Halvorson Kristina - Content Strategy for the Web

Second Edition

Kristina Halvorson
Melissa Rach

Foreword by Sarah Cancilla, Facebook

Content Strategy for the Web, Second Edition

Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach

New Riders
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)

Find us on the Web at: www.newriders.com
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New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education.

Copyright 2012 by Kristina Halvorson

Project Editor: Michael J. Nolan
Development Editors: Tenessa Gemelke and Margaret Anderson
Production Editor: Cory Borman
Copyeditor: Gretchen Dykstra
Proofreader: Rose Weisburd
Interior Design and Composition: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design
Cover Designer: Sean Tubridy
Indexer: Joy Dean Lee

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the authors nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN 13: 978-0-321-80830-1
ISBN 10: 0-321-80830-4

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

The first edition of Kristina Halvorsons little book was like a rip in the Matrix through which light poured. In the space of a few chapters, she had changed our field forever, for the better. This second edition retains all that was wonderful in the first book, while yielding dazzling new insights into the hows and whys of content strategy.

Jeffrey Zeldman, author, Designing With Web Standards

When I wanted to introduce content strategy as a must for eBay Europe, I bought a copy of Content Strategy for the Web for everyone I needed to influence. Two years and a content strategy team later, it clearly worked! By far the most comprehensive and accessible book on content strategy available. Required reading for our entire team.

Lucie Hyde, Head of Content, eBay Europe

Content Strategy for the Web is the most important thing to happen to user experience design in years.

Peter Morville, author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web and Ambient Findability

Marketers, take note: From mobile and social media to email and websites, killer content is central to your online successbut without a solid, centralized content strategy, youre doomed from the start. Like no other book, Content Strategy for the Web gives you the tools you need to get the right content to the right people in the right place at the right time. Essential reading for marketers everywhere.

Ann Handley, CMO, MarketingProfs and author, Content Rules

This is the go-to handbook for creating an effective content strategy. The Post-It notes and dog-eared pages in my copy are evidence of that!

Aaron Watkins, Director of Digital Strategy, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Kristina Halvorson and her company, Brain Traffic, are central to the emerging discipline of content strategy.

James Mathewson, Search Strategy and Expertise Lead, IBM

Content Strategy for the Web touched off the explosive growth of content strategy and its recognition as a critical field of practice. Amazingly, this second edition doesnt just keep up: it pushes content strategy in a more matureand valuabledirection.

Louis Rosenfeld, author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web and Search Analytics for Your Site

Kristina Halvorson is a force to be reckoned with. In three short years, she has single-handedly brought content strategy to the forefront of the UX communitys attention. Im in awe of how quickly shes mobilized a small army of content strategists, and cant wait to see where she goes next.

Jared Spool, CEO and Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering

This little red book is responsible for changing the way I think about designing for the Web, and I dont think Im alone. After a decade of treating content like an afterthought, Content Strategy for the Web helped us fix our priorities, and gave us a better way forward.

Ethan Marcotte, author, Responsive Web Design

The web isnt about only your website anymore. What does that mean for your content strategy? Kristina and Melissa answer with sassy and sound advice.

Colleen Jones, author, Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content

If the loss of potential customers and brand degradation keep you up at night, good. There may not be monsters under your bed, but theyre in your web presenceand theyre coming to get you. Content Strategy for the Web offers practical, effective techniques to keep the monsters at bay, whether youre waging war in a small business or on behalf of a corporate behemoth. Scared? Not anymore.

Margot Bloomstein, Principal, Appropriate, Inc. and author, Content Strategy at Work

If you want your organization or your clients to be successful online, you need to help them thinkand actstrategically about all their content. You need this book.

Janice (Ginny) Redish, author, Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works

For the staff at Brain Traffic, whose hard work, brave insights, and shared sense of humor inspired every page that follows ... again.

And for our families, whose loving patience and support made this book possible.

The best people are the ones that understand content.
Theyre a pain in the butt to manage, but you put up with
it because they are so good.

Steve Jobs

At Facebook, employees are empowered to be bold in the name of innovation. Move Fast and Break Things, What Would You Do If You Werent Afraid? and Done Is Better Than Perfect are a few of the mottos pasted on the walls at Facebook headquarters.

Back in 2009, Facebook content was getting done, but it was far from perfect. Engineers, designers and product managers were writing most of the copy. If you had a keyboard, you were a copywriter. If you could commit code, you were a publisher. And there was a lot of content: menus, navigation text, product tours, multi-step forms, nomenclature, in-product education, help pages, blog posts, and much more. Less-than-perfect content meant confused and frustrated users, and it was taking its toll on the brand.

The Facebook Design and User Experience team decided it was time to create a new role within the department. They called it content strategist.