This week we had some really interesting presentations from class members on various aspects of content strategy.
Richard spoke about User Generated Content. I learned that there can be different levels of engagement I also learned about some of the opportunities, threats and legal issues of UGC. UGC can be great for increasing the amount of content produced on your website, but it can be difficult to monitor.
Nicola spoke about websites having personality and a tone of voice, and how this can be incorporated in every aspect of a website; from the use of aesthetics, the style of writing, the types of content, and how these all combine. Some of the benefits include setting yourself apart from competition, and building trust and relationships with the users. I learned about how a style is constructed, and what goes into a stye guide, which is something that can be created for reference, for consistency.
Alison told us about writing for the web. She gave us tips on hooking the user, and how to keep them on the site with crisp succinct copy. It is important to know your audience, and to create meaningful copy, with highlighted heading and keywords to grab their attention. A pyramid style of writing works well. Copy should be pruned aggressively – the shorter, the plainer, the better.
In Jame’s lecture, I learned that content should be Useful, Unique and Authoritative. He told us about the various types of content we could include and the best practice in producing each of them.
Some of the most important things I took away from the class were:
- Know your audience!
- Understand your own goals AND understand your users goals.
- Don’t neglect accessibility when using alternative types of content.