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Web Content Strategy Inadvertently Supported by Jakob Nielsen

In his article on long vs. short Web content (Alert Box/ Content Strategy), amidst all of the value/effort math, Nielsen makes a great point about the value of a good content strategist and Web editor. He suggests that the length most content could be reduced by 40% by a good editor while eliminating only 30% of the value provided to the reader. But he also acknowledges that there is the occasional situation in which, "you really, really need to know everything about a problem," that justifies longer content.

The trick is in being able to determine the value of a piece of content and plan accordingly. This is one of the hard-to-measure benefits that a good content strategist or managing editor brings to a Web project. The content strategist can often work with the information architect and determine that all of the content in a particular category is not created equal.

Nielsen states that the very best content strategy is one that mixes long and short format content as needed to support the user. Some of the content could be reduced to make it more consumable to a broader audience, while other content may need to be expanded into a white paper for high value customers that need to take a deep dive and make significant purchase decisions.

Because of their broad project knowledge and content focus, the content strategist has the time and the ability to take a detailed look at every piece of proposed content to determine its ultimate value to the user, and then plan the length accordingly.

Richard Sheffield is currently managing editor for a Fortune 50 corporate Web site and has functioned as a Web content strategist (and hired and trained content strategists) since 1999. For more information about Web Content Strategyand working as a content strategist, see The Web Content Strategists Bible at - http://www.web-content-strategy.com

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