There's more than one doorway to our websites. People come in through the garage, basement, window, chimney — well, you get the picture. Colleges are learning that their website user experience doesn't always start on their homepage. Sometimes the first web content people see is a blog post or a student handbook PDF or an inquiry form. Or is it? Actually, the user experience never starts on your website. The doorway to your site is … [Read more...]
Editorial Style for Inline Links
June 1, 2011 by
The power of the web is its ability to connect, or link, people with ideas and information. Inline links — links within a body of text — enhance usability and comprehension by enabling readers to find valuable information, made relevant by the surrounding content. However, links are not made valuable by "click here." Without an editorial plan for using inline links appropriately, your greatest usability asset can become … [Read more...]
It’s the Little Things: Why Microcopy Matters
May 5, 2011 by
Our digital experiences -- whether they involve updating Twitter, reading a web page, using an app or filling out a form -- do not typically take place in single bursts. Rather, they take place incrementally, with each step gradually (hopefully) moving us toward our goal. Some of the most important signposts along that incremental journey are the words that guide our way. There’s a name for it -- microcopy. “Microcopy is small yet powerful … [Read more...]
Higher Ed Content and Tasty Cookies
April 29, 2011 by
Can it be? One month ago, Rick Allen and I launched Meet Content, hoping to stir up an active dialogue about creating and sustaining effective web content in higher ed. We’ve been humbled and excited by the great feedback, comments, questions and discussions since launch (not just on our site, but also on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn). So we want to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than by... talking about web content in higher ed! … [Read more...]
Planning for Content Delivery, Consumption and Context
April 27, 2011 by
In Monday's post, Georgy talked about transmedia storytelling in higher ed—using multiple content delivery methods to support your institution's story. This topic opens the door to a discussion on how you plan for content delivery and consumption that are contextually relevant for your audiences. With all the content delivery methods at our disposal, how do we know what content is most effective for the message, content type and target … [Read more...]