So I finally got around to cleaning up my categories. I’m still not sure I’m happy with them. I’d almost rather have more general categories and more specific tags (since sub-categories annoy me…who wants to dig through levels and levels of categories to find what you want?). But although tagging used to be de-rigueur, it seems to be falling by the wayside in favor of good ole’ search input boxes. (Ding ding ding! That’s what I need!)

But that’s not want I wanted to talk about today. Not exactly. I want to talk about what we call things. What we call our categories, our pages, our RSS feeds. Because it makes a huge difference whether you call something a “newsletter” or “free updates”. It really does.

The two schools of thought

There’s a huge debate between web usability people and online marketing people. Some say to just call it what it is. If it’s a newsletter, it’s a newsletter. If it’s a contact page, it’s a contact page. Use traditionally-accepted verbiage, and it’s easy for people to find stuff. It also shows up better in search engines (because people search for the traditionally-worded stuff more than your own wacky concoction).

But the marketing people have a point. The conventional terms that we use turn into cliches by default. And the problem with cliches is that our eyes tend to miss them. It’s like they’re invisible on the page. We don’t stop to think about what they mean. We think we know it already, and we apply our own biases toward them.

For example, if we hate newsletters, we won’t even think about signing up for one, even if it’s going to give us the exact information that we need. If we think RSS feeds take up too much freaking time and we don’t need another one, then we’re going to skip it. Most of this is done on the sub-conscious level. It’s not that we don’t take a second look — we don’t even look.

Questions to ask when you don’t know what to name something

This is just a starting point. Every website’s audience is different, so they’ll respond to different things. The rule is, if something’s not working as well as you’d like, change the name of it before doing anything else. If it’s named conventionally, change it to unconventional. And vice versa.

• Are people going to be specifically looking for it? (example: faqs, contact page, archives): Conventional
• Is search engine placement a really high priority? (example: stuff that you’re tailoring specifically to search engine keywords that you’ve researched): Conventional
• Is it something that you don’t care if people look at or is it just there for legal reasons? (example: privacy policy, copyright information): Conventional
• Is it there to assist in browsing for other information? (example: tags, categories): Conventional
• Is it something that people might associate with something negative? (example: newsletters, sales pages): Unconventional
• Is it something that you really want people to look at? (example: a new product, a new initiative): Unconventional
• Is it an integral part of your brand? (example: a link to a site that you’ve created for public enjoyment and brand recognition): Unconventional

So figuring out what to name stuff…not so hard.

Other things completely un-related

Besides updating my categories with labels that actually make sense, I also added a date-sorted archive page…one of those archaic things that never seemed important to me, but actually is. I also added some cool new stuff to ye olde portfolio. You guys are totally holding me accountable for dealing with the web overwhelm, so thanks.

Also, I’ve had several people asking if I offer a simple web-strategizing session. The current pump up your website thing that I do is a pretty intense 4 to 6 week program. So now I’m offering a second option for do-it-yourself-ers who want specific, well-researched feedback in a one-hour jamming session (scroll down to option 2).

Last. By the end of July, I’ll be launching the first set of pre-built websites (long time coming, I hear you). I’m so excited about this, because I get to really show off my skills and pass it on to you guys in a cheaper package that will be unlike anything available right now. So that’s exciting.

So what are you guys working on? Are you getting stuff checked off of your “things I need to do to my website” list? I’d totally love to hear about it.

I laugh (inwardly, of course) when people ask me why they need an information architecture plan. Not because it’s not a valid question–it’s a GREAT question–but because the people who ask it are usually desperately in need of one.

You know these websites. When you visit them, you feel like you’re drowning in an enormous amount of poorly organized information. You’re looking for “dog grooming tips”, and you don’t know if you should look under “tools” or “dogs” or “How Bitzy got ‘Best of Show’”. You enter “dog grooming tips” in their search box, and up pops “Need to know how much to tip your doorman?” Hopelessly lost, you throw up your hands and go to Wikipedia. Or Doggiepedia. Or forever give up your dreams of learning to cut Butch’s hair like your neighbor’s dog down the street.

