{"rowid": 227, "title": "A Contentmas Epiphany", "contents": "The twelve days of Christmas fall between 25 December, Christmas Day, and 6 January, the Epiphany of the Kings. Traditionally, these have been holidays and a lot of us still take a good proportion of these days off. Equally, a lot of us have a got a personal site kicking around somewhere that we sigh over and think, \u201cOne day I\u2019ll sort you out!\u201d Why not take this downtime to give it a big ol\u2019 refresh? I know, good idea, huh?\n\nHEY WAIT! WOAH! NO-ONE\u2019S TOUCHING PHOTOSHOP OR DOING ANY CSS FANCYWORK UNTIL I\u2019M DONE WITH YOU!\n\nBe honest, did you immediately think of a sketch or mockup you have tucked away? Or some clever little piece of code you want to fiddle with? Now ask yourself, why would you start designing the container if you haven\u2019t worked out what you need to put inside?\n\nAnyway, forget the content strategy lecture; I haven\u2019t given you your gifts yet.\nI present The Twelve Days of Contentmas!\n\nThis is a simple little plan to make sure that your personal site, blog or portfolio is not just looking good at the end of these twelve days, but is also a really useful repository of really useful content.\n\nWARNING KLAXON: There are twelve parts, one for each day of Christmas, so this is a lengthy article. I\u2019m not expecting anyone to absorb this in one go. Add to Instapaper. There is no TL;DR for this because it\u2019s a multipart process, m\u2019kay? Even so, this plan of mine cuts corners on a proper applied strategy for content. You might find some aspects take longer than the arbitrary day I\u2019ve assigned. And if you apply this to your company-wide intranet, I won\u2019t be held responsible for the mess.\n\nThat said, I encourage you to play along and sample some of the practical aspects of organising existing content and planning new content because it is, honestly, an inspiring and liberating process. For one thing, you get to review all the stuff you have put out for the world to look at and see what you could do next. This always leaves me full of ideas on how to plug the gaps I\u2019ve found, so I hope you are similarly motivated come day twelve.\n\nLet\u2019s get to it then, shall we?\n\nOn the first day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n1. A (partial) content inventory\n\nI\u2019m afraid being a site owner isn\u2019t without its chores. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. There are the domain renewing, hosting helpline calls and, of course, keeping on top of all the content that you have published.\n\nIf you just frowned a little and thought, \u201cWell, there\u2019s articles and images and\u2026 stuff\u201d, then I\u2019d like to introduce you to the idea of a content inventory. \n\nA content inventory is a list of all your content, in a simple spreadsheet, that allows you to see at a glance what is currently on your site: articles; about me page; contact form, and so on.\n\nYou add the full URL so that you can click directly to any page listed. You add a brief description of what it is and what tags it has. In fact, I\u2019ll show you. I\u2019ve made a Google Docs template for you. Sorry, it isn\u2019t wrapped.\n\nDoes it seem like a mammoth task? Don\u2019t feel you have to do this all in one day. But do do it. For one thing, looking back at all the stuff you\u2019ve pushed out into the world gives you a warm fuzzy feeling which keeps the heating bill down.\n\nGrab a glass of mulled cider and try going month-by-month through your blog archives, or project-by-project through your portfolio. Do a little bit each day for the next twelve days and you\u2019ll have done something awesome. The best bit is that this exploration of your current content helps you with the next day\u2019s task.\n\nBonus gift: for more on content auditing and inventory, check out Jeff Veen\u2019s article on just this topic, which is also suitable for bigger business sites too.\n\nOn the second day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n2. Website loves\n\nRemember when you were a kid, you\u2019d write to Santa with a wish list that would make your parents squirm, because your biggest hope for your stocking would be either impossible or impossibly expensive. Do you ever get the same thing now as a grown-up where you think, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if I could make a video blog every week\u201d, or \u201cI could podcast once a month about this\u201d, and then you push it to the back of your mind, assuming that you won\u2019t have time or you wouldn\u2019t know what to talk about anyway?\n\nTrue fact: content doesn\u2019t just have to be produced when we are so incensed that we absolutely must blog about a topic. Neither does it have to be a drain to a demanding schedule. You can plan for it. In fact, you\u2019re about to.\n\nSo, today, get a pen and a notebook. Move away from your computer. My gift to you is to grab a quiet ten minutes between turkey sandwiches and relatives visiting and give your site some of the attention it deserves for 2011.\n\nWhat would you do with your site if you could? I don\u2019t mean what would you do purely visually \u2013 although by all means note those things down too \u2013 but to your site as a whole. Here are some jumping off points:\n\n\n\tWould you like to individually illustrate and design some of your articles?