Using the Queen’s (plain) English to enhance your user experience

Maybe Jeremy Zawodny, Yahoo’s official troublemaker, was trying to tell me something. The other day he sent me a link to a web site called “How to write in plain English.” (Actually he sent it to a bunch of us Yahoo! blogsters, but still…)

Anyway, I followed the link and was impressed enough with “How to write in plain English” to share it with you. The site was created by a British organization called the Campaign for Plain English, “an independent organization fighting for crystal-clear language and against jargon, gobbledygook and other confusing language.” The group defines plain English as “something that the intended audience can read, understand and act upon the first time they read it. Plain English takes into account design and layout as well as language.”

Plain English, says the Campaign:

• Is faster to write
• Is faster to read
• Gets your message across more often, more easily and in a friendlier way

Smart web publishers know well the importance of getting their messages across quickly. If you can’t get your users to act fast, they’ll be gone in a heartbeat. You move them or you lose them.
 

The rules laid out on “How to write in plain English” seem pretty basic—use short sentences and active verbs, address the reader as “you,” etc. But they’re rules we often forget, especially when trying to be creative. It’s always good to have a “refresher course” bookmarked which you can refer to whenever in doubt.

Look for Jeremy’s essay on good blogging tactics here in a couple weeks.

—Michael Mattis, Blog Editor

WebmasterRadio.fm’s Daron Babin gives you the podcasting 101

Listen to Daron

I just watched Dan Rather on Larry King Live speaking of this new media he now gets to explore called the “Internet,” now that he’s departed CBS.  The BBC recently reported that they have increased the number of programs they will podcast. They had no idea how popular podcasts really were until, one day recently, some savvy tech stumbled upon the download stats.  My partner and I attended the Portable Media Expo & Podcasting Conference expecting 300 to 400 people, only to encounter approximately more than 2500 attendees and exhibiters. Like it or not, podcasting is past the tipping point.

Get this show on the road

As a long time search engine optimizer (SEO), I became empowered with the knowledge of placing targeted content in the hands of the searcher, based upon the searcher’s intent.  I did a weekly web radio show on the topic for more than a year. Teaching on web radio with a live chat room was fun, but I also learned a lot about those who consumed my content. Over the course of 44 episodes, I saw a lot of the same avatars in the chat room and heard the wishes of those who wanted to take the show “on the go.” Listening to it live didn’t always work with their schedules. Work, family, travel…these things made getting to the live show next to impossible for some.

This also presents opportunity for smart publishers who have the gift of gab.  Podcasting technology is an enabler of passion. To convey passion to a targeted, passionate audience is a recipe for a successful podcast. 

Spell it out 

Some other variables to a successful podcast are sound quality (controlled by compression, a quality microphone, and a good soundcard), engaging content, ease of accessibility (bullet proof hosting or a Content Delivery Network (CDN)) and overall file optimization. Take the time to transcribe your content. Include the transcription in a completely and thoroughly filled out ID3v2 Tag (see Podcasting Resources, below for more information). Make your content searchable by the ever evolving media search engines.

Keep it (really) simple (syndication)

So how does one go about distributing these golden files of optimized content? RSS! By virtue of specially formatted XML, a media file may now be syndicated to users via RSS (Really Simple Syndication), making web casts accessible on-demand. This means pushing content to users by subscription. As a longtime broadcaster, this wasn’t a surprise to me. I could see this coming. However, what did surprise me was how many people consume podcasts on a weekly and even daily basis. What excites me most about this has been the dramatic shift in consumer access.

Podcasting is evolving now at such a rate that it’s hard to keep up. You can now listen to a podcast on your iPod or portable MP3 player, but you can also listen on your Tivo, PSP and even your mobile phone. Imagine both live streaming and podcast delivery right to your ears via your BlueTooth enabled mobile. Web site owners utilizing podcasts will need to keep up with the times to meet consumer demand. This also means better multi-media search and delivery mechanisms to improve consumer experience and retention.

Find a need and fill it

Lastly, I would also recommend targeting a niche. You might be able to compete with big brand topic, but it is making yourself heard over the dull roar of competition so that you stand out that’s important. Being compelling is only half the battle, delivering something where there is a demand and you can be compelling about it as well—that’s a recipe for success!

• ID3v2 Tagging
• Wikipedia on Podcasting
• Yahoo! on Podcasting
• Useful article on understanding RSS
• Media RSS as supported by Yahoo!
• Useful article on where to submit your podcasts

—Daron Babin, Co-founder, WebmasterRadio.FM

Because you need it; that’s Y!

It never ceases to amaze me just how a big a place Yahoo! is, physically and virtually. Even after more than six months, I’m still discovering new stars in the distant constellations of the Yahoo! universe.

That’s why I was so excited by my meeting with several members of our design team here in Burbank last week to discuss a series of blog pieces about good user interface (UI) design. Not only did team members volunteer their time to write about design, but they also turned me on to a great Yahoo! UI resource that’s available to everyone, including publishers in and out of our network.

