“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design. Its decoration.”
–Jeffrey Zeldman, Happy Cog Studios Founder and Executive Creative Director

So, content matters, but that’s a big and bold statement. How do we make content manageable, accessible and actionable without feeling overwhelmed? Let’s explore what good content looks like and how we guide the creation process.

Content Matters Most To Your User

Simply stated, the purpose of a website (and other platforms) is to communicate and connect. When a user visits your page (website, Facebook, application, LinkedIn, etc.), he/she is seeking information.

If the content is poorly written and organized, the user will leave empty-handed with a negative and unclear impression of the brand, regardless of the visual appeal of the design.

Consistency Counts

A brand frequently creates different types of content—website, social, blog, internal communication, marketing material, new business pitches and more. In almost all cases, this content is created, posted and managed by many people with different writing styles, positions and skills sets.

With so many cooks in the kitchen, it’s important to establish guidelines that ensure each piece of content works together in a cohesive and consistent manner and not against itself.

Guides for Uniform Copy

There are two essential components to creating cohesive copy—Voice Guide and Style Guide.

1. Voice Guide

Before you write any content (arguably the most important aspect of your brand), you must establish a brand voice. In the same way a designer creates a style guide for the visual voice of the brand, one should be created for content, too. To help define and streamline this voice, we recommend a Voice Guide.

By providing tips and examples, this guide helps define the voice of the company and drive uniformity. While this voice does not change, the tone of the copy adjusts to the reader and platform. This is a valuable tool to help all company employees navigate conversations surrounding the company—both written and conversational.

2. Style Guide

The second component to creating consistent copy is a Style Guide. This guide is for all employees within the company who write and publish content. It provides specific directions to navigate the style and formatting.

For example, does the company use ampersands? What search keywords should be included? How are sentences structured or punctuation used? Do you use wordplay or jargon?

By using these signs uniformly, you create copy that speaks to the brand voice and also gives the illusion that there is one persona behind all written content. This is essential.

Let’s Get Started

Keep in mind that creating consistent copy does not require you to rewrite an entire website and all marketing materials that already exist. Armed with a voice guide and a style guide, you can revisit and edit the existing content for consistency and brand voice. In addition, these tools continue to influence all new copy.

Spyder Trap can work with your already existing brand guidelines, core values, and company personalities to help you wrangle in your content.

Regardless of who writes the content—client, freelance copywriter or Spyder Trap—it is essential that there are guidelines to drive consistency and cohesion across all copy and as a result, better leverage the brand guidelines, company voice and personality that already exists.

Last week Spyder Trap’s Search Marketing Manager Daniel Hollerung served as the expert instructor for part one of a two-part class on search engine optimization at DemandQuest, a continuing education school dedicated to marketing professionals in Northeast Minneapolis.

You don’t need to be an SEO pro to be able to leverage various SEO techniques and best practices. As Spyder Trap’s Content Specialist, I want to make my clients’ content do as much work for them as possible. Learning how SEO can influence content—and leverage it—is a valuable tool!

Using SEO strategies like keyword research, internal linking or logical structure, writing strong headers and metadata is just the beginning to giving your content visibility with Google or Bing.

Intro to SEO

Part 1 of this course was an introduction to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The class was structured to teach attendees how to create or optimize a site to perform well in search engines and generate organic leads.

Following Daniel’s guidance, the class learned how to identify the most potent keywords, how search engines crawl and rank your site, and how to create the most visible and trusted online presence without paid search advertising, only organic search rankings.

Among those who attended the class were Spyder Trap Project Manager Alissa Burg and myself. “As a Project Manager at Spyder Trap, I am always looking for new opportunities to expand my knowledge of our industry,” Alissa said. “Staying on top of the digital trends allows me to compile the latest information and techniques to better leverage these ideas for my clients.”

Register for SEO Class Part 2

Daniel will be teaching Part 2 of the SEO seminar this Wednesday, March 27 from 1-5 p.m. This class will cover more advanced tactics. There are still available seats open if you would like to join him (and it’s not required that you attended Part 1)! To learn more about Part 1 you can visit DemandQuest’s blog post, or to register for Part 2, visit the registration page.

The Spyder Trap team is excited to be at The Nerdery’s Overnight Website Challenge for the next 24 hours! We have assembled a (world) wide web of designers and developers, copywriters and content specialists, project managers and creative minds, to form our team—the Arachnyd Webslingers.