\n\tWhat about a monthly exploration of your favourite topic through video or audio?\n\tWho would you like to collaborate with?\n\tWhat do you want your site to be like for a user?\n\tWhat tone of voice would you like to use?\n\tHow could you use imagery and typography to support your content?\n\tWhat would you like to create content about in the new year?\n\n\nIt\u2019s okay if you can\u2019t do these things yet. It\u2019s okay to scrub out anything where you think, \u201cNah, never gonna happen.\u201d But do give some thought to what you might want to do next. The best inspiration for this comes from what you\u2019ve already done, so keep on with that inventory.\n\nBonus gift: a Think Vitamin article on podcasting using Skype, so you can rope in a few friends to join in, too.\n\nOn the third day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n3. Red pens\n\nShock news, just in: the web is not print!\n\nOne of the hardest things as a writer is to reach the point where you say, \u201cYeah, okay, that\u2019s it. I\u2019m done\u201d and send off your beloved manuscript or article to print. I\u2019m convinced that if deadlines didn\u2019t exist, nothing would get finished. Why? Well, at the point you hand it over to the publishing presses, you can make no more changes. At best, you can print an erratum or produce an updated second edition at a later date. And writers love to \u2013 no, they live to \u2013 tweak their creations, so handing them over is quite a struggle. Just one more comma and\u2026\n\nOnline, we have no such constraints. We can edit, correct, test, tweak, twiddle until we\u2019re blooming sick of it. Our red pens never run out of ink. It is time for you to run a more critical eye over your content, especially the stuff already published. Relish in the opportunity to change stuff on the fly. I am not so concerned by blog articles and such (although feel free to apply this concept to those, too), but mainly by your more concrete content: about pages; contact pages; home page navigation; portfolio pages; 404 pages.\n\nNow, don\u2019t go running amok with the cut function yet. First, put all these evergreen pages into your inventory. In the notes section, write a quick analysis of how useful this copy is. Example questions:\n\n\n\tIs your contact page up-to-date?\n\tDoes your about page link to the right places?\n\tIs your portfolio current?\n\tDoes your 404 page give people a way to find what they were looking for?\n\n\nWe\u2019ll come back to this in a few days once we have a clearer idea of how to improve our content.\n\nBonus gift: the audio and slides of a talk I gave on microcopy and 404 pages at @media WebDirections last year.\n\nOn the fourth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n4. Stalling nerds\n\nActually, I guess more accurately this is something I get given a lot. Designers and developers particularly can find a million ways to extract themselves from the content of a site but, as the site owner,  and this being your personal playground and all, you mustn\u2019t. You actually can\u2019t, sorry. \n\nBut I do understand that at this point, \u2018sorting out your site\u2019 suddenly seems a lot less exciting, especially if you are a visually-minded person and words and lists aren\u2019t really your thing. So far, there has been a lot of not-very-exciting exercises in planning, and there\u2019s probably a nice pile of DVDs and video games that you got from Santa worth investigating. \n\nStay strong my friend. By now, you have probably hit upon an idea of some sort you are itching to start on, so for every half-hour you spend doing inventory, gift yourself another thirty minutes to play with that idea.\n\nBonus gift: the Pomodoro Technique. Take one kitchen timer and a to-do list and see how far you can go.\n\nOn the fifth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n5. Golden rules\n\nHere are some guidelines for writing online:\n\n\n\tMake headlines for tutorials and similar content useful and descriptive; use a subheading for any terrible pun you want to work in.\n\n\n\n\tCreate a broad opening paragraph that addresses what your article is about. Part of the creative skill in writing is to do this in a way that both informs the reader and captures their attention. If you struggle with this, consider a boxout giving a summary of the article.\n\n\n\n\tUse headings to break up chunks of text and allow people to scan. Most people will have a scoot about an article before starting at the beginning to give it a proper read. These headings should be equal parts informative and enticing. Try them out as questions that might be posed by the reader too.\n\n\n\n\tFinish articles by asking your reader to take an affirmative action: subscribe to your RSS feed; leave a comment (if comments are your thing \u2013 more on that later); follow you on Twitter; link you to somewhere they have used your tutorial or code. The web is about getting excited, making things and sharing with others, so give your readers the chance to do that.\n\n\n\n\tFor portfolio sites, this call to action is extra important as you want to pick up new business. Encourage people to e-mail you or call you \u2013 don\u2019t just rely on a number in the footer or an e-mail link at the top. Think up some consistent calls-to-action you can use and test them out.