Beyond SEO: Writing Findable Content
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"I can't find it." Yep, I hear that one too. In fact, it's the most common complaint I hear from students, faculty, and staff about their university website. I also hear them ask: "Where am I?" "Is this for me?" "Where do I go from here?" These questions are symptoms of poor findability—and we need to answer them. No page on our website should feel like a dead end. Institutions that take action often responded to these problems with a redesigned website or new information architecture, but what about the content we create? Beyond SEO, how can we effectively guide web users toward their destination—as well as enable their discovery of useful, relevant content? It starts with a content strategy and continues by educating content contributors about findability and navigation.
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Beyond SEO: Writing Findable Content
- 1. 1 Rick Allen @epublishmedia Beyond SEO: Writing Findable Content HighEdWeb 2016 #heweb16 October 17, 2016
- 2. Hi, I’m Rick. 2 #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 3. Hi, I’m Rick. And I hate looking for things on the web. 3 #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
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- 5. 5 I can’t find it. #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 6. 6 How did I get here? What is this page about?
- 7. 7 Findability is the biggest content problem in higher ed. #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 8. 8 Low 45% Medium 42% High 13% Higher Ed Findability Scorecard 22 .edu websites 75,000+ webpages
- 9. Findability impacts people's ability to easily understand and find web content.
- 10. People won't use your Web site if they can't find their way around.“ 10 Steve Krug Author, Don’t Make Me Think #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 11. Why SEO is important and why it’s not enough
- 12. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. “ 12 Moz, Inc. https://moz.com/learn/seo/what-is-seo #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 15. HOMEPAGE 15
- 16. 16 Our content is more than a destination…
- 17. 17 …it’s a helping hand
- 18. Search Optimization for People #SOPnotSEO
- 19. How people find stuff.
- 21. 21 Look around or ask for help?
- 22. 22 How may I help you? “How do I sign up for a meal plan?” SEARCH
- 23. 23 “Maybe financial aid is under Plumbing”?
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- 26. 26 Is this the right page? Where do I go from here? I give up…
- 27. Context Search Browsing Wayfinding Elements of Findability
- 28. A note about UX and IA…
- 30. Impact from the bottom up Improve findability here.
- 32. Content is made relevant by the context in which it’s perceived.
- 33. 33 Photo Credit: Photo by Ed Yourdon
- 35. 35 Find out more about what? How do these links relate?
- 36. 36 Content appears irrelevant when… it seems out-of-place it lacks clear purpose or a clear audience #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 37. 37
- 38. 38 “An unmatched faculty…” “…BOOTH ONLINE STORE.”
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- 40. 40 Old date = irrelevant content?
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- 43. 43 To help establish context, consider: • How does this page support or enhance related web content? • Where will people interact with this content? • How will people use this content? • What content type will be most relevant and useful for the user? #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 44. Context Search Browsing Wayfinding #heweb16 • @epublishmedia #SOPnotSEO
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- 47. Search optimization needs to be part of the writing process—not a post-launch fix.
- 49. 49 Search optimization guidelines for content contributors: #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 50. 50 #heweb16 • @epublishmedia 1. Publish relevant content
- 51. 51 2. Make every page on your website unique
- 52. 52 3. Make every meta webpage title, alt text, and meta description on your site unique.
- 53. 53 Clear Unclear 4. Use relevant and accurate keywords
- 54. 54 Helpful internal & external resources 5. Link to relevant websites that provide value to your users.
- 55. 55 6. Structure content to enhance keyword relevance
- 56. 56 6. Structure content to enhance keyword relevance Clear and distinct secondary headers
- 57. Context Search Browsing Wayfinding #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 58. “It’s on the website.” 58 #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 59. 59 “The info is at the top of the page.” “I’ve already been on this page. I don’t see it.”
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- 64. Scanning elements are your “introduction.” This is where we need to communicate purpose and relevance.
- 65. 65 • “Click here” • “Website” • “Homepage” • “Download” Non-descriptive link text: #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 66. 66 Click here to download. #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
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- 75. 75 Content elements that enhance browsing and scanning: • headers • links • highlighted text • bulleted and numbered lists • photos and graphics • captions • pull-quotes #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 76. …but not too much. 76 #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 77. Context Search Browsing Wayfinding #heweb16 • @epublishmedia
- 78. 78 Museum Wayfinding and Signage company based in London UK
- 79. 79 Source: https://flic.kr/p/8SZvsG “I hope someone reads this webpage and then leaves our site and forgets about it.” - said no author ever
- 80. 80 Source: https://flic.kr/p/8SZvsG “I hope this website only has a limited amount of information on the topic I'm interested in.” - said no web user ever
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- 88. 88 Source: https://flic.kr/p/8SZvsG “Next steps” to help you on you way.
- 89. 89 Source: https://flic.kr/p/8SZvsG “Next steps” to help you on you way.
- 90. Findability is customer service
- 91. 91 Photo Credit: Photo by Ed Yourdon
- 93. Findability is thinking beyond the content on the page to consider how people experience that content.
- 94. 94 How can I help?
- 95. Rick Allen Content Strategist ePublish Media, Inc. Meet Content LLC rick@meetcontent.com Thanks! #heweb16 • @epublishmedia (I hope this was helpful)