “Read more” links on a page, this is far from helpful.

The third point I want to make is that if you are designing for emotion, you have to make calls to action more engaging. Compare the calls to action in the marquee on IBM.com with the more generally dreaded “Read More”. They actually took their time and wrote great calls to action that are descriptive and make you want to click that link. You do the math.

Why you should have a content strategy

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:42:03 +0000

When it comes to making and keeping your website successful, content strategy should take an active role in your organization.

What is content strategy?

Content strategist extraordinaire Kristina Halvorson describes content strategy as: “planning for the creation, publication and governance of useful, usable content”. In other words, it is a strategy – you got to think long term, and it involves content – in this case the stuff you publish.

She goes on to say that “at it’s best, a content strategy defines:

key themes and messages recommended topics content purpose (i.e., how content will bridge the space between audience needs and business requirements) content gap analysis metadata frameworks and related content attributes search engine optimization (SEO), and implications of strategic recommendations on content creation, publication, and governance.”

The importance of a content strategy

There are several reasons why a content strategy is a good thing. First of all, you will want to create an ongoing stream of unique content that your users are interested in so they want to come back. In-depth, well-written content helps you market your brand and company. It builds company character. For example, producing case studies could position you as a reliable source; it shows users you’ve actually done the stuff you are trying to sell them. We call it “show and tell”.

Another reason is to regularly publish content that lets you be found on the web. SEO specialists love content because it contains keywords, so the more opportunity they have to infuse keywords in new content, the happier they are. Search engines look for those keywords and will be more likely to return search results featuring your website. If you are servicing a niche market, this is an excellent way of being found on the web.

A third reason is that a content strategy will help you align communications across all of your media, print and digital. This will create a much more united marketing effort.

Whatever your process for publishing content, always think of the user. Quality over quantity. Ask yourself, what content are you publishing and at what time. Ask yourself also where are you publishing this. Is it on your website, on your blog, on Facebook?There are so many digital and non-digital channels nowadays, you will probably need a dedicated professional to help you make the right choice.

Tools of the content strategy trade

A content management system, or CMS is an important integral part of any content strategy. A good CMS, like BrandExtract’s SAM puts the publishing power in the hand of the content manager. No need for the IT guys to get your document on the web, a few clicks in the CMS will publish your document. This leaves more time for the content manager to schedule and co-ordinate content and to make sure new content is produced on time.

New Book: Mobile First

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:49:32 +0000

A new book has been released in the “A Book Apart” series. Luke Wroblewski, best known for his research on forms, has written a book about mobile websites and apps. If you are familiar with Luke, you know he is pretty much the authority on this subject. In a recent podcast with Jared Spool he stated that too many companies are trying to figure out their mobile strategy instead of just putting something out there. His idea is that this mobile market is far from mature with so many changes in devices and players in the market, it’s nearly impossible to predict how an app or mobile website might perform in 2 months time.

“Mobile First” promises to be a good read with some great insights into the mobile market. An excerpt from the book has been published on the A list apart website.

Cool jQuery goodies to help the SEO and UX on the new ION website

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:18:25 +0000

The ION website, see it at iongeo.com

Worked extremely hard these last two weeks to release this new website. Take a look at the SEO dropdown menu. The objective was to incorporate SEO text on the homepage of the site and at the same time increase the findability of deeper content. I decided to go for a jQuery rich dropdown menu with descriptions for many 2nd and 3rd level pages. One problem we encountered upon execution was that the dropdown menus would interfere with some sudden mouse gestures the user would make. We solved that by putting a small delay on the mouse-over state. Check it out at iongeo.com.