\n\n\nSo, my gift to you today is a simplified page table for planning out your content to make it as useful as possible.\n\nFeel free to write a new article or tutorial, or work on that great idea from yesterday and try out these guidelines for yourself. \n\nIt\u2019s a simple framework \u2013 good headline; broad opening; headings to break up volume; strong call to action \u2013 but it will help you recognise if what you\u2019ve written is in good shape to face the world. It doesn\u2019t tell you anything about how to create it \u2013 that\u2019s your endeavour \u2013 but it does give you a start. No more staring at a blank page.\n\nBonus gift: okay, you have to buy yourself this one, but it is the gift that keeps on giving: Ginny Reddish\u2019s Letting Go of the Words \u2013 the hands down best guide to web writing there is, with a ton of illustrative examples.\n\nOn the sixth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n6. Foundation-a-laying\n\nYesterday, we played with a page table for articles. Today, we are going to set the foundations for your new, spangly, spruced up, relaunched site (for when you\u2019re ready, of course). We\u2019ve checked out what we\u2019ve got, we\u2019ve thought about what we\u2019d like, we have a wish list for the future. Now is the time for a small reality check. \n\nBe realistic with yourself. Can you really give your site some attention every day? Record a short snippet of audio once a week? A photo diary post once a month? Look back at the wish list you made.\n\n\n\tWhat can you do?\n\tWhat can you aim for?\n\tWhat just isn\u2019t possible right now?\n\n\nAs much as we\u2019d all love to be producing a slick video podcast and screencast three times a week, it\u2019s better to set realistic expectations and work your way up.\n\nWhere does your site sit in your online world?\n\n\n\tDo you want it to be the hub of all your social interactions, a lifestream, a considered place of publication or a free for all?\n\tDo you want to have comments (do you have the personal resource to monitor comments?) or would you prefer conversation to happen via Twitter, Facebook or not at all?\n\tDoes this apply to all pages, posts and content types or just some?\n\tGet these things straight in your head and it\u2019s easier to know what sort of environment you want to create and what content you\u2019ll need to sustain it.\n\n\nGet your notebook again and think about specific topics you\u2019d like to cover, or aspects of a project you want to go into more, and how you can go ahead and do just that. A good motivator is to think what you\u2019ll get out of doing it, even if that is \u201cAnd I\u2019ll finally show the poxy $whatever_community that my $chosen_format is better than their $other_format.\u201d\n\nWhat topics have you really wanted to get off your chest? Look through your inventory again. What gaps are there in your content just begging to be filled?\n\nToday, you\u2019re going to give everyone the gift of your opinion. Find one of those things where someone on the internet is wrong and create a short but snappy piece to set them straight. Doesn\u2019t that feel good? Soon you\u2019ll be able to do this in a timely manner every time someone is wrong on the internet!\n\nBonus gift: we\u2019re halfway through, so I think something fun is in order. How about a man sledding naked down a hill in Brighton on a tea tray? Sometimes, even with a whole ton of content planning, it\u2019s the spontaneous stuff that is still the most fun to share.\n\nOn the seventh day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n7. Styles-a-guiding\n\nNot colour style guides or brand style guides or code style guides. Content style guides. You could go completely to town and write yourself a full document defining every aspect of your site\u2019s voice and personality, plus declaring your view on contracted phrases and the Oxford comma, but this does seem a tad excessive. Unless you\u2019re writing an entire site as a fictional character, you probably know your own voice and vocabulary better than anyone. It\u2019s in your head, after all.\n\nInstead, equip yourself with a good global style guide (I like the Chicago Manual of Style because I can access it fully online, but the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook has a nifty iPhone app and, if I\u2019m entirely honest, I\u2019ve found a copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves has set me right on all but the most technical aspects of punctuation). Next, pick a good dictionary and bookmark thesaurus.com. Then have a go at Kristina Halvorson\u2019s \u2018Voice and Tone\u2019 exercise from her book Content Strategy for the Web, to nail down what you\u2019d like your future content to be like:\n\nTo introduce the voice and tone qualities you\u2019re [looking to create], a good approach is to offer contrasting values. For example:\n\n\n\tProfessional, not academic.\n\tConfident, not arrogant.\n\tClever, not cutesy.\n\tSavvy, not hipster.\n\tExpert, not preachy.\n\n\n\nTake a look around some of your favourite sites and examine the writing and stylistic handling of content. What do you like? What do you want to emulate? What matches your values list?\n\nToday\u2019s gift to you is an idea. Create a \u2018swipe file\u2019 through Evernote or Delicious and save all the stuff you come across that, regardless of topic, makes you think, \u201cThat\u2019s really cool.