Jared Spool affirms what I've been saying here all along

So the basic thrust of my entire blog is that Advanced Web professionals need to move toward an industry standard. Part of the way I think we get there is by sharing roles and knowing everything about something and something about everything when it comes to the different roles that team members play when creating a successful user experience.

This brings me to my VERY first blog post "WHY it all matters online". As Jared Spool described today in his very awesome "Secrets Behind Designing Great User Experiences" at the UIE Roadshow 2009 in Washington, D.C., general specialists are really critical for creating a successful user experience.

Now Jared wrote an article about this in December of 2007 (so he was WAY ahead of me). In December of 2007 I was just figuring out how to really CRAFT for the Web. But the roles are still the same and they still apply to MY RULE about finding people who can all share some of the heavy lifting. Each of the different roles is important; but that doesn't mean that 1 person has to fit into each role. You can actually wear 1, 2 or 3 hats when it comes to UX (User Experience Design). It also means that there will be natural checks and balances on each project.

For example, I work with an Information Architect at one of my clients. I know how to do IA. I've done it for almost every Website I've written. But by collaborating with him, he and I get the chance to have two sets of eyes looking at our work and we bounce ideas off each other. He could set up an agency doing IA for the Web, but I doubt he could write for the Web. I do IA work for small-ish sites but I would never think about doing the kind of broad strategy IA work he is doing. Point is, we help each other out by sharing our expertise and experience, hopefully creating a better experience for both our users and our clients.

Is Google over?

I’m going to get on the unpopular side of things here and say that Google’s time may have reached its peak. I’m not saying Bing is the next Google, or that Google has, in any way lost market share. What I’m saying is what goes up, must come down. And I think the programmers at Google have crowded their algorithm and lost sight of what users might really be looking for when they are searching online.

For example:
I do a monthly Google search on myself to see if anything new has cropped up.
This was my last search on Google:
1. Ahava Leibtag, Account Executive, Ruder Finn Incorporated, New ...
Ahava LeibtagSpoke is the largest online Open Network helping business people find business people.
www.spoke.com/info/p7IBDvi/AhavaLeibtag - Cached - Similar
2. Simchas & Galleries » Birth of Amaya Tehilla to Ephriam and Ahava ...
www.onlysimchas.com/v4/index.cfm/fuseaction.../simchaid:36828 - Similar
3. Ahava Leibtag - LinkedIn
Washington D.C. Metro Area
View Ahava Leibtag's professional profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Ahava Leibtag discover ...
www.linkedin.com/pub/ahava-leibtag/2/249/643 - Cached - Similar
4. Ahava Leibtag (ahaval) on Twitter
Web content strategist with usability and SEO experience.
twitter.com/ahavaL - Cached - Similar

I was an Account Executive at Ruder Finn for four months, part-time in graduate school. Why on earth is that the first thing Google thinks is relevant about me?
Here’s a recent search on Yahoo:
1. Ahava Leibtag: Web writer, usability professional, SEO
Ahava Leibtag is a freelance web writer, usability and search engine optimization ... Contact Ahava Leibtag today to learn more about online marketing ...
ahamediagroup.com - Cached
2. Amazon.com: Ahava Leibtag "ahaval"'s review of Paradise Park
I thought it was fun and amusing!, August 21, 2001. By. Ahava Leibtag "ahaval" ... Ahava Leibtag "ahaval" Location: College Park, MD United States. New ...
www.amazon.com/review/RXX3ZNAMJKD27 - 116k - Cached
3. Ahava Aaron Leibtag on Facebook
o Add friend|
o Poke|
o Send message|
o View friends
Ahava Aaron Leibtag is on Facebook. Not the Ahava Aaron Leibtag you were looking for? Visit Facebook to search for friends, family, coworkers.
www.facebook.com/people/Ahava-Aaron-Leibtag/867235596 - Cached

Now, my company's Website shows up first. Which is what I want. Which is probably what someone who is searching for me wants. But, for argument's sake, let’s say the user is searching for personal information about me. They want to get back in touch. On Yahoo, there I am, with a picture of three adorable children (yes, they’re mine). RELEVANT search results are returned, high up in the results.

Now let’s try Bing, which reminds me of Chandler Bing, who seemed to spend a lot of time looking for something, which I hope he found living with Monica in the suburbs.
• Ahava Leibtag: Web writer, usability professional, SEO
AHA Media Group, LLC is a full service Web consulting firm based in the Washington, D.C. area.


