Content Insights Blog

During recent interviews for Phase 2 of our Content & Credibility Study, we have been asking people what web content they find credible and why. As part of that process, I have observed many people’s opinions of search results listings and what makes a result click-worthy. It’s made me think about the importance of a certain content element – the meta description. During our testing, I’ve seen just how important this information is in the decision-making process as users scan search results.

What Is a Meta Description?

The all-important search results listing, or “snippet” in Google speak, is made up of roughly 155 characters of descriptive text that tells users what content is on a page and how it meets their search query. The information displayed in the results listing is created to best match the user’s search terms and can be pulled from a variety of sources, including the meta description. (Other sources could be the Open Directory Project or content from the page itself.) Here's an example of a search result for Content Science. The meta description is displayed under the URL and file format information.   Read More >

Years ago, I attended a lecture at UNC-Chapel Hill where the featured speaker was Noble Prize winner, James D. Watson. He told the story of how a textbook and a chance encounter led him to a historic scientific discovery.  

I remember the date of his discovery well. It was February 27, 1953 and he was very close to solving a long-standing scientific riddle. An error in his nucleic acid textbook had him running in circles to place hydrogen atoms in the right order. Then, by sheer luck, a visiting professor from Caltech pointed out to Watson the textbook he was reading was wrong, and a day later Watson discovered the structure of DNA is a double helix.  Read More >

If you work in interactive, you might think content strategy isn't your job. Have you ever thought about any questions like these?

• How often should you Tweet?
• What is our message?
• Would a video tell our story more effectively?
• For our redesign, what content should we keep and what content should we delete?
• What voice is best and what tone is appropriate when?
• Which CMS is best for our needs?
• Who is going to update our content and when? 

If so, then I have to break this to you. Content strategy is part of your job. What to do? Read Content Strategy at Work: Real-world Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project. Margot Bloomstein guides us through the lifecycle and mindset for content strategy. The process begins with defining what you really need to say. It ends with a solid plan, and long-term commitment, for maintaining that content. To illustrate this lifecycle, Bloomstein provides not only approaches from her personal experience but also a range of case studies from non-profits, healthcare, auto, apparel, higher education and many more. That’s a wide variety of budgets, team sizes, and goals. Chances are you'll find many instances in this book that make you say, “Their situation is exactly like ours!”  Read More >

I recently had the distinct pleasure of becoming a MINI Cooper owner. 



(That's me looking happy.)

The delightful experience of picking out and getting to know my MINI got me thinking about content architecture in a new way. Architecture connects content strategy and content management. Because architecture isn't visible and might seem dry, it sometimes gets short shrift. Getting the MINI reminded me why architecture deserves more of our attention.  Read More >

Naturally, when I think about a Friday that falls on the 13th I remember the tall, dark, and hangsome villain—Jason Voorhees—of the movie franchise Friday the 13th. The camp-kid with a heavy hand and a nose for trouble isn't just skilled at his work (killing immoral camp-goers to avenge his mother's death), he has an unquestionable work ethic: always on, always killing. It's impressive. 

Some of his many talents include surviving: drownings, stabbings, beatings, and even a nasty fall off a wobbly chair—all within the first movie! Over the decades Jason has been known to travel (outer space) and make new friends (a telekinetic ingénue who raised him from the near-dead), but he always has time for his fellow monsters of the silver screen (he beheaded his BFF Freddy Krueger). Aww.  Read More >