\u201d This isn\u2019t the same as an Instapaper list you\u2019d like to read. This is stuff you have read or have seen that is worth looking at in closer detail.\n\n\n\tWhy is it so good?\n\tWhat is the language and style like?\n\tWhat impact does the typography have?\n\tHow does the imagery work to enhance the message?\n\n\nThis isn\u2019t about creating a personal brand or any such piffle. It\u2019s about learning to recognise how good content works and how to create something awesome yourself. Obviously, your ideas are brilliant, so take the time to understand how best to spring them on the unsuspecting public for easier world domination.\n\nBonus gift: a nifty style guide is a must when you do have to share content creation duties with others. Here is Leeds University\u2019s publicly available PDF version for you to take a gander at. I especially like the Rationale sections for chopping off dissenters at the knees. \n\nOn the eighth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n8. Times-a-making\n\nYou have an actual, real plan for what you\u2019d like to do with your site and how it is going to sound (and probably some ideas on how it\u2019s going to look, too). I hope you are full of enthusiasm and Getting Excited To Make Things. Just before we get going and do exactly that, we are going to make sure we have made time for this creative outpouring.\n\nHave you tried to blog once a week before and found yourself losing traction after a month or two? Are there a couple of podcasts lurking neglected in your archives? Whereas half of the act of running is showing up for training, half of creating is making time rather than waiting for it to become urgent. It\u2019s okay to write something and set a date to come back to it (which isn\u2019t the same as leaving it to decompose in your drafts folder).\n\nPutting a date in your calendar to do something for your site means that you have a forewarning to think of a topic to write about, and space in your schedule to actually do it. Crucially, you\u2019ve actually made some time for this content lark.\n\nTo do this, you need to think about how long it takes to get something out of the door/shipped/published/whatever you want to call it. It might take you just thirty minutes to record a podcast, but also a further hour to research the topic beforehand and another hour to edit and upload the clips. Suddenly, doing a thirty minute podcast every day seems a bit unlikely. But, on the flipside, it is easy to see how you could schedule that in three chunks weekly. \n\nPut it in your calendar. Do it, publish it, book yourself in for the next week. Keep turning up.\n\nToday my gift to you is the gift of time. Set up your own small content calendar, using your favourite calendar system, and schedule time to play with new ways of creating content, time to get it finished and time to get it on your site. Don\u2019t let good stuff go to your drafts folder to die of neglect.\n\nBonus gift: lots of writers swear by the concept of \u2018daily pages\u2019. That is, churning out whatever is in your head to see if there is anything worth building upon, or just to lose the grocery list getting in the way. 750words.com is a site built around this concept. Go have a play.\n\nOn the ninth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n9. Copy enhancing\n\nAn incredibly radical idea for day number nine. We are going to look at that list of permanent pages you made back on day three and rewrite the words first, before even looking at a colour palette or picking a font! Crazy as it sounds, doing it this way round could influence your design. It could shape the imagery you use. It could affect your choice of typography. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!\n\nLook at the page table from day five. Print out one for each of your homepage, about page, contact page, portfolio, archive, 404 page or whatever else you have. Use these as a place to brainstorm your ideas and what you\u2019d like each page to do for your site. Doodle in the margin, choose words you think sound fun to say, daydream about pictures you\u2019d like to use and colours you think would work, but absolutely, completely and utterly fill in those page tables to understand how much (or how little) content you\u2019re playing with and what you need to do to get to \u2018launch\u2019.\n\nThen, use them for guidance as you start to write. Don\u2019t skimp. Don\u2019t think that a fancy icon of an envelope encourages people to e-mail you. Use your words.\n\nPeople get antsy at this bit. Writing can be hard work and it\u2019s easy for me to say, \u201cGo on and write it then!\u201d I know this. I mean, you should see the faces I pull when I have to do anything related to coding. The closest equivalent would be when scientists have to stick their hands in big gloves attached to a glass box to do dangerous experiments.\n\nHere\u2019s today\u2019s gift, a little something about writing that I hope brings you comfort: \n\n\n\tTo write something fantastic you almost always have to write a rubbish draft first.\n\n\nNow, you might get lucky and write a \u2018good enough\u2019 draft first time and that\u2019s fab \u2013 you\u2019ve cut some time getting to \u2018fantastic\u2019. If, however, you\u2019ve always looked at your first attempt to write more than the bare minimum and sighed in despair, and resigned yourself to adding just a title, date and a screenshot, be cheered because you have taken the first step to being able to communicate with clarity, wit and panache.