The document discusses creating content that is optimized for search engines, translation, and global audiences. It covers using precise language that avoids ambiguity, writing in a simple style, and incorporating important keywords in titles and first paragraphs to improve searchability. Global optimization involves standards-based writing, simplification, clarifying pronouns and other elements to aid translation. The presentation provides examples and guidelines for developing content that serves people, global readers, and search engines.

1. Content Optimization
Three Dimensions to Creating
Content That Works - #tcworld12
Andrew Bredenkamp
@abredenkamp
Acrolinx
© 2012 Acrolinx

2. Overview
Introduction 15 minutes
Why do we develop content? (8:45-9:00)
People-Ready Content 25 minutes
Introduction, Exercises, Examples (9:00-9:25)
Global-Ready Content 25 minutes
Introduction, Exercises, Examples (9:25-9:50)
Search-Ready Content 25 minutes
Introduction, Exercises, Examples (9:50-10:15)
Wrap-up 15 minutes
Take-aways, Feedback, Discussion (10:15-10:30)
© 2012 Acrolinx

3. Quick Survey
 Technical writers?
 Editors?
 Translators?
 Documentation managers?
 Engineers: software or otherwise?
 ESL Writer (writing in English but not a native speaker)?
 Experience with simplified English?
 Experience with structured authoring?
 ―Pre-Sales‖ content writers?
© 2012 Acrolinx

4. Why are you here?
 Solve a specific problem
 Help those around me write better
– I am in charge of our style guide
 Write better
 Write better for translation
 Translate better
 Write better for search
© 2012 Acrolinx

5. What products do you make?
 Software
 Products with embedded software
 IP products
 Components in larger products
 Products only touched by people with appropriate training
 90% of user interface is … content
 Customers interact with your products through … content
© 2012 Acrolinx

6. Words are everywhere
(source: idratherbewriting.com)
© 2012 Acrolinx

7. Text-free user interface
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8. How to make it happen?
Content’s often (almost)
all you’ve got!
© 2012 Acrolinx

9. Content is your only chance!
“90% of customers never
touch the product before
they buy”
HP
―Global Content Management: Hewlett-Packard Talks the Talk of Worldwide Business‖
The Gilbane Report, January 2005
© 2012 Acrolinx

10. Content is your only chance!
“70% of the buying process is
already complete before
prospects engage with a
salesperson”
(SiriusDecisions)
© 2012 Acrolinx

11. The roles that content plays
 Your content is influencing
sales
 All your company content
is influencing customer
satisfaction
© 2012 Acrolinx

12. What I promised
Increasingly organizations have realized that [if they
do it right] their content represents a critical
competitive advantage. But your content has to work
for you. This session will show how asking the right
questions can help you create content that works.
© 2012 Acrolinx

13. Help is at hand
You are the content
professionals!
© 2012 Acrolinx

14. Three Dimensions
© 2012 Acrolinx

15. Content That Works
 People-Ready
 Global-Ready
 Search-Ready
© 2012 Acrolinx

16. People-ready
16
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17. People-ready?
Understandable by target audience
Tone-of-voice
Non-native speaker friendly
Task and solution-oriented
© 2012 Acrolinx

18. Cisco Catalyst 4900
© 2012 Acrolinx

19. Cisco Catalyst 4900
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20. Cisco Linksys E900
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21. Cisco Linksys E900
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22. Cisco Linksys E900
© 2012 Acrolinx

23. Content Strategy @ Cisco
―The 4900 Series is
ideal for space-
constrained
deployments.‖
“Simplified
Management: Edge
switch auto-
provisioning‖
Zero uses of ―you‖
© 2012 Acrolinx

24. Content Strategy @ Cisco
Not ―space-
constrained” but
―smaller‖
No sentence over
18 words
Eight uses of ―you‖
© 2012 Acrolinx

25. Cisco Linksys E900
US EU
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26. Tone of voice
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27. Writing for mobile
 Space constraints
 Short sentences
 Telegraphic style
 Abbreviations
 Allowing for expansion
© 2012 Acrolinx

28. Don’t just guess!
 Don’t publish standards and hope they are applied
 Benchmark and measure over time (―are we getting better?‖)
 Look for leading indicators
– Quality metrics which give you an indication of content
effectiveness
© 2012 Acrolinx

