Content Management: Web Publishing Needs Real Discipline

Too many organizations take an unprofessional approach to the content they publish on the Web. Many web managers still seem to believe that if they get the technology right the publishing will look after itself. Quality publishing requires skill and discipline. Unfortunately, discipline is something many web teams are lacking.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Content Management>Content Strategy

Knowledge Management: Maximizing Input, Minimizing Output

The number of hours worked by American couples has increased by more than 10 percent in the last 25 years," according to USA Today (December 17, 2003). Monster's 2003 Work/Life Balance Survey found that 83 percent of people are not satisfied with their job, while 80 percent are not happy with their work/life balance.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Knowledge Management

Graphic Design Plays a Minor Role on the Web

The best websites are highly functional. They are task-focused. Graphic design has an important, though limited role. Don’t try and force the Web to be what it’s not.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Graphic Design

What's Important to Measure on Your Website?

Websites are very measurable. However, reams of data can be time consuming and confusing. The knack is to know what is really important to measure. This includes the following: reader actions; reader numbers; most and least popular pages; subscribers; external links; search keywords; page size; broken links and malfunctioning processes.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Audience Analysis>Log Analysis

Are You Using the Wrong Web Metrics?

Do you base success on measuring the volume of visitors and page impressions? Such measures may in fact reflect the failure--rather than the success--of your website.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Web Design>Audience Analysis>Log Analysis

Customer Focus: First Rule of Scientific Content Management

The science of content management begins with a deep understanding of your customer. The Web is more likely to push your customer away than to bring them closer.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Content Management>Audience Analysis

Making the Customer CEO

The key revolution of the Web is customer empowerment and engagement. The Web empowers the customer more than it empowers the organization. The implications are enormous.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>User Experience

It's Time To Get Serious About Metadata

When it comes to the Web, there is nothing more misunderstood than metadata. Technical people search vainly for a way to automate its creation. Many editors and writers want nothing to do with it. And yet without quality metadata a website cannot properly achieve its objectives. It’s time to get serious about metadata.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2004). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Metadata

Metadata is Essential Web Writing Skill: Part 1

Metadata is one of the most misunderstood aspects of content management and website design. Editors and writers tend to look at it as a technical issue. Technical people look for a software solution. Both are wrong. Metadata is a fundamental skill that web writers and editors must acquire.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Metadata

Metadata is Essential Web Writing Skill: Part 2

Creating great metadata for your content begins with understanding who your reader is. What is the metadata they look for when they read a page of your content? What are the type of words they use when they search for your content? When scanning your classification, what are the "trigger words" that will make them want to go deeper into your website?

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Metadata

Metadata: Seven Tips for Writing Better Keywords

The shift in how search engines treat keywords is significant. They tend to ignore the keyword metatag and rather look for keywords in the actual page content. This means that you need to figure out your keywords before you write any content. Then, you include them throughout your content, particularly in headings and summaries.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2004). Articles>Web Design>Metadata>Search Engine Optimization

Writing for the Web: Part 2

Writing for the Web requires careful planning. Your content needs to fit well within the context of your website. When a reader finds your content, they need to be able to scan it quickly. That's what metadata is about. In order for your website to be found, you need to write for how people search.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing

Intranet Communication vs. Traditional Communication

A way to measure return on investment (ROI) for your intranet is to answer two basic questions. How does the intranet increase the level and quality of communication? How does it replace traditional forms of communication? To develop such an ROI model, you need to be clear on the current level and type of communication within your organization.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2002). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Assessment

Intranet Return on Investment Case Studies

An intranet can deliver return on investment (ROI) by either reducing the cost, or expanding the ability, to communicate. By shifting manual processes to the intranet, the cost of accessing and processing information is reduced. The intranet speedily delivers information to large numbers of people. This gives the organization a greater capacity to change.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2002). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Case Studies

Intranets: Strategy First, Usability Second

More and more intranet teams are buying into the need for usability. However, usability is not a strategy, and without a clear strategy, usability can become a pointless, wasteful and counter-productive exercise.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Usability

Is Communications Up to Job of Running Intranet?

The natural home of the intranet is in communications. However, intranet management requires particular skills that many traditional communications departments don’t have.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>TC>Intranets

Make Sure Your Intranet is Well-Perceived by Staff

Many intranets are only now beginning to show their true potential. However, many staff, having had unsatisfactory previous experiences of the intranet, may need quite some convincing that the intranet is now genuinely useful.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Workplace

Putting Someone in Charge

Finally, organizations are getting serious about how they manage their intranets. The intranet is now moving out of an evolutionary, experimental phase into a more systematic, managed phase. It is being seen as an asset, a driver of productivity. However, return on investment measurement for the intranet still requires a lot of work.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Management>Intranets

Making Knowledge Sharing Work

The intranet is beginning to restructure the organization in more ways than one. Content is now an asset, and the people who manage it need to treat it as such. Managing editors, and their team, understand how technology can facilitate effective publishing, collaboration and self-service focused application development.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Content Management

Publish What You Can Manage

There is a view in some organizations that an intranet is only for staff, so you can publish what you want. Quality content matters as much on an intranet as on a public website. Get your content right to begin with. Keep it right by removing out-of-date content.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Content Management

If You Can't Measure It, You Can't Manage It

Intranets don't self-organize. Without planned, centralized information architectures and clearly defined published processes, they become unproductive. Intranets often have applications that either don't work properly, are too difficult to learn, or have no clear business benefit. Applications, like content, must be able to establish a clear return on investment.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Information Design>Intranets>Assessment

Your Website is for Your Most Important Customers

Well-managed websites tend to be those that are narrow in their focus. They do a few things really well rather than attempt to do lots and lots of things.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>E Commerce

The Secret of Managing a Successful Website

The Web is about self-service. To achieve success in self-service you need to really understand how your visitors think and behave. If they are to serve themselves they must feel comfortable and confident. That requires getting to know their needs in a comprehensive manner. It requires an ongoing conversation with them.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2004). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design

The Greatest Skill of the 21st Century

In an age when technology is everywhere, those who understand how technology works are easy to find. Those who understand how people work are much harder to find.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2006). Articles>Management>Collaboration

How Google Manages its Home Page

An average person can deal with only 7-10 choices on a web page, according to Google research. That's why it's so hard to get a link on the Google home page.

McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2005). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Usability