Hooray for the Content Strategy Champs

There’s a great discussion on the Content Strategy Google Group about sites that are good examples of effective content strategy.

What makes a good content strategy?

• Content that is relevant.
• Content that is interesting.
• Content that uses the appropriate tools of the trade – text, pictures, videos, animations — to tell engaging stories.

But a good site has to do more than that:

• It lets users get to the information they want within a couple of clicks.
• It serves the needs of all of your target audiences.
• It offers clean design that doesn’t overwhelm site visitors and lets them evaluate their choices quickly and effectively.

With those criteria in mind, here are five of my favorite sites:

• Chevron.com – Okay, so you can’t fault me for starting with my baby, can you? When redesigning the site in 2008, we tried to follow all of the principles I’ve described. Check it out and let me know what you think. Where did we succeed? Where can we do better?
• MayoClinic.com – The site offers a lot of choices on their homepage, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming. You can get all the disease definitions your could ever want, make an appointment with their doctors or explore their research all within a couple of clicks. I just wish their blog, sharing.mayoclinic.org, was easier to find from the homepage. Other than that, great site.
• Paniko.cl – I discovered this Spanish-language site a couple of years ago during a visit to Chile. It was started by a group of college students who felt the mainstream media didn’t cover things that interested them. As a result, Paniko is edgy, provocative, a bit crazy and fun just like their audience.
• RoomAndBoard.com – Their site reflects their stores and merchandize. Clean lines. Classic design. Useful. It’s no wonder I’ve spent a bundle buying from them.
• Zappos.com – They’re the kings and queens of customer reviews. Amazon was smart to buy them. I particularly like the “Quick Shoe Search” and the “Popular Searches” features on the homepage.

Now it’s your turn. Which sites do you think do an outstanding job of presenting content? Share your thoughts here.

Tags: chevron, content strategy, excellent sites

This entry was posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Content Strategy, Excellent Sites.

One Response to “Hooray for the Content Strategy Champs”

1. Carolyn Jung says:

   October 13, 2009 at 8:58 am

   I love Zappos.com, too. Though it’s too tempting to look at it too often. I end up wanting too many pairs of cute shoes.