29. Summary
 Carefully identify who you are writing for
– And how they will be reading it (space-constraints?)
 Choose words, phrases and a tone of voice which this
audience can easily understand
 Don’t just guess!
© 2012 Acrolinx

30. Not People-Ready
“Travels of persons, for whom you are defined as their superior
with the status Entry complete, Requested and travels, which
are to be approved by persons, for whom you are their approval
deputy.”
© 2012 Acrolinx

31. Global-ready
31
© 2012 Acrolinx

32. Global-ready?
Write for a global audience
• Not everyone reads English
(as well as they claim to)
Write for translation
• MT not TM
• On-Demand MT (you’re not in charge)
© 2012 Acrolinx

33. Read this!
 Writer, Editor, Linguistic Engineer
at SAS Institute
 Guidelines based on extensive
(on-going) empirical analysis
 Acrolinx customer since 2004
– Not just thinking, but doing!
© 2012 Acrolinx

34. What is Global English?
Global English is English that has been optimized for a global
audience.
 The four guiding principles are:
1. Eliminate ambiguities that impede translation.
2. Eliminate uncommon technical terms and grammatical
constructions.
3. Make sentence structure more explicit.
4. Eliminate unnecessary inconsistencies.
© 2012 Acrolinx

35. The benefits of using Global English
 Clearer and more consistent technical documents result in
faster, clearer, and more accurate translations.
 Documents that are not translated are more easily
understood by non-native speakers of English.
 Documents are also clearer and more readable for native
speakers of English.
© 2012 Acrolinx

36. Key Guidelines
1. Conform to Standard English
2. Simplify your writing style
3. Use modifiers clearly and carefully
4. Make pronouns clear and easy to translate
5. Use syntactic cues
6. Clarify –ING words
7. Fine-tune punctuation and capitalization
8. Eliminate undesirable terms and phrases
© 2012 Acrolinx

37. But first:
The Cardinal Rule of Global English
―Do not make any change that will sound unnatural to native
speakers of English‖
Corollary
“There is almost always a natural-sounding alternative if you are
creative enough (and if you have enough time) to find it!”
© 2012 Acrolinx

38. Global-ready
 Know your audience!
 Precise
 Concise
 Simple
 Jargon-free
 Translation-ready
© 2012 Acrolinx

39. Precise (unambiguous) language
 Pronouns
– ―Once you define the basic structure of your table, enhancing it is
easy.‖
– ―Once you define the basic structure of your table, enhancing the
table is easy.‖
 Prepositional phrases
– ―I saw the girl with the telescope‖ vs. ―I saw the girl with the ice-cream‖
– ―Attach panel with paint‖ (attach it with paint? Or does it have paint on it?)
 ―Only‖
– ―Only use arrows to indicate stress points‖
– ―Use arrows only to indicate stress points‖
© 2012 Acrolinx

40. “Use modifiers clearly and carefully” (Kohl)
3.1 Only
Only I hit him in the eye yesterday. I hit him in the only eye yesterday.
(No one else did any hitting.) (He had just one eye.)
I only hit him in the eye yesterday. I hit him in the eye only yesterday.
(I didn’t shoot him in the eye.) (Not long ago—recently.)
I hit only him in the eye yesterday. I hit him in the eye yesterday only.
(I didn’t hit anyone else.) (Not any day other than yesterday.)
I hit him only in the eye yesterday.
(I didn’t touch any other part of him.)
© 2012 Acrolinx

41. Simple
 Short sentences
 Simple structures
 Verb (action) oriented
 Standard/Mainstream language
© 2012 Acrolinx

42. Short simple sentences
 How short?
– It depends (15-30 words)
• Procedural (for example, <step> content in DITA) =< 15
• Descriptive (introductory, marketing) => 30
– Flesch-Kincaid will not help!
• It sets the wrong goals – especially for technical content
– Use words you know your audience will know
– Use sentence structure
• Simple
• Direct
• Natural
© 2012 Acrolinx

43. Simple expressions
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44. Simple expressions
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45. Simple structures
nose landing gear uplock attachment bolt
© 2012 Acrolinx

46. Simple structures
© 2012 Acrolinx

47. Standard/Mainstream language
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48. Jargon
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49. Writing for translation I
 All of the above
© 2012 Acrolinx

