Content Strategy for the Web |  | Author: Kristina Halvorson
Publisher: New Riders Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 2623
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7 x 0.4
ISBN: 0321620062
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9780321620064
ASIN: 0321620062
Publication Date: August 22, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
If your website content is out of date, off-brand, and out of control, you're missing a huge opportunity to engage, convert, and retain customers online. Redesigning your home page won't help. Investing in a new content management system won't fix it, either. So, where do you start?
Without meaningful content, your website isn't worth much to your key audiences. But creating (and caring for) "meaningful" content is far more complicated than we're often willing to acknowledge. Content Strategy for the Web explains how to create and deliver useful, usable content for your online audiences, when and where they need it most. It also shares content best practices so you can get your next website redesign right, on time and on budget. For the first time, you'll:
- See content strategy (and its business value) explained in plain language
- Find out why so many web projects implode in the content development phase ... and how to avoid the associated, unnecessary costs and delays
- Learn how to audit and analyze your content
- Make smarter, achievable decisions about which content to create and how
- Find out how to maintain consistent, accurate, compelling content over time
- Get solid, practical advice on staffing for content-related roles and responsibilities
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 A remarkably compact and effective overview October 17, 2009
James (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a content strategist with 15 years of experience, for multinationals and smaller, national clients, I can say that every word in this compact, straightfoward guide rings true with my professional practice. Ms. Halvorson's ability to break the horribly messy world of global web content into its component parts, to present it in a concise, and yet personal and pleasant way, is nothing short of remarkable. If you are an editor, strategist, or another kind of content specialist, you can quickly gain an understanding of which processes, tools and knowledge are needed in every phase of planning, creating and governing content. If you are an executive or other person in charge of a web presence, this book will enable you to start gaining control of your content and making sure it's the best it can be. It will also give you the basis to make a case for content within your organization. Most organizations today are dominated by IT and visual design, with little or no expertise in the area of large-scale content development for interactive products like websites. I use this book to teach at the University of Rotterdam, to sharpen my own process, and to explain to clients what this business of international web content is all about. Where I go, it goes! Thanks, Ms. Halvorson!!!
Find yourself replacing "lorem ipsum" at the 11th hour. Read this! October 30, 2009
Nicole Netland (St Paul, MN)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
As enjoyable to read as it is valuable. Halvorson puts the spotlight on the current state of content on today's websites and it's not pretty. Thankfully, she offers a digestable process for getting back on track and changing the game - completely. Only, however, if you are brave enough to get into the content details - because that's where the battle between killer and total suckage is decided. Not on the "pedestal" of user experience design.
As a manager of an Information Architect team at a large multi-national retailer, I have already started to circulate other copies around the team. I personally appreciated the spot on description and differentiation Halvorson makes about hiring a copywriter at the last minute to take orders and replace the "lorem ipsum" on a wireframe versus engaging a content strategist and web writer who have an entirely different perspective and value to offer.
Meaningful content strategies...Thanks to Kristina! August 26, 2009
John McSwain (Atlanta, GA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is absolutely brilliant in so many ways. Kristina Halvorson takes a posture of writing to you and not at you when describing the nuances of content strategy. The friendly and helpful posture of every chapter makes me feel like there is empathy in my corner when deciding next steps. Helpful tidbits within the book that might transcend the typical `copy the Table of Contents' review are:
1) Why is less better than more?
2) Standards for content are really low
3) Steps to content strategy: audit (content inventory), analysis (goals, roles, objectives, etc.), and strategy (messaging, structure, and content)
Kristina defines content strategy deliverables across multiple disciplines and gives examples of content strategy in motion: content workflows, content in web writing, and delivery (CMS, social media, etc.)
This book should become a standard text for high level content strategy...
Immediately useful and beautifully written. October 22, 2009
Charles Choiniere
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
By "beautifully written" I don't mean it's poetic and literary -- quite the opposite. This book is a living example of what it preaches, featuring ONLY the most useful and actionable content, laid out in a logical and helpful order. 2 chapters into this book I had over 10 pages of notes and ideas for several of the sites/blogs I'm working on now.
I would call this an essential book. Halvorson has created an outstanding resource.
10 things I learned from Content Strategy For The Web December 28, 2009
Benjamin Curnett (new river gorge, wv, usa)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Content Strategy For The Web is going to be a go-to reference of mine for a long time to come. The concept of content strategy is new to me -I'm just on the edges of it now- and I found the information essential, well organized, and interesting.
Here's a quick list of 10 things I got out of it...
-This book is absolutely the place to start if you're interested in learning what content strategy is and how it works.
-Content strategy is more about how to best organize the various written elements of marketing plan than anything else.
-The most important step in developing a content strategy is to start by asking "why?"
-Managing content wisely is a huge pain in the ass for most, which is why so much content isn't managed/sucks.
-To best devise a content strategy, think like a publisher.
-Standards for content are really low, meaning there's lots of room for good work to be done.
-Content strategy can't be done without a complete and total audit.
-CS and IA overlap.
-A big part of your plan should be who owns what- everything gets assigned.
-If your strategy doesn't include ongoing plans for maintenance, you did it wrong.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
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