Chapter 1
Everything you know about publishing is wrong

The secret of web success
It’s an information overloaded world
Traditional publishing sucks
The alternative sucks 30,000 times more
Organizations are awful at publishing content
Everything you know about the Web is wrong
Just what is publishing?
Time to publish
The organization as university
Know your reader

"The Internet will make every enterprise a publisher."
     Steve Case, chairman and CEO of AOL Time Warner

“The difficulty seems to be, not so much that we publish unduly in view of the extent and variety of present-day interests, but rather that publication has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record. The summation of human experience is being expanded at a prodigious rate, and the means we use for threading through the consequent maze to the momentarily important item is the same as was used in the days of square-rigged ships.”
     Vannevar Bush, “As we may think”, Atlantic Monthly, 1945

“The concept of the web is of universal readership. If you publish a document on the web, it is important that anyone who has access to it can read it and link to it.”
     Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, 1991


The secret of web success
You want to know the secret of a successful website? You want to know the Holy Grail of the Web? Sure you do. That’s why you picked up this book.

There are two facts about the Web that are vastly under-appreciated. The first is that the primary thing people do on the Web is read. That’s why this book calls people who visit the Web ‘readers’ instead of that ugly, generic, drug-associated, catch-all, mean-nothing term, ‘users’.

The second fact is that readers come to the Web to gather content. Think about it for a moment. Readers come to the Web to gather or review content, rather than specifically to search or find content. The difference is subtle, but it’s critical.

It’s like this. Most of the time the reader (customer, staff, supplier, investor) doesn’t know exactly what content they are looking for. They’re interested in a particular subject area, product type, or other general area of interest. Only in a minority of cases does the reader know precisely what content they want.

The traditional approach of data/content management deals reasonably well with readers who know the exact name of the document they are looking for. But it deals very poorly with readers who have a general idea of what they want. In other words, the approach to dealing with content that most organizations take today fails most of its readers most of the time. The result we see everywhere. It’s called information overload.

What’s the solution? What’s the secret that will make your website succeed where so many others fail? The secret can be summarized in one word:

PUBLISHING

The Web is a medium for publishing content. What? Surely publishing is about Harry Potter and The Wall Street Journal. It’s about James Joyce and Sports Illustrated. Wrong. If part of your job involves writing original content, whether that be a technical paper for a product, or a marketing pitch for that product, you’re part of a publishing process. If you find that you’re spending increasing time reading stuff in order to help you do your job better, you’re directly affected by publishing. The modern world runs on content. We’re either publishers or consumers of it. Mostly, we’re both.

If you work for an organization and part of your job is to write for that organization you should read this book. If part of your job is to edit the written work of others and then publish that work on an intranet or Internet website, then you should read this book. If your job is to help your organization create, edit and publish content more efficiently, then you should read this book. If you do any of the above, then whether you knew it or not, you’re involved in publishing.

Content is written-down intellectual capital. It is the lifeblood of the information organization and the publishing processes and systems are its heart and arteries. The organization that doesn’t understand how to publish content professionally will play a diminishing role in an increasingly information-driven economy. In a world dominated by information, publishing skills are no longer something that’s nice to have. They are a must have.

As a recent A.T Kearney study put it, “digital content is becoming key to a company’s ability to develop and expand commerce, foster collaboration within and between organizations, personalize sales and customer service, and disseminate information both internally and externally.” Content is critical.


Next: Part 2: It's an information overloaded world

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Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

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• Augustana College, United States
• Drury University, United States
• Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
• Indiana University, United States
• Monash University, Australia
• University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• University of Regina, Canada
• University of Teesside, UK

"The term "bible" is now highly over-used in reference to tech books – but if it weren't, that's how I would categorize Content Critical."
Rowan Wilson, Knowledge Management Review

"Content Critical is the best non-technical book on the subject of web content that I have come across to date … For those interested in the ‘change management’ dimension of content and knowledge management, Content Critical may well become the standard text."
Andy Harrison, Content Management Focus magazine

"Content Critical is highly recommended. It belongs in every design library. It should be on the reading list of every course in Web design. Any Web designer who plans to be in business five years from now should read this book."
Ken Friedman, Design Research News

"Content Critical is amply provided with reality checks, examples, and practical ideas and suggestions … The authors have succeeded in writing a book that will appeal to both beginners and experts."
Geert Jan Kraan, Net Professional magazine, Holland

"Content Critical offers a multitude of useful tips, tactics and strategies for creating and managing your website … makes the subject as easily understandable as it is disorganized in reality."
Robin Sherman, American Society of Business Publication Editors

"Content Critical is an excellent book for academics and practitioners alike … It should be read by anyone involved in Website 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?)"
Colin Jevons, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Australia