How to know if your website’s organization sucks

Check your stats. Look for the people who come to your website via search engine. Out of those people, look at the ones who searched for information that you actually provide on your site. How long are those people staying? 1 second? 5 minutes? How many pages are they clicking on? What’s your bounce rate (the percentage of people who abandon your site within a millisecond of coming to it)?

You may think that the people who stay longer are the ones who are taking the longest to find what they’re looking for — wrong. People are very fickle online. If they can’t find what they want in a couple of seconds, they aren’t staying around for further torture. The people who stay for long periods of time are usually the ones who are finding what they want and are digging deeper into what you have to offer. If you have a bunch of people quickly fleeing for the nearest exit, that’s a good indication that your information organization needs work.

Watch somebody using your site for the first time. If possible, don’t tell them what you’re doing. Ask them to look for something specific, preferably deep within the site. See how long it takes them to find it without guiding or correcting them.

Not everybody has your highly refined sense of direction

I know you’re intelligent. You don’t need a map. Your incredible left-brainedness is the envy of all of your peers. However, I am not you. I come at your website with a whole different set of expectations and observations. I need to find your content how I want to, not how you want me to. So here’s how to help me.

Create a clear hierarchy of your site’s contents. The old-school, nerdified term for this is “sitemap.” Write down every page and sub-page and sub-sub-page. Reveal your inner librarian and categorize everything in a make-sense kind of way. You know that “Tennis Shoes” doesn’t go on the same list as “My Zoo Adventures.” So don’t put them together. Put like with like and all will be well.

Pay attention to grammar and syntax. When you’re listing activities, don’t put “Skiing”, “Running”, “Ride a Bike”, and “Exercise.” Put “Skiing”, “Running”, “Riding a Bike”, and “Exercising”. Ermmm…don’t look at my post categories for an example of how this is done correctly. Maybe look next week.

Don’t put multiple links to the same thing in the same place. It’s annoying when two links that are named two completely different things take you to the same place. A-nnoying. You love your people. Don’t do that to them.

Don’t use mystery meat navigation. Vincent Flanders coined the term and is famous for pointing this out in his official “Web Pages that Suck” awards. Mystery meat navigation occurs when you have to roll your mouse over an object to see where it takes you. Like an image of a bone…you roll over it and it says “products.” In some cases, you can’t even tell by rolling over the navigation. Grossness.

Make sure you’ve got a usable “search” function in place. When all else fails, people will use your search box (and yeah, this is still on my to-do list, so if you’ll hand me my big fat hypocrite hat, I’ll don it now). If yours sucks, find a different one. (For the record, I hate Google’s “search this site” function. Maybe it’s an irrational hate, but it looks so crappy.)

And don’t forget to take care of YOU

A good information architecture plan doesn’t just make it easier for your visitors to find what they want — it makes it easier for them to find what you WANT them to find. Your products, your services, your free e-Book of 53,000 things they can do to make their life better. And they’ll be proud of themselves for finding it all on their own. So proud that they’ll tell their friends to prove how cool and resourceful they are. And they’ll stick around for more of your wonderful, useful content. And you’ll have made a friend for life.

But we’ll talk more about that on another day. For now, get your shtuff organized. We’ll all be forever grateful.

I was on the phone with cj Madigan yesterday, and we got to talking about content-driven websites. Traditionally (if you can say traditionally, since the web is still young), companies have a main page that talks about them and what they’re doing, some additional pages about their products and services, and a blog. Nothing wrong with that. Until this past weekend, I was doing the same thing. And then I made the switch.

Danielle LaPorte talked about this a few weeks ago, and I marinated in it. I could definitely see the benefits but felt like I didn’t have the time to make the changes. Then we discussed it in my Fire Starter session, and it clicked so profoundly with me that I spent the entire weekend (days, nights, and everything in between) making it happen.

