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Don’t kick sand in the face of web content – part 2: tasks

As I said in don’t kick sand part one, web content is better communication. This needs to be good because the web doesn’t forgive bad communication.

Last time I talked about ditching your newsletter. This time: concentrating on the key tasks to reduce your effort (and thus money) and increase your customer satisfaction.

Secret: the web is for simple tasks

These are the most important things most people want to do on your website most of the time. For everything else – use the phone.

What things do most people want to do on your website?

Have you ever asked? No – why not?

May be you don’t know how.

Try this

Write down all the things you think people would want to do on your website. Limit it to the top 15.

Ask a few customers and friends which 5 of these things are the most important to them. Take notes.

(Don’t ask them what they would like to see on your site. Why? You might not be able to provide it and it might not really be what they actually do on your site.)

Now work out your key tasks.

Make it easy for visitors to complete these things on your website

Doesn’t matter how you do it. Small changes can make a big difference:

  • rewrite content so the word help visitors complete tasks
  • move content around so people’s selections are more prominent
  • retest if you’re not sure what people are getting at

Focusing on key tasks will save you time – not as much content to maintain – and increase satisfaction for your visitors. It shows that you really want to make business with you easy.

Next time

You need people who know web content because they also know new media – you need to be good at new media.

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Don’t kick sand in the face of web content – part 1: web news

Not just because it’s mean.

If the internet were an economy it would be the size of (per-financial crisis) Spain. As we all know, the internet is set for world domination. You should make it your business to get better at web writing – not treating it like a 99 lb weakling at the beach.

How? There’s lots of ways to get better at web writing:

'Hero-up' your web content
'Hero-up' your web content

Scrap your regular newsletter

It’s probably an example of pre-internet thinking. Why?

Strangely enough, actual news happens all the time – not to a schedule. What’s the point in telling your customers about a new product 2 weeks after launch? Write a news blog: tell everyone about that.

Newsletters are a black hole for time

In one organisation I worked for, the newsletter came out fortnightly. It took the editor the whole two weeks to write it. It was “drudgery squared” involving  finding the person with the news, extract it from them, get sign off. It’s enough to drive people to switch jobs and, in this case, the editor did after 6 months.

Find people in your organisation who can write good newsy copy or develop them

That might be a very personable CEO as in one place I worked. If you’re not that lucky, delegate the authority for them to release the news and then step back and enjoy the rewards. They may stuff up once in a while, but what useful experience.

A side benefit is that it will improve organisational culture; setting an example for more open communication which is desirable. (Believe me, it’s desirable.)

Newsletter are full of filler content

Not only does filler content mask the useful information, it also makes it harder to find at a later date.

So, make sure you blog to a topic. These guys do it really well: Life Hacker. Follow them on twitter and learn.

If the reader’s not interested, then the poor buggers don’t have to slosh through the filler content.

Newsletters don’t get public feedback

Metaphorically or literally. Web posts do. They’re great for feedback on your products and services (only if you want to hear it and others to hear it).

Emails compete with your website

A blog post will promote traffic to your website. You can track it better, too, with analytics.

News posted on your website or intranet is not only more usable, but more accessible

There are circumstances when newsletters are effective. Your newsletters is really part of your overall communication culture. Which is why you need to…

Remember

  • Be creative: web news is going to save time and money.
  • Get started now: practise is the only way to learn.

Next time

I look at another way doing it on the web saves money and satisfies web visitors: simple online tasks. Oh yeah.

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Orana feedback

Orana Health Services Director, Tracey, on Red Bridge Web:

[I] really appreciate your input & direction with this web stuff. You are helping to make my business more real… What you mentioned & articulated reflects my work and where things are at.

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Orana Health Services

Set up by an accredited, practicing Social Worker and launching later this year, Orana Health Services will offer counselling services, care coordination planning and online resources. Orana is ready to begin business and needs an online presence.

First steps… Red Bridge Web is working to help out, starting with everything people might want to do on the Orana website. This will also help Orana focus on how to market its services, who to and what’s important to its clients.

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Playwright project

Melbourne playwright, Michael Olsen, is prolific to say the least. He’s penned over 50 plays – from one act, one person plays to full cast, full length dramas. The sheer quantity of the work presents a problem for organising his website. Finding the play, or the type of play, you are looking for is a challenge.

Michael had several goals for his website: to sell plays and promote his work within the theatrical world. There was also a list of things that had to go on the website such as licensing and copyright for staging the plays.

We started with a long list of things that people might want to do on a playwright’s website based on Michael’s goals and other playwright’s websites. We whittled that down, focusing on keywords and the most obvious tasks.

Next, and most important, we tested these tasks with – you guessed it – humans! And what we discovered was a real focus on three things…

  • the latest news, reviews and performances
  • the plays themselves
  • Michael!

Now, back to the drawing board. More testing to structure these tasks and as a foundation for the content creation… some more great results.

What Red Bridge Web has delivered: a comprehensive sitemap, content outlines for all pages and wireframes for all the main pages.

Also, we’ve procured a competitive quotes by a professional WordPress developer and  graphic designer for the next stage of the project. We’re almost there and I’ll keep you posted on the final result.