50. © 2012 Acrolinx

51. Translation-ready II
© 2012 Acrolinx

52. Global-ready - summary
 Know your audience!
 Buy John Kohl’s book
 Be precise, concise and simple
 Avoid jargon
 Remember translation (and remind everyone else)
© 2012 Acrolinx

53. Search-ready
53
© 2012 Acrolinx

54. Search-ready?
SEO – Search Engine Optimization
More content delivered via Google (you’re
not in charge)
Search performance is a challenge for
Support
After-Sales Content is relevant for Sales!
© 2012 Acrolinx

55. What’s it called again?
© 2012 Acrolinx

56. What’s it called again?
Circulating pump
Recirculating pump
Pump, circulator
Circulation pump Pump
Circulator pump Water pump
Recirculation pump
© 2012 Acrolinx

57. circulation pump
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58. circulating pump
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59. water pump
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60. recirculating pump
© 2012 Acrolinx

61. What’s it called again?
Heizkreis-Umwälzpumpe
Heizkreisumwälzpumpe
Kesselthermenpumpe
Heizkreispumpe Umwälzpumpe
Heizungspumpe Gerätepumpe
Heizungsumwälzpumpe
© 2012 Acrolinx

62. What’s it called again?
循环泵
泵
再循环泵
再循环水泵 水泵
循环水泵
热水循环泵
冷水循环泵
© 2012 Acrolinx

63. Ask Bing
Develop great, original content (including well-
implemented keywords) directed toward your
intended audience
© 2012 Acrolinx

64. Ask Google (hint: search for “Google SEO”)
© 2012 Acrolinx

65. Ask Google
© 2012 Acrolinx

66. Other search engines
In Russia, China, South Korea and Japan, Google
has less than 40% of the search market.
© 2012 Acrolinx

67. SEO Goal: Visibility
SERPs = Search Engine Result Pages
Google Adwords (Paid advertisements)
Organic search results
© 2012 Acrolinx

68. The Battle for Search Rankings
HP
IBM
IBM
Fujitsu
HP
© 2012 Acrolinx

69. Higher Rank = Higher Click-Through Rate
HP
IBM
CTR
IBM
Fujitsu
HP
© 2012 Acrolinx

70. What’s the Value of a Higher Ranking?
8100 searches / month
―unix servers‖: IBM
CTR 40% (= 3240 qualified visits)
Fujitsu
CTR 5% (= 405 qualified visits)
Conversion rate on website 1% HP
32 transactions, new customers 4 transactions, new customers
IBM
Avg. Transaction $8000 Revenue+ $256,000 / month Revenue+ $32,000 / month
IBM
Fujitsu
HP
© 2012 Acrolinx

71. Bad SEO
Los Angeles SEO is important if you own a website in Los
Angeles. When you own a website, you need Los Angeles SEO
to achieve a high page rank. Without Los Angeles SEO, your
website will not perform. Contact our Los Angeles SEO
Company to learn more about Los Angeles SEO!
[from: http://www.starcontentwriters.com/article/seo-copywriting]
© 2012 Acrolinx

72. Good SEO
If you own a business in Los Angeles, California, chances are
that you have a company website and that you rely heavily upon
search engine optimization (SEO) to market your services
online. Like most business owners, you probably know that
achieving a high page rank is essential to the success of your
business as most people rely upon search to find local
companies. What you may not know is what SEO strategies
can improve your overall page rank. Thankfully, there are Los
Angeles SEO companies out there like Star Content that can
help. To learn more, contact us today!
[from: http://www.starcontentwriters.com/article/seo-copywriting]
© 2012 Acrolinx

73. Text optimization example: Before
 Title and first 100 words
only contain 1 useful
keyword, ―Active
Directory‖
 Topic title too generic
– Rich key words and
important solution
content hidden in
second half of topic
 Recommended action
– Break out second half
into separate topic to
increase visibility of
content
– Optimize intro to
content
From: Metrics-based Publishing at Symantec, Bob Lee, Shared Engineering Services
© 2012 Acrolinx

