It deals with the fundamentals of web site content; its purpose, its design, its creation. Readers of McGovern's weekly newsletter won't be surprised by the content, themes or style of the book. It is direct, business-like, sometimes humorous and always well argued.
Content Critical is the best non-technical book on the subject of web content that I have come across to date. It is comprehensive and well structured. It demonstrates the authors' long fascination with the Internet as a publishing medium as well as their advocacy of information architecture as a professional discipline.
Content Critical has an important message and presents it according to its own rules and guidelines.
Content Critical analyses the benefits and costs of content with a model for comparing the cost of content to its reach and value.
It is easy to forget when we are surrounded by technological marvels that great content is still difficult and expensive to produce. The proliferation of television channels offering cheap to produce content is clear evidence of that.
The central chapters provide checklists and examples for the principles on which the majority of content rests. Topics include:
?Creating content and the importance of editorial (since 'even the best writer needs an editor')
?Information architecture as the foundation upon which a web site is built and developed
?Principles for good navigation design
?Content layout and design.
Content Critical is particularly scathing about headlines and summaries: 'Most headings and summaries on the Internet are poor. Headings often give you very little clue as to what the document is actually about.' Nor does it pull its punches when it comes to common stupidities: 'At all costs avoid "intro" or "splash" pages. They are a total waste of time.'
The final chapters cover building a web site production team and the publishing strategies required if an organisation is to treat content as a high-value asset rather than as a commodity.
Content Critical can be summed up by a recent Gerry McGovern newsletter: 'Time is our scarcest resource. The less time we have the more our attention span contracts. Write simply. Keep headings, summaries, sentences, paragraphs and documents short. Get to the point. Then stop.'
This is an excellent book for academics and practitioners alike. It cuts through the hype that has surrounded Internet-enabled business since its inception - at first by over-enthusiasm and then, after the NASDAQ crash, over-pessimism. But this book is more than just another book about how to deal with the Web - it should be read by managers in any information organisation, since it presents valuable insights into communication.
Gerry McGovern, one of the founders of Nua Internet Surveys, is known to many Internet professionals worldwide for the thoughtfulness, insight, and clarity of writing of his e-newsletter, New Thinking (now available from www.gerrymcgovern.com), and he has teamed up with a professional journalist, Rob Norton, to create this book.
The underlying philosophy of Content Critical is summarized in the opening to Chapter 3: "In business the customer is king. On the Internet, we hear that 'content is king'. But that's like saying from a business perspective that 'product is king.' It's the exact opposite of what 'customer is king' thinking is about. If the customer is king in business then the customer (reader) is king on the Internet. If the reader is king then content serves the reader...A classic fault of writing and publishing is that it puts the ego of the author or editor before the needs of the reader...If the reader doesn't read you, you don't have a business model" (p.45). Few could argue with that. Indeed, a reminder that the Web is subject to the same basic marketing principles as the rest of the world, and an encouragement to develop beyond a production orientation, is to be welcomed by any Web user, be that in the management of content or the hardware that drives it. McGovern and Norton take the basic principles of marketing and communication and apply them with clarity and insight to publishing on the Web.
This book should be read by anyone involved in Web content management, of course, but it should also be required reading for those with responsibilities including internal or external communication (and what academic or executive does not?) It has an accessible style, making the strong analysis and good practical ideas easy to understand and implement. It would be a good textbook in a course on Web content management. On behalf of all users of the Web, this reviewer hopes such courses grow and prosper!
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The overall premise is that the job of producing and running a web site has a lot in common with traditional paper publishing. Central to this idea, and the inspiration for the title, is that whatever the site, people actually visit it to read words. Not to look at pictures. Not to admire layout or coo at dynamic navigation menus. To find and read content. Everything else is at best irrelevant, at worst a distracting nuisance or even a reason to leave the site completely.
I wholeheartedly agree with this, and generally follow with the recommendations that the author makes about how to encourage and profit from this understanding: keep things simple, short, and fresh; understand your readers; make it easy to find stuff; treat editing and publishing as key business functions and so on.
What I find slightly disappointing is that the book itself doesn't entirely embody these values. The style is repetitive and often long-winded. As a well-edited web site or a conference presentation this would pack a much more powerful punch. I felt I understood the essential message quite early in the book, and finished reading it mostly out of duty.