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• The Daily Bang

Again, Bing ranks my company's Website the first result that a user might want to find when typing in Ahava Leibtag. A nice thing about Bing is that you can mouse over the link to get more of a preview of the page. (This is called AJAX technology.) That is a cool and value added benefit of using Bing. This way when users search, they can glance at a search result, mouse over it and see if it’s what they really want, without having to jump. While Google’s descriptors are supposed to make this possible, sometimes they aren’t descriptive enough, making jumping the only choice to make sure you’re on the right track.

This whole discussion requires a brief understanding of SEO. Suffice it to say that all the different search engines weight their algorithms differently differently, resulting in different rankings on each of their systems. But the bottom line is, it shouldn’t all be about the algorithm. It should be about trying to define what the user might really want.
Now that’s an idea Google seems to have passed by.

What makes a great Website?

My mother recently asked me which Website I thought was great. I told her it depends on a lot of factors. But to me, what makes a Website really great is one simple rule:

A USER CAN FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

That's it, folks.

5 Questions you NEED to ask your Web writer

Your organization definitely has a Web site. (If it doesn’t, call or email me immediately!) Is it well-written for the Web? Here are some questions to ask the next person you hire to craft keyword-rich, user-friendly content for online.

1. Are you a good writer? This is similar to the rule I tell my friends when they are dating; start with a good person. Good Web writers, good print writers, good technical writers are most always just good writers. Good writers the world over are all the same: they love to read, they love words, they love questions and they love the answers even more.

2. How do you write differently when creating a print piece as opposed to Web content? This question recently was asked of me at an interview and I loved it. To me, it really showed that the person understood that Web writing is a technical craft. Web writers have a strategy when constructing content that differs greatly from the straetegy used to write a print piece. By asking a Web writer to reveal that strategy, you will gain a deeper understanding of their skills and how they will approach your project.

3. Do you think about the usability of the page when writing? The way a page is constructed: the design elements, photograph placement, where the menu navigation sits, are the first thing your user sees when visiting a page on your Web site. Your writer should have an understanding of how the content will appear on the page, as well as how to construct the content to complement the design. For example, I used to write for one client who had very narrow columns as the main body of the page. I thought very strategically about creating headlines that would fit just so into that main space on the page so it would be incredibly easy for the user to scan the page. Thankfully, that client redesigned!

4. How do you assemble your keyword list? Most people think search engines are the name of the game when it comes to Web writing. Actually, your user reading your content is the name of the game. But you also need those users to find your site. That is why it is so critical for your Web writer to really understand how keywords are used and manipulated online. Good answers to this question would include: asking to see log files, analyzing competitor sites and using many of the excellent online tools for keyword research. However, at the end of the day, good Web writing answers users’ question on each and every page. Keywords are JUST a tool to help your users find and read your Web site.

5. Who do you ask when you have a question? As the saying goes, “You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their heroes”. Web writers are like everyone else; who they trust to answer their questions reveals how they approach Web writing. Good Web writers will talk about Jakob Nielsen, Ginny Reddish, Jared Spool and Steve Krug. Recently, I Twittered with Jared about a question I had for a client. I didn’t know if any research had been done in a particular area and I knew he would be an excellent resource.

Are there other questions you’ve asked a Web writer before hiring? I’d love to hear what they are.

Don't make 'em jump when they may be thinking about jumping

Having written more than 25 healthcare Web sites in the past 3 years, I’ve learned A LOT about different diseases, conditions and treatments. In fact, it’s really better not to know how much goes wrong with your body- in some cases it might make you feel very depressed.

Having said that, I do think it’s critical for Web organizations in general, particularly hospitals or private practices, to think about offering information that is personalized to their institution's way of ‘doing medicine’ on their condition pages. For example, Mayo Clinic does an absolutely amazing job of describing DCIS, a type of breast cancer that is very treatable if detected early. However, they do not weave information about treatment at Mayo into their content pages. Rather, the opportunity to read about treatment for DCIS at Mayo is offered in a separate link OUTSIDE of the content.

I know that Mayo is looking to be a leading online health portal (and they are!). Perhaps their strategy is to drive traffic to their site and ‘catch’ any patients who might be interested.

But I think it’s far better (and I advise my clients about this) to put all the information on one page: symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis checklist at that particular healthcare institution and treatment options. One-stop shopping becomes a way to communicate to your user how you would handle their disease.

Creating a content strategy that doesn't make your user jump around the Web virtually teaches them to trust you for all the answers. Probably means they're going to trust you in a real clinical situation as well.