74. Text optimization example: After
 Title and first 100 words
contain additional new
keywords
– Domain controller
– DCInterface
– NTLM
 First 100 words also
contain important
updated technical
information that
address customer issue
from Symantec
Connect forum
From: Metrics-based Publishing at Symantec, Bob Lee, Shared Engineering Services
© 2012 Acrolinx

75. How can Acrolinx help with SEO?
 Acrolinx can help with on-page optimization
– Discover keywords
– Which keywords to use
– Where to use them
 Help with conversion
– Create compelling snippets
© 2012 Acrolinx

76. Search-ready content: summary
 Make your content relevant
 Use appropriate words and phrases in prominent positions
 Don’t ruin your content for humans!
 Keywords are just part of the story, other key factors:
– Linking strategy
– URL naming
– Website performance and hosting location
© 2012 Acrolinx

77.  Other notes
© 2012 Acrolinx

78. Redundant content
Please enter an actual start date earlier than the actual end date. Enter a Start date that is before the End date.
The Start Date cannot exceed the End Date. Please enter an end date that is later than the start date.
The End Date cannot precede the Start Date. Date To must be later than or equal to Date From.
End Date must be Later than Start Date. The Date To must be later than the Date Received.
End date must be equal to or later than the start date. The actual end date must be on or after the actual start date.
The end date must be later than or the same as the start date. End date should be greater than start date.
End Time must be later than the Start Time. End Date cannot be before Start Date.
The valid grade's end date must be Later than or equal to its start date. The start date must be prior to the end date.
Please enter an End Date that is later than or the same as the Start You entered a start date later than tile end date.
Date. Ending range must be later or the same as starting range
Competence end date has to be later than or equal to the start date. Please enter a new start date later than the original end date.
The start date cannot be later than the end date. The ending date must be later than or the same as the beginning date.
The appraisal end date must be later than or equal to appraisal start The date to has to be later than or equal to date from.
date.
End Date must be gr eater than Start Date.
The Effective start date cannot be Later than the Effective end date.
You cannot enter an .. End Date" that is before your ,.Start Date."
Date from cannot be later than date to.
End Date must be greater than or equal to Start Date.
The start date must be on or before the end date.
Please enter a start date that is before the end date.
The Start Date cannot be after the End Date.
The end date you enter must be between the grade's start and end
Your end date must be after your start date. dates.
The end date cannot be after the start date. The start date you enter must be between the grade's start and end
Start date must be before end date. dates.
Your start date must be before your end date. The projected end date must be on or after the projected start date.
The Status End Date is either earlier than the Start Date of the The Period start date cannot be later than the Period end date
Assignment or later than its End Date. © 2012 Acrolinx

79. Writing for structured authoring
 DITA rules
© 2012 Acrolinx

80. Further reading
© 2012 Acrolinx

81. Be more concrete…
 Set standards. How?
 Make sure they are followed
 Why is it so hard?
 Take the automation slides from Webinar #1
© 2012 Acrolinx

82. How to make it happen…
Governance
Analytics Optimization
© 2012 Acrolinx

83. Governance
1. Choose your
audience
2. Choose the right
language for them
3. Choose the right
tone-of-voice and
words and phrases
4. Setting standards
© 2012 Acrolinx

84. Appropriate choice of words
© 2012 Acrolinx

85. Creation / Optimization
1. Work as a team
2. Create and Optimize
in one step where
possible
3. Know when you’re
done
4. Connect content
with consistent
language
© 2012 Acrolinx

86. Checking
© 2012 Acrolinx

87. Analytics
1. Assess your content
against standards
2. Understand your
audience
3. Capture your language
4. Find the best content
5. Find the worst content
6. Find the redundant
content
© 2012 Acrolinx

88. Metrics, metrics, metrics
 Test your content
 Measure your content
 Nurture your content
 Make your content work for a living
© 2012 Acrolinx

89. Content Quality Reporting
© 2012 Acrolinx

90. What are the benefits of doing this?
Write Edit Translate SEO
Time off!!
© 2012 Acrolinx

91. Takeaways
 Content needs to be
– People-ready
– Global-ready
– Search-ready
 Strategy is good
– success comes through execution
 Governance – Analytics – Optimization
© 2012 Acrolinx

92. Thank You!
andrew.bredenkamp@acrolinx.com
@abredenkamp
© 2012 Acrolinx