Comments on: Make it easy for your visitors

By: brainadmin

brainadmin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:23:53 +0000

@rob - Skellie has a great article about writing a good “About” page as I mentioned above.

By: Rob Diana

Rob Diana — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:07:48 +0000

Excellent article! I think you have a good point in having a solid about page or something like it. I am not a big fan of the “popular” page, as that can be a quick sidebar item. However, if you have a “series” you can have an intro page that links to all of them, like you had for your blogger interviews.

By: brainadmin

brainadmin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:10:15 +0000

@Sonia - thank you for visiting! As I reread Seth’s article I realize, much to my chagrin, that I may be guilty of taking a single phrase or thought out of context.

I agree with your points that there’s a place for content to meet the needs of varying audiences.

I just don’t think that the author should put all of the onus on the reader. Maybe that’s not what Seth was saying, but that’s what I took from his post. If I don’t take the time to read someone’s writing carefully (here I am cringing) and then I claim that someone said something that they didn’t say (this is starting to sting), then maybe as a reader I’ve not done my homework. True enough.

However, I still think the author is well advised to make their communication as clear as possible, especially when writing for the “scanner” reader on the Web. Nuance often tends to get overlooked, especially if your reader is coming from social news, social bookmarking, or search engine traffic (perhaps less so with this last?) And, as a reader, do I always have the time to filter or interpret what’s being written? Unfortuately, no.

I like the fact that you’ve used the word “grok” - haven’t heard it in awhile.

By: Sonia Simone

Sonia Simone — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:59:25 +0000

I think SG’s right that it’s tricky–you need to keep your current subscribers interested, but you need a way for new folks to get in the swim quickly.

I like Robert Collier’s axiom to quickly “get into the conversation audiences are already having in their own head.” I also think there’s a place for coming up with two kinds of content–deeper stuff for existing readers and more approachable stuff for newer people. (And you put your social media/bookmarking/promotional juice into the new stuff.) All those “5 tips for maximizing XYZ” posts are good introductions–they’re self-contained and easy to grok.

Good About pages & featured content pages are a must as well–make it easy & worthwhile to poke around.

By: brainadmin

brainadmin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:08:03 +0000

@Jansie - interesting thought about soap operas. Certain police procedural shows, i.e. Law and Order, have fairly self-contained episodes, plus the standard intro scene, which make it easy for a new viewer to understand what’s happening. Contrast that to Lost, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica, which are great shows in their own right, but they can be very difficult to “pick up” if you start watching several episodes or several seasons in because they are essentially serialized dramas which are heavily dependent on background information and context.

By: Jansie Blom

Jansie Blom — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:11:39 +0000

i agree with you. why make the user work? they’re doing you a favour by visiting your site, not you them. in a sense, blog readers can be seen as customers.

soap operas do a good job of not making people think. you can watch one episode of a popular soap opera, and be up to speed with what’s going on. i think that’s what a blog should be like as well. and there are many ways to do this, from using the right title, to linking to previous posts, to reminding people in the post that the post in question is part of a series.

and no, i don’t waste my time watching soaps.