• Provided key information that helps people learn whether such programs exist
• where to find PhD programs that waive or don’t ask for GRE scores
• how to apply to these programs

What DO You Mean by Usability?

Loosely, content usability is easy to learn and engage with.

It makes sense to your brain and senses. You’ll be able to digest it. If you have lactose intolerance, this is an analogy you can grasp. Moreover, it answers the query you had that brought you to this unique content’s doorstep. Yes, this content satisfies you with 3 things:

1. effectiveness
2. efficiency
3. relevance

Usable content therefore helps you (consumer/customer/inquiring mind) to meet your goals!

CASE STUDY ON CONTENT USABILITY:

Did you ever notice how some sites draw you in (MOZ blog)? I watch their whiteboards. Midway, the person might suggest you hit pause and click on a link. You then scroll down the page to read the transcript of the mini-webinar. Click on the link you were looking for and voila. This to me is content that is usable.

In life, I mentioned ‘usability’ to one of my clients, an SEO analytics person.  I noticed one of their competitors had a vote button on the bottom of their page. Whereas my client doesn’t, though they have strong SEO team that asks writers to make sure they answer targeted query streams.  I asked what Marlene thought of usability vis a vis conversion rates. Her response:

They (competitor) have a voting feature on their page called “Was this page helpful.”  Good catch that google is bringing this in as part of the meta description. I am 100% on board with the usability being the key!  Thanks for sharing. 

Metrics, Shmetrics

Last night, I went to a Meetup at Seer Interactive, in Northern Liberties (Philly). It was a talk by Karen McGrane. While the theme was Content Operations, she said something that is important when measuring usability. “Information seeking is a task…instead of metrics and reports on the usual stuff – did the information make it into people’s brains?” Did they come away from engaging with your content?

Arguably the skill here is multi-faceted. I agree with Rand Fishkin that to give a unique value with your content it has to be:

• one of a kind (not copied in any way)
• relevant (prompt – no fluff, and targeted to the query)
• helpful (you say “oh, cool I’ve never seen it explained so well)
• valuable (easy to consume, creative, hard to forget info – like a protein shake)

Not Your Average Silo

As a freelancer, I can tell you it takes a village (of one?) to produce usable content. I also know that businesses often silo their teams (SEO, UX, Content Strategy). From what I gathered last night, more collaboration with the writers would kick ass.

I deliver consumer-centric content that converts. I ask as many questions as I can from the UX and SEO teams. Stack inquiry with methodological research, analytic thinking and creativity. Green light on content usability. Look around, every website and its brother are trying to get and measure feedback.

Of course, this spawns a whole debate on whether you know your target audience. Writing to anyone else may decrease usability. Also, whether you know what success looks like. Hope this was helpful. I’m always looking to interview people and love to learn how to improve.

Do you want to talk usable content? Flip me an email

content content marketing content strategy northern liberties philadelphia seo UX web writing