“It” (if you’re still wondering what the heck I’m talking about) is moving from that traditional “home page with a blog” to something called a content-driven website. Here’s what it does for you:

1. It makes you look like you know what you’re talking about. By putting your knowledge and expertise front and center, you send the message that you are an expert. A guru. A giant fount of information and special-ness. Who wouldn’t want to work with your bad self?
2. You don’t look like one of those companies who think “Let’s have a blog so that we can sell stuff to people!” When you make your content the superstar of your site, you are treating it as a genuine communication tool instead of the latest gadget in your marketing bag-o-tricks. It’s kind of ironic, considering the next point.
3. Your products and services will always be the answer to the question. Blogs usually go from two extremes. On the one end, you have the “Here is stuff that I like. And I’m also a sculptor!” blogs. The person/company has a blog that may or may not pertain to their field, and then they have a link to their “about” page that finally tells you what they really do.

   On the other end, you have the “I’m in business, and I blog about…my business!” blogs. The person/company usually only blogs about what they’re doing, where they’re going, and why you should buy their stuff. These are the ones that give company-owned blogs a bad name.

   Then there is the content-driven website. People read what you have to say and then ask themselves “Who is this person? What kind of work do they do? Where have they been all my life?” The answer: read about your services. Discover that you are the hotness. Come back again and again and again.

4. You will automatically write better, more useful stuff. When your content is the main thing, it’s got to be strong because it is your spokesperson. It shows people how smart you are, how helpful you are, what your principles are. You won’t be slacking when the stakes are so high.
5. People don’t care about you, you, you. In a perfect world (for you, at least), people would be flocking to you, singing your praises and sending you loads of money. Because they, too, see how great you are and just want to support you. Here on Planet Earth, people aren’t going to go to your website because YOU want them to. They’re not going to buy your product because YOU said to do it. And they won’t subscribe to your newsletter just because YOU asked.

   Maybe the most insecure among us will do those things (at least at first), but if you aren’t offering something that people desperately need, then they don’t care about what else you’re doing. With a content-driven website, you get the opportunity to give something fabulous — your insight into your field. Free professional advice! Who isn’t going to keep coming back for that? Which brings us to…

6. You will get more readers. When you’re writing a blog, maybe you don’t care about readership. You’re just doing it as a little add-on to your business so that people can see that you know a few things. But when the content is the main thing, you are offering something so valuable that people will flock to it. More readers equals more people considering your services. More people coming to your company for what they need.
7. Search engines will bring the people to your company site. Content is the yeast the search engines feed on. It’s Google’s life blood. If you bring it content, it will bring the people to you. When you have a blog, those people are coming to your blog. They may or may not ever check out your company site. With a content-driven website, Google is constantly driving people to your company. Which means more connections with people that you might potentially do business with.

A few caveats

Your content is not a “blog.” You must get that out of your head right this instant. You don’t put cute but irrelevant buttons and banners all over it. You don’t talk about how Whiskers ate your stash of Almond Joys last week (well…not often). You do not participate in memes, promote random things so that you can win a prize, or post mushy letters to your loved ones on their birthday.

This is your business website. Be cool, be interesting, but make every single thing relevant to your mission and vision. That doesn’t mean promoting your stuff everywhere. It means establishing yourself as a credible resource…someone that people want to do business with.

Also, this does not give you permission to use a blogspot blog or a wordpress.com blog as your business site. If having a blog IS your business, you can get away with it (at least for a while). As a competent, credible business person, using a hosted blog (yourcompany.blogspot.com) sends a weak message about your success and your commitment to your work.

After switching to the “content-driven website” concept (in a little over three days), I’ve gotten more opportunities to work with really incredible people who run intelligent, passionate companies. Every single inquiry I’ve had has been with people who I really want to work with. I’ve nearly doubled my blog suscribers, I’ve gotten more traffic, and everything I’m doing works together. It’s called getting the most for your efforts. A subtle switch that multiplies the excitement factor a hundred times over.