http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Wilkinson,_Theresa_A. A bibliography of works by Wilkinson, Theresa A. in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Wilkinson,_Theresa_A. http://tc.eserver.org/24881.html http://tc.eserver.org/24881.html Describes several disreputable search engine optimization practices for Web designers to avoid. http://tc.eserver.org/24201.html http://tc.eserver.org/24201.html Interaction design incorporates a lot of skills from other disciplines, such as technical writing and information architecture. This article discusses the unique areas of interaction design with which technical communicators may not be familiar. Expanding your skills in these areas will help you sell yourself as an interaction designer. http://tc.eserver.org/24189.html http://tc.eserver.org/24189.html In the early days of the Internet, you did not have to do much to drive traffic to your Web site. Simply listing your site with search engines (and all were free back then) could yield a lot of traffic. When I listed one of my sites with Yahoo!, my site hits increased by 10,000 in just one week. Back then, ranking was more a game of optimizing your TITLE and META tags than anything else. But in response to the mammoth growth of the Internet and abuses of META tags by unscrupulous Web designers, search engine spiders have became more sophisticated: The game now focuses on optimizing Web page content. http://tc.eserver.org/24198.html http://tc.eserver.org/24198.html Last fall, one of the people I mentor, Andrew White, e-mailed me, asking how to get his site ranking higher on Google. He is the webmaster for a church Web site and was not happy that another church site with the same name outranked his site. I looked over his keywords and site text: He did not have very strong keywords. His primary keyword phrase was the name of his church. I wondered about this: How many people search for the name of a church? If you want your efforts at search engine optimization (SEO) to bear fruit, be it an organic campaign, a paid sponsorship, or Google Adwords, you must choose the keywords that your target audience is using to find your site or product. Otherwise all your efforts are in vain. http://tc.eserver.org/22859.html http://tc.eserver.org/22859.html What is the purpose of my Web site? Who is my audience? How important is the overall appearance of my Web site? Can the user successfully navigate through my site? Can the user locate the desired information? How can I market my Web site? This session will highlight the key factors in developing an external Web site. In addition to all of the aspects of designing a web site, attention should also be paid to its usability features, such as navigation, accessibility of information, and overall appearance to the user. http://tc.eserver.org/21558.html http://tc.eserver.org/21558.html I have been playing around with scripting for about six months now. I would by no means call myself a programmer yet, but I have successfully added many scripts to various Web sites. How did I do it without attending any programming classes or immersing myself with programming books? I used free scripts from Web sites. I have found many Web sites that offer scripts for just about anything you can imagine. http://tc.eserver.org/21557.html http://tc.eserver.org/21557.html Managing a Web site project typically does not follow any clearly defined methods or standards of practice. Although there is a lot of 'how to build a site' information out there, very little on how to manage a Web project actually exists. But a project site could be just the answer you are looking for. http://tc.eserver.org/21567.html http://tc.eserver.org/21567.html Designing a Web site is an enormous task. The idea of building a Web site is a great one that usually comes from one of the higher-ups in your company. Then, if you are like me, you are given a task defined by the worlds of 'just go ahead and build one.' But how? http://tc.eserver.org/21566.html http://tc.eserver.org/21566.html What is Web site architecture? It means laying out or grouping any similar areas of a Web site. In a re-design project for my former company, I realized the importance of site architecture and navigation when I contacted the Customer Service departments and discovered that an average of thirty-five calls a day were from the Internet users. Most of those calls were about confusing page layouts and navigation procedures (users did not understand the current navigational system). I determined that by redesigning the site architecture and navigational system, we could reduce the customer service calls by 50%, thus saving the company an estimated $30,000 per year. http://tc.eserver.org/21564.html http://tc.eserver.org/21564.html When I worked for a large insurance company, my team as tasked with re-designing the customer service area for a external Web site that supports annuities and mutual fund customers. I proposed redesigning the entire site including an actual help system (like with ones you can create with RoboHelp) to reduce customer service support calls. I was really surprised that everyone thought this was such a novel idea -- I thought it made perfect sense. Then, it hit me -- you don't see a lot of help systems for Web sites. http://tc.eserver.org/21565.html http://tc.eserver.org/21565.html A prototype, both paper and online (and I suggest you build both) is a 'mini' Web site, including content (or content ideas), graphics, multi-media etc., on a smaller scale than the final site. I have found that developing a prototype is a great way to present your ideas to upper management for approval to go 'live.' Also, and more important, an online prototype is an ideal application for user testing to ensure your site's success. http://tc.eserver.org/21553.html http://tc.eserver.org/21553.html I recently ran into a fellow STC member, Jennifer Square, in the elevator of a large company where I am contracting. We didn't have much time to catch up, so Jennifer e-mailed me later. Her e-mail signature contained an intriguing new job title: interaction designer. I had heard of interaction design but had never known anyone who actually did the work. I wondered what disciplines it encompassed. Was it just something that all good Web designers did anyway, unconsciously? How did it differ from information architecture? Did I do this in my job without realizing it? Was it something I could list on my résumé? In this column, I will define interaction design by comparing