\n\nKeep going. Look at writing you admire and emulate it. Think about how you will lovingly design those words when they are done. Know that you can go back and change them. Check back with your page table to keep you on track. Do that first draft.\n\nBonus gift: becoming a better writer helps you to explain design concepts to clients.\n\nOn the tenth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n10. Ideas for keeping\n\nHurrah! You have something down on paper, ready to start evolving your site around it. Here\u2019s where the words and visuals and interaction start to come together. Because you have a plan, you can think ahead and do things you wouldn\u2019t be able to pull together otherwise.\n\n\n\tHow about finding a fresh-faced stellar illustrator on Dribbble to create you something perfect to pep up your contact page or visualize your witty statement on statements of work. A List Apart has been doing it for years and it hasn\u2019t worked out too badly for them, has it?\n\n\n\n\tWhat about spending this month creating a series of introductory tutorials on a topic, complete with screencasts and audio and give them a special home on your site?\n\n\n\n\tHow about putting in some hours creating a glorious about me page, with a biography, nice picture, and where you spend your time online?\n\n\n\n\tYou could even do the web equivalent of getting up in the attic and sorting out your site\u2019s search to make it easier to find things in your archives. Maybe even do some manual recommendations for relevant content and add them as calls to action.\n\n\n\n\tHow about writing a few awesome case studies with individual screenshots of your favourite work, and creating a portfolio that plays to your strengths? Don\u2019t just rely on the pretty pictures; use your words. Otherwise no-one understands why things are the way they are on that screenshot and BAM! you\u2019ll be judged on someone else\u2019s tastes. (Elliot has a head start on you for this, so get to it!)\n\n\n\n\tDo you have a serious archive of content? What\u2019s it like being a first-time visitor to your site? Could you write them a guide to introduce yourself and some of the most popular stuff on your site? Ali Edwards is a massively popular crafter and every day she gets new visitors who have found her multiple papercraft projects on Flickr, Vimeo and elsewhere, so she created a welcome guide just for them.\n\n\n\n\tWhat about your microcopy? Can you improve on your blogging platform\u2019s defaults for search, comment submission and labels? I\u2019ll bet you can.\n\n\n\n\tMaybe you could plan a collaboration with other like-minded souls. A week of posts about the more advanced wonders of HTML5 video. A month-long baton-passing exercise in extolling the virtues of IE (shut up, it could happen!). Just spare me any more online advent calendars.\n\n\n\n\tWatch David McCandless\u2019s TED talk on his jawdropping infographic work and make something as awesome as the Billion Dollar O Gram. I dare you.\n\n\nBonus gift: Grab a copy of Brian Suda\u2019s Designing with Data, in print or PDF if Santa didn\u2019t put one in your stocking, and make that awesome something with some expert guidance.\n\nOn the eleventh day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n11. Pixels pushing\n\nOh, go on then. Make a gorgeous bespoke velvet-lined container for all that lovely content. It\u2019s proper informed design now, not just decoration. Mr. Zeldman says so.\n\nBonus gift: I made you a movie! If books were designed like websites.\n\nOn the twelfth day of Contentmas, Relly gave to me:\n\n12. Delighters delighting\n\nThe Epiphany is upon us; your site is now well on its way to being a beautiful, sustainable hub of content and you have a date in your calendar to help you keep that resolution of blogging more. What now?\n\n\n\tKeep on top of your inventory. One day it will save your butt, I promise.\n\tKeep making a little bit of time regularly to create something new: an article; an opinion piece; a small curation of related links; a photo diary; a new case study. That\u2019s easier than an annual content bootcamp for sure.\n\tAnd today\u2019s gift: look for ways to play with that content and make something a bit special. Stretch yourself a little. It\u2019ll be worth it.\n\n\nBonus gift: Paul Annett\u2019s presentation on Ooh, that\u2019s clever: Delighters in design from SxSW 09.\n\nAll my favourite designers and developers have their own unique styles and touches. It\u2019s what sets them apart. My very, very favourites have an eloquence and expression that they bring to their sites and to their projects. I absolutely love to explore a well-crafted, well-written site \u2013 don\u2019t we all? I know the time it takes. I appreciate the time it takes. But the end results are delicious. Do please share your spangly, refreshed sites with me in the comments.\n\nCatch me on Twitter, I\u2019m @RellyAB, and I\u2019ve been your host for these Twelve Days of Contentmas.", "year": "2010", "author": "Relly Annett-Baker", "author_slug": "rellyannettbaker", "published": "2010-12-21T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2010/a-contentmas-epiphany/", "topic": "content"}