Words make your website a success: October 14, 2002 issue of New Thinking

October 14, 2002 New Thinking:
Words make your website a success

Website content management

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Content Critical

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October 14, 2002

Words make your website a success

By Gerry McGovern

The success of your website is down to the quality of the words you publish on it. Words are your fundamental asset and building block. Your metadata, classification and navigation are made up of words. Your content depends on words. The search engine indexes words, and people search using words. So, why do so many websites treat words with so little respect?

Many people don't really care about the words they use. They shower them on a page like they would flick dandruff off a coat collar. This disdain is particularly evident on the Web. Trillions of words are published on millions of websites. Much of this publishing is of appalling quality.

Many managers don't see words as important. They pay lip-service, sure. However, when it comes down to paying more for better writing, they don't want to know. When it comes down to rewarding the career of the better writer, they don't want to know. Thus, their websites remain poor.

"Never forget that the heart of The Irish Times is its journalism," states Conor Brady, recently retired editor of the paper. "Yes it's wonderful to have a state-of-the-art plant at Citywest … But it's all built on what journalists do."

Organizations again and again fall into the technology trap. Technology is founded on the promise of automation, of greater productivity, reduced costs and fewer people. In many areas, technology has wonderfully fulfilled this promise. How we build cars and make computers depends largely on technology.

The promise of technology falls down badly when it comes to content. William Shakespeare, James Joyce and W. B. Yeats didn't require word processors to express their genius. Some would say that word processors have facilitated a decline in writing quality.

One writer, explaining why he always wrote the first draft on paper, stated: "My mind moves slower than my fingers." This is the kernel of the issue with technology and content. Content is nothing without a clarity of thinking, a capacity for communication, and a way with style. These skills do not come easily. They are rarely mastered. And technology can impede, rather than encourage, their development.

I was doing a workshop recently where we were talking about the importance of headings and summaries on the Web. The audience agreed, but then they were mainly professional writers. However, one lamented that the organization he worked for didn't want to invest in writing skills. The constant refrain was: 'How can we automate this?'

You simply can't automate the creation of quality content. Someone, somewhere, has to write the stuff. If they're not good at their job, the whole process becomes, not just redundant, but counter-productive.

Poor content damages your reputation, reduces productivity, reduces profitability, and damages shareholder value. If you're not going to do it well, don't do it at all.

"Never forget we work for the reader," Conor Brady told his audience. It is not unusual to find organizations who have given little or no consideration as to who might actually read their website. Forget your reader and you can forget about success. This holds true whether you have an intranet, extranet or public website.

On the Web, words are your tools. You need to learn how to master words. Technology won't help you. What will? Thinking, reading and writing a lot.

Gerry McGovern

Next issue: Your website needs a subscription strategy
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"Inspirational leadership" at intranet content management workshop
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was inspirational, Edward Barnfield, Head of Research for Melcrum states.

"He covered critical areas of intranet development in an easily-accessible and passionate way, and delegate feedback showed that most people went back to the office with a drive to make a difference to their intranet."

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Gerry McGovern's books are recommended reading at the following universities

Augustana College, United States
Brandeis University, United States
Drury University, United States
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Indiana University, United States
Monash University, Australia
Northeastern University, United States
University of Applied Sciences, Germany
University of Regina, Canada
University of Teesside, UK
Manchester Metropolitan University

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