Content Strategy for the Web |  | Author: Kristina Halvorson
Publisher: New Riders Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $13.98
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Seller: Butler's New Books
Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 18,038
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 10.2 x 7.7 x 0.6
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If your website content is out of date, off-brand, and out of control, you're missing a huge opportunity to engage, convert, and retain customers online.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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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 31
 Find yourself replacing "lorem ipsum" at the 11th hour. Read this! October 30, 2009
Nicole Netland (St Paul, MN)
21 out of 22 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.
A remarkably compact and effective overview October 17, 2009
James (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
14 out of 15 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!!!
Web Content Confidential November 9, 2009
Havi Hoffman (California, USA)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
If this slim and attractive volume wasn't so dead-on accurate, and so walk-the-talk useful, usable, and easy to absorb, one might be inclined to accuse the author of glibness or sleight-of-hand. But I can't, and I don't.
On the contrary, Kristina Halvorsen proves the breadth and depth of her professional credibility in under 200 pages. She has the wisdom of battle-hardened experience on her side, along with a genuine, if at times breathless, enthusiasm. She rallies the rest of us content-handlers to fight (and document!) the good fight for thoughtful, well-planned, well-crafted, and well-resourced content strategy. And she makes content strategy (in all its aspects) not so much easy as the no-brainer right thing to do for any professional website or web development project.
I'm awed by Halvorson's concise, likeable distillation of principles, process, and proof-points for doing website content effectively. She clearly defines key roles and responsibilities, increases her credibility by acknowledging her influences and predecessors, and palpably demonstrates her recommendations via the voice, structure, and execution of this delightful book.
Kudos too to the book designer -- on first thumb-through I didn't think I'd appreciate the tomato red interior pages, but by the end of weekend, as I finished the read, I was completely won over by the robust cheeriness of the layout and the findability it supported.
This book taught me that. . . April 1, 2010
Joshua Kulpa (U.S.A.)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Content defines a website, period.
Without content there literally is no purpose to having a website, yet it is constantly treated like an afterthought in many website design projects. I smacked my head at the obvious wisdom of gathering content and establishing a content strategy before designing a site.
The book outlines a clear path through the often murky, unorganized, and difficult process of defining what content exists for a website, how that content is organized, and how that content is managed and updated pre- and post-launch.
It's an easy read, but every page is packed with good information. I've learned something new each time I re-read a section.
The only downside to this book is that the methods described are time-consuming and expensive. Also, it's not set up in a way that you can skip steps and expect a good result. Fortunately, you'll receive distinct benefits from each step as they're implemented.
I recommend it to anyone with any level of involvement with web design: developers and business professionals alike will gain huge rewards from a thorough study of this book. Keep this one on your often-read shelf, it won't disappoint.
Meaningful content strategies...Thanks to Kristina! August 26, 2009
John McSwain (Atlanta, GA)
5 out of 6 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...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 31
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