After preparing*, you are ready to create your content. In doing so, make use of:
- Content guidelines (refers to other article)
- The style guide
- Keyword research (refers to other article)
Follow the following process for content creation:
- Organize a duo writing session
- Write meta-content
- Select media files
- Identify related content
- Select metadata (follows)
* Nothing prepared yet? Then follow the Preparation Guide first (refers to other article).
Organize a duo writing session
Some content you can (re)write or create yourself. You do so when you have all the knowledge and skills to create a text or other form of content that is correct and meets the guidelines.
Other information is complicated, can lead to discussion, or you don't know yourself well enough to write a good text. Or you want to create an infographic or video. Then you need to collaborate with a colleague, such as a subject matter expert or fellow editor, or a designer.
One way to do this is a "Duo writing session. A duo writing session is a Dutch translation of pair writing. In a duo writing session, one writes, and the other reads and thinks along or checks the content. You can also alternate, where one writes first and then the other. By writing together, you form relationships with people all over the organization and share your skills with your colleagues. Writing together increases mutual understanding and usually prevents a lot of miscommunication.
If you want to organize a duo writing session:
- Book a quiet room or schedule an online work session.
- Invite your writing partner (and, if necessary, explain what you will be doing).
- Provide a computer on which you can work together. For example, a monitor on which you can magnify the text. Online, you can collaborate in Google Docs. Keep your content cheat sheet nearby.
- Experiment: write something down and ask, "Is this OK?
- Work for up to 2 hours at a time.
Step-by-step duo writing session
Follow these steps during a duo writing session:
- Open the document in which you will work together. Put your story at the top here.
- Make sure you are both in the document or share your screen so you both see what is being written in "real time".
- Read the story and action aloud (and if necessary, outline context in 1 - 2 sentences).
- Ask: what is the information an employee needs to complete this task? Write these down.
- Ask: what is the most important information? And what is important next? And after that? Organize the information.
- Write out the notes, thinking out loud. Ask questions such as: can we say this like this? Can we write this down more simply? Can we use another word instead of this jargon?
- Keep an average of 40 minutes per topic and try to produce as "finished" a text as possible in that time.
Sometimes it is not necessary to write the text completely together. Then you can work through step 6 ("Write the bullets...") independently and submit the text to the subject matter expert.
Writing together is often a lot of fun, but it can also be difficult. With some people it goes well right away. With others, you have to practice a few times to form a good team. You may also find yourself getting into discussions about what is the best way to write something down. If you make sure you have prepared well, you can explain to people in a calm manner why a particular choice works better.
Write meta-content
Write a good page title and meta description for your content. Read more about writing page titles and meta descriptions.
Also write a summary. The summary is shown on the card view of a content item. For example, the summary is visible in a news overview or an overview of services. The summary contains a maximum of 250 characters. This gives you more space to write a good summary of the content on the page than is the case with the meta-description.
Select media files
Content does not consist (only) of text. What clarifies the text or helps convey the message well? But don't add media if it doesn't add anything in terms of content.
Find relevant media files, create them yourself, or edit existing files. Think images, video, audio, infographics, or PDF.
Ensure good quality, such as size and clarity, and make media files accessible and findable. Read more about findability and usability.
Use as few separate files as possible, such as PDF. It is always preferable to publish information directly on a web page.
Identify related content
Think about what else the user would benefit from. For example: someone reading about maternity leave might also be interested in pump rooms on campus and child care.
There are two types of related content:
- Content that helps the visitor further with their tasks, such as more detailed information about a (related) topic or a manual.
- Content that you want to draw attention to yourself, such as other news.
If you want to refresh or improve your writing skills, take the Customer-Focused Writing course at Radboud In'to Languages.