Much has been written on the subject of web content, but we stand by Rachel Lovinger’s article “Content Strategy, The Philosophy of Data” in which she states:
“The main goal of content strategy is to use words and data to create unambiguous content that supports meaningful, interactive experiences. We have to be experts in all aspects of communication in order to do this effectively”.
More often than not, when a new site is being developed, the focus is on the architecture and design, with content emerging as an after-thought. Melissa Rach of Brain Traffic would counsel that developing a content strategy in which you “define roles, explain the process, and gather whatever information you can before you kick your content strategy efforts into high gear” is the key.
Undeniably, it is your business, but it is important to take a step back and look at your site from the users’ perspective. Our friends at Neilson Norman Group would suggest that building the content is fundamental to getting a site to work effectively. Their thoughts and insightful golden rules are outlined in their ‘How Users Read on the Web’ article.
However, the importance of content does not end once the site is built. On-going care and maintenance is fundamental to ensure the content stays timely, relevant and accurate. Therefore, our three rules at Make Happy for a successful website are ….content……content……content!