Make Your Content Findable

Two recent studies illustrate how users are often disappointed in online content:

“Three-quarters of online shoppers begin their quest at the manufacturer of the item they wish to purchase, but only 44 percent say they find enough information on those sites to meet their needs…Nearly eight in 10 online visitors are looking for pricing information, yet only slightly more than half of the almost 1,000 companies surveyed provide pricing information.” (from a story summarizing an InQuira study).

“A majority of Internet users 45 years and older believe online content is focused on younger age segments.” (findings from a BurstMedia survey).

Where are users finding success? According to a HitWise report, they are increasingly turning to question-and-answer tools like Yahoo! Answers. The success of Q&A sites reflects a gap elsewhere on the web: the relevant content isn’t there, it’s difficult to locate, or it doesn’t connect with the audience.

A new post at A List Apart is a rally cry for findability.  It’s a simple concept that is often overshadowed by the design, information architecture and development phases. From the article:

“The fundamental goal of findability is to persistently connect your audience with the stuff you write, design, and build. When you create relevant and valuable content, present it in a machine readable format, and provide tools that facilitate content exchange and portability, you’ll help ensure that the folks you’re trying to reach get your message.”

As the post advocates, everyone on the project team can impact findability – and through a greater focus on findability, the troubling statistics mentioned above could easily be reversed. Better yet, it has huge potential to improve your site’s ROI and bottom line.