The most interesting technical writer in the world
Posted on 11. Jan, 2012 by Melanie.
Inspired by the IA Summit Library’s post on The Most Valuable UX Person in the World, I recently initiated my own round of “The Most Valuable Technical Writer in the World” with my co-workers. It didn’t really catch on. But I did succeed in amusing myself. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Most Interesting Technical [...]
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My latest content experiment
Posted on 14. Jul, 2011 by Melanie.
A few months ago, I read an interesting Contentini post about the benefits of maintaining an auxiliary, low-PageRank site. I kept thinking about the implications of this article: how you could use a low-PageRank site to basically sniff out search terms that are in higher demand than their keyword competition would indicate. That inspired me. [...]
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Stop Obsessing About Typos—Your Users Need Help
Posted on 22. Apr, 2011 by Melanie.
Imagine, if you will, a conversation: Joe: Hey Sam, can you take a look at this new form for our website? I need your wordsmithing expertise. Sam: Sure, buddy. Joe: Great. Here are my questions. Should “Shipping Policy” be capitalized in “Read our Shipping Policy for more details”? Also, should we italicize it, since it’s [...]
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The Accidental Writer: Great Web Copy for Everyone
Posted on 12. Apr, 2011 by Melanie.
I survived! I actually gave a talk in front of other humans and lived to tell the tale. The Accidental Writer: Great Web Copy for Everyone Thanks to everyone who came out and said hi. I got lots of very nice comments. Some folks liked what I had to say. Some had points of disagreement… [...]
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“Click Here” … or Don’t
Posted on 08. Apr, 2011 by Melanie.
I was surprised and intrigued by the response to my last blog post about whether web writers should use the phrase “click here.” The most provocative comment came from content usability expert Angela Colter, who’d written a blog post on this very thing, oh … two years ago. So, here are my current conclusions: 1. [...]
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Should web writers and UX designers use “click here”?
Posted on 23. Jan, 2011 by Melanie.
Shocked. Appalled. Scandalized. That’s how I felt when I ran across an article asserting that using “click here” to indicate links in copy is actually (gulp) okay.
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6 Books that Made My 2010
Posted on 02. Jan, 2011 by Melanie.
2010 was a big year for me. I got introduced to the field of content strategy, started a meetup group, spoke at a conference (or two), and supervised a team of content writers for the first time ever. I also happened to read several books that energized and equipped me to perform these tasks.
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The “Portmomteau”: Anatomy of a linguistic trend
Posted on 20. Dec, 2010 by Melanie.
This is the sixth or seventh portmanteau containing “mom” I’ve seen lately.
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Presos everywhere!
Posted on 22. Nov, 2010 by Melanie.
I just gave 2 talks. Take a look at the slides and let me know what you think.
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One company’s content ecosystem
Posted on 30. Sep, 2010 by Melanie.
Wondering what a content ecosystem looks like? This is a map of all the content created by one company.