Hour 1

Shortly after we arrived the event began at 9 a.m. we found out that our team was paired with local non-profit River Valley Riders (RVR), a therapeutic horseback-riding program. Our charitable, do-goody, make-things-bettery team of Spydermen and Spyderwomen is excited to put our expertise and knowledge towards a great cause!

After introductions with RVR representatives Kathy and Susan, our team dove right in with a discovery meeting to learn as much as we could about their organization, current site and what they envision for their new site. Next step, a deeper dive into brand voice and design of RVR.

Hour 2

After Learning more about River Valley Riders (and they’re a pretty amazing group!), the developers branched off to work their magic while a few of us continued to chat with Kathy and Susan. Together we have already locked down a revised and revamped site map for the new website!

Even better, I had an opportunity to sit down with Kathy and Susan and learn more about the voice of their brand, what makes their organization special and the positive influence they are having on the lives of those involved with the program. I can’t wait to see how these stories influence the website copy I’ll be writing and the designs of the site.

Time to write.

Hour 3

Lunch arrived! Big thank you to Chow Girls for catering amazing sandwiches and cookies. With the countdown clock looming in front of us, the team made it a working lunch and continued to code, write and design. With a finalized site map in place, the new website is in full motion ahead.

Hour 4

While the development team is waiting for designs, they are creating electronic versions of River Valley Riders’ paper forms. Currently, RVR participants can only register for lessons using paper forms and sending them through the mail but, at the launch of the new website, program participants will be able easily access these forms online! This is a really exciting step for RVR to helps streamline the registration process and make the program more easily accessible.

Hour 5

Everyone got a few minutes away from the computer to enjoy the Zoomobile from the Minnesota Zoo. They brought owls, millipedes, and even a creepy crawly mascot for the Arachnyd Webslingers!

Hour 6

We’ve all been hard at work the past hour, especially the designers. Ben and Jeff have spent a lot of time completing wireframes for the site and designing the home page for the new site!

Steve and I have also been busy combing through the existing site content, auditing it and making sure everything is pulled before we take the old site down. There’s still a lot of work left to do, but we’re off to a great start!

Hour 7

With everybody working so hard on so many different projects, Rachel flexed her Project Manager muscle and arranged a quick recap meeting with everyone to make sure we were all on track. It was nice to touch base as a group, and we’re all really excited about where this project is heading!

Hour 8

I’ve been keeping my nose to the grindstone and my fingers typing away reworking content, and everyone else is staying just as busy. Ben and Jeff are almost done with the homepage design, just finishing up some last little tweaks before moving on to other pages. The developers have been surprisingly quiet as they continue to code away, while Steve has been setting up Twitter and YouTube profiles for River Valley Riders!

Fatigue is setting in a little bit, but dinner is almost here and that should help. Most importantly, everyone on the team is still in good spirits!

Hour 9

Dinner arrived, and not a moment too soon! Just as a few of us were slowing down, we had a great burrito bar catered by Qdoba. We had a little fiesta and chatted with Kathy some more, which was a nice break from our computer monitors!

Next up, we’ll be demoing the Concrete5 dashboard and the new River Valley Riders home page for Kathy!

Hour 10

The demo was a smashing success! Ben and Jeff did an amazing job designing the homepage of the website, while the Concrete5 user management system should do wonders for keeping track of all of the volunteers and riders that come through River Valley Riders.

Hour 11

Fresh off of the successful home page and content management demo, the team went right back to make more changes. Because the new site will implement Parallax scrolling and responsive design elements, there’s a lot more work yet to be done. However, the team is working hard and we’re really excited about the direction we’re headed!

Hour 12

We’ve reached the halfway point! While the team hasn’t started stressing quite yet, hitting the twelve-hour mark was definitely an eye opener for several members of the team. The next several should see all of us with our heads down and typing furiously, with a very important recap meeting coming up shortly.

Hour 13

River Valley Riders are now on Twitter, and you can find them @RVRiders! Steve set up the Twitter profile, while Ben designed the custom background and header image to match their new site. Kathy and Susan were both very interested in the potential for Twitter to help reach out to a new audience, so Steve will also be spending time teaching the RVR team about how to best use Twitter.

Hour 14

The team regrouped for our first status meeting since crossing the halfway point. The sense of urgency has started to grow, but we’re far from panicking. Because we decided to do some great things with this project, we had a feeling we’d be rushed!

Hour 15

Many of the design pieces for the new RVR website are coming together. Ben and Jeff have now created the mobile versions of the home page and navigation, as well as desktop and mobile versions of multiple interior pages.