it to information architecture, a related field. http://tc.eserver.org/21560.html http://tc.eserver.org/21560.html I know that a Web site with good navigation will put you closer to your goals than one without. The article that follows may give you ideas for adding navigation to your own site. http://tc.eserver.org/21559.html http://tc.eserver.org/21559.html Why do you redesign a Web site? There are many reasons. A lot of companies want to update their look every year. Others redesign sites to solve specific problems -- they may realize that after a time, that they are not getting any traffic and finally call someone to get their opinion as to why. Sites are redesigned to correct specific problems in navigation, professional image, or ease to use. http://tc.eserver.org/21548.html http://tc.eserver.org/21548.html Since finding the right keywords is the most important step in any SEO endeavor, it is imperative that you find the ones your target audience is using. http://tc.eserver.org/21555.html http://tc.eserver.org/21555.html This article is the fourth in a series on search engine optimization, a business marketing strategy that manipulates Internet search engines. http://tc.eserver.org/21554.html http://tc.eserver.org/21554.html Rather than focusing on how the site looks, interaction designers are primarily concerned with how an application or Web site functions. They investigate whether the application or Web site performs the intended task in a predictable manner. Interaction design incorporates a lot of skills from other disciplines, such as technical writing and information architecture. http://tc.eserver.org/21569.html http://tc.eserver.org/21569.html Taking the time to plan a Web site is crucial for the success of the project. http://tc.eserver.org/21568.html http://tc.eserver.org/21568.html What makes a good Web site? That depends on whom you ask. A lot of managers have turned their Web design projects over to programmers. They seem to think that a good Web site means good HTML tagging and Java programming… and only that. My opinion is that a good site should give the people who visit it an 'experience.' By experience I mean the 'effect' your site has on visitors. And how do you ensure a good effect? A good site requires a delicate balance between content, visual appeal, and technology. http://tc.eserver.org/19690.html http://tc.eserver.org/19690.html There are many advantages to having mentors: They can teach you new skills, impart their knowledge, and help you increase your self-confidence. Having a mentor, or several of them, can help on all fronts. In fact, in a 2000 survey by The Creative Group, 94 percent of executives polled said having a mentor is important for professionals just beginning their careers. http://tc.eserver.org/19675.html http://tc.eserver.org/19675.html Since the failure of banner advertising as a revenue source, the search engine and directory industry has changed drastically. Most search engines now require payment to include sites in their databases. But there are still a lot of search engines that allow you to register your site for free. http://tc.eserver.org/19635.html http://tc.eserver.org/19635.html This column explores trends in Web design, describes techniques, and offers advice on how to design successful and valuable Web sites. http://tc.eserver.org/14632.html http://tc.eserver.org/14632.html Wilkinson offers tips on adding free JavaScript subroutines to Web sites. She lists several Web sites that give away free scripts. http://tc.eserver.org/14649.html http://tc.eserver.org/14649.html Wilkinson explains how to use a project site to manage a Web site project. http://tc.eserver.org/14723.html http://tc.eserver.org/14723.html Leonard-Wilkinson suggests how Web designers can cope with the problems of unemployment in a difficult market. http://tc.eserver.org/14615.html http://tc.eserver.org/14615.html Theresa Wilkinson suggests way to decrease the bandwidth on your Web site, including using an HTML editor and an HTML checking program. She also includes tips on creating liquid pages with tables, and creating faster graphics. A list of suggested readings followings the article. http://tc.eserver.org/14738.html http://tc.eserver.org/14738.html Leonard-Wilkinson presents several ideas for marketing Web businesses to appropriate audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/14682.html http://tc.eserver.org/14682.html Leonard-Wilkinson describes how Web site designers can take advantage of the features of search engines to advertise their sites. http://tc.eserver.org/14797.html http://tc.eserver.org/14797.html In this article, the third in a series, Leonard-Wilkinson offers tips on how to make Web sites friendly to search engines. http://tc.eserver.org/14760.html http://tc.eserver.org/14760.html Leonard-Wilkinson demonstrates search engine optimization, a process for making Web sites attractive to search engines. http://tc.eserver.org/14789.html http://tc.eserver.org/14789.html Leonard-Wilkinson offers advice on how to write effective TTLE- and META-tag descriptions. http://tc.eserver.org/14675.html http://tc.eserver.org/14675.html Leonard-Wilkinson identifies two kinds of Web designers: 'generalists' with programming skills who reason analytically, and 'specialists' with artistic skills who reason intuitively. She urges companies looking for Web designers to specify the skills they need in their job advertisements. http://tc.eserver.org/13152.html http://tc.eserver.org/13152.html When asked for my opinion on how to break into the Web world, I usually tell people to volunteer. I was very lucky when beginning my Web career in the early days of the Internet—my Web sites received a lot of good exposure. But when I jumped into self-employment a few years ago, I had to start all over again: I needed to show potential clients what I could do, not what my Web team could do. So I found a poorly designed Web site and offered to redesign it for free (the Oklahoma Indian Times Web site at www.okit.com). OKIT jumped at the offer (to read more about this, see “The Need for Web Site Navigation” in the June 1999 issue of Intercom). A lot of my friends thought I was crazy doing all that work for free. But I needed to build a Web site from scratch so I could give prospective clients an example of my work. Nothing is more convincing than before and after pictures. http://tc.eserver.org/13077.html http://tc.eserver.org/13077.html Creating a mentoring program for technical writers requires quite a bit of coordination.