Hour 16

As the minutes and hours tick away, we’re inching closer and closer to getting this River Valley Riders website off the ground. I’ve spent most of the past hour continuing to comb through more content and photos with Rachel and Steve. However, we’ve made a lot of progress and we’re almost in the home stretch!

Hour 17

Losing an hour to Daylight Savings Time was definitely disorienting. While most of the team met for one last status meeting before our final push, I finally succumbed to the sleep deprivation and dozed off long enough for Steve to snap this picture.

Hour 18

Everybody is starting slow down as we’ve all now been awake for over 20 hours. The developers are still hard at work ironing out a few programming wrinkles before the new site goes live!

Hour 19

This update will be short and sweet because we’re all working like crazy finishing everything up! It’s all coming together, though, so we shouldn’t have any trouble delivering a great final product.

Hour 20

We’re officially in the last leg of the competition, with the Arachnyd Webslingers set to present our work to the judges at 7:10am. We’re just finishing up the last couple few pieces of the website before Jeff and Travis show off our hard work!

Hour 21

The tough part is over for us, with Jeff and Travis having successfully presented some of what we’ve been able to accomplish the last 20+ hours. And while the site is close to completion, we’ve decided to hold off a full launch of the new site until it is completely where we’d like it to be.

Follow us along as we live-blog our experiences every hour or follow us on Twitter using the hashtag #SpyderTrap.

Over your first morning cup of coffee, what websites are you browsing and Tweeting and pondering? When we say digital is in our Spyder Trap DNA, it means we are plugged into digital and technology websites. It means we are following the latest trends and finding new ways to implement these ideas for our clients.

Our Spyder Trap teams collaborated and built a list of some of our favorite websites broken down by department. From social to design to account services, here are some of our recommendations for the top, must-check websites.

Account Services Websites
Our account services team often looks through the overall digital picture. For an overall digital landscape, try these sites.
Fast Co.
Wired
The Verge
All Things Digital
Noupe

Development Websites
From iPhone or iPad apps to responsive websites, our development team can leverage your brand. Here are a few sites they check.
5by5
Type Kit Blog
CSS-Tricks
CatsWhoCode

Design Websites
Good design includes visually appealing content and layout in addition to a logical, easy-to-use framework and functionality. Our design team suggests the following:
Design Taxi
Uncrate
Design Milk
The Best Designs

Social Websites
Online marketing is about interaction and engagement. Our social media team helps build a community around your service, product or organization. From Instagram profiles to the latest Facebook changes, here are some of the websites our social team recommends.
Ad Age
Mashable
GigaOm
ReadWriteWeb

Search Websites
Search focuses on website traffic, relationships and conversions from various search engine results. To keep up on the trends, they recommend the following:
Search Engine Watch
Search Engine Land
SEO Moz Blog

Additional Websites
Too many websites, not enough time! Here are some additional websites our team would recommend visiting.
Nifty Marketing Blog
MNPR Blog
PPC Hero
Daring Fireball
eMarkerts
Quarterly Co.
Bjango
The Great Discontent
Be Square
Smashing Magazine
Trent Waldon
A Book Apart
NetTuts
The Next Web
Brain Pickings
Spring Wise
Big Think
ArsTechnica
Hongkiat

What would you add to this list? Connect with us and share your favorites! We are always searching for new information.

On Wednesday, Spyder Trap moved into their new space in the historic Loring Corners. For one day, as the big furniture, precious Xbox 360 and office candy bowl (among other important office items) were moved from our old Eat Street location into the new office, employees were asked to work out of the office for the day.

In addition to conducting business-as-usual via email and phone, our digital agency took to social platforms. Using the hashtag #spyderOOOday, employees posted photos from their office for the day. From tree houses to home studios to local coffee houses, employees shared photos and thoughts from their day away from the office.

At the end of the day, Spyder Trap President, Mike Rynchek, hosted the first ever Spyder Trap Dev competition. Each team had 90 minutes to create a final product using any open or closed platform. (Using outside resources and cheating was encouraged!) When time was up, each team was given five minutes to present their product.

Employees and others (including Vice President, Aaron Weiche’s adorable 6 year old daughter, Evita) joined and cheered for their favorite team via Skype, Twitter, GroupMe, Google+ and Facebook. In the end, it was Joe Barhorst and Travis Manic who took the win (and prize) with their app “Spouse Arrest.” After a day away from the office, we are excited to report that the move was successful. Hello, Loring Corners!