It’s the Yahoo! User Interface blog and it’s quite honestly one of the best design, development and publishing resources out there. The Yahoo! User Interface blog is a companion for two Yahoo! resource libraries, both of which are open to the public: the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library, which offers the Yahoo! take on common interface design issue, and the Yahoo! User Interface Library, a collection of “industrial-grade JavaScript utilities and widgets” that can help you get the most out of today’s browsers.

Here’s a partial list of some of my favorite Yahoo! User Interface blog posts:

• 10 Cool Things About the New Yahoo! Photos—As the name implies, these are some tips on ways that developers and publishers can get the most out of Yahoo! Photos.
• Full Service: The Yahoo Developer Network and the Yahoo User Interface Library—This downloadable article by longtime Brit blogger and Yahoo! front-end developer Chris Heilmann is actually an excerpt from his book, Beginning JavaScript with Dom Scripting and Ajax, From Novice to Professional. It provides a wealth of info about the YUI Library from an implementer’s perspective.
• Global Domination—In which we find that “global variables are evil.”
• Video: Joe Hewitt Talks About FireBug—Joe Hewitt, a longtime Mozilla/Firefox engineer, visited the Sunnyvale campus in May to chat about debugging and other features of his FireBug tool. He offered a great how-to session, which he graciously allowed us to videotape for your edification.

Most of this is pretty advanced stuff geared toward highly tech-adept publishers, developers, interface designers and those daring neophytes willing to jump in with both feet. Whatever your skill level though, we think that you’ll find this a beneficial resource.

Coming up: articles on best practices for user interface design by some of Yahoo’s star designers and user interface experts.

—Michael Mattis, Blog Editor
 

Product Manager Ian Kennedy gives you a glimpse

We know you’re all dying to get on the inside at Yahoo! Publisher Network and see what’s going on. Ian Kennedy has done just that… and has, so far, lived to tell the tale. Ian’s been at Yahoo! for a year now, but just recently stepped up into the role of Senior Product Manager for the Yahoo! Publisher Network. Writes Ian:

As Product Manager of the Yahoo! Publisher Network, I hope to create a place where everyone from the casual blogger looking for extra widgets to the online editor of a major media site can come learn about and manage everything Yahoo has to offer to support their craft.

To read more about your network’s inside workings and Ian’s challenge as Product Manager, visit Ian’s blog.

—The Team

Your vade mecum for publishing fun and profit

Vade mecum is Latin for “go with me.” Julius Caesar probably said it to his legions before he crossed the Rubicon. In modern English, a vade mecum is a resource that people find so useful that they always carry it around, like a primer, a guidebook or an almanac.

When we built the blog more than five months ago, we built it in the hope that it would become your vade mecum for all things publishing. That’s a pretty lofty goal, and, to be sure, the blog is still a work-in-progress. But we also know from feedback that the blog has come in handy, not only for publishers in the beta program, but also for those in the greater publishing community.

Since we’re adding new readers all the time, we thought it was time to offer a handy reference guide to the blog. Think of it as a sort of “meta-vade mecum,” if we may mix a little Greek into our Latin.

Archives
Let’s start at the top with the Archives. This post marks the 80th since we launched. To help you sift through the oodles of information, we archive each of our posts under one or more subject headings. And recently, we’ve added a “Posts by Subject” feature in the right-hand column to make it easier for you to find the information you need.

Syndication Tools
Moving to the right, you’ll find our Syndication Box, which allows you to add our feed to your My Yahoo! or RSS reader.

Customer Support and Feedback
If you’re in the beta, you can use the Customer Support link to report issues through your secure account interface. Anyone, however, can use the Network Feedback mailto link to report on the quality of the network. Lastly, we always like feedback and suggestions on how we can make the blog more useful. Use the Blog Feedback link and let us know.

Content Services
Just beneath the Poll you’ll find our Content Services link. This is your gateway to much of what Yahoo! has to offer in terms of content, tools, APIs, affiliate programs and more.
 

Blogrolls
We’ve gathered a list of related blogs to help you stay savvy on everything that’s happening at Yahoo!—and around the publishing and search marketing blogosphere.
 

Popular Posts and Posts by Subject
Read our most popular and important past posts, or browse our archive by subject.

del.cio.us tags
Our de.icio.us tag cloud enables you to browse, bookmark and share blog articles, as well as articles of note that we’ve saved from around the Web.

Flickr Photos
Like new parents showing off baby pictures, we, too, like to share what’s new. Here you’ll find photos of our Yahoo! team and our friends on campus, at trade events and at other happenings in the publishing community.

Upcoming.org
Find out where Yahoo! Publisher Network is going to be, and save and share event news with friends and associates.

That’s it for now. We’ll  keep you informed about new features on the blog an in our network. Until then, as Caesar would have said, valete!

—Michael Mattis, Blog Editor

CentralPark.com among Time’s coolest sites of 2006

We love it when passionate publishers succeed.

Way back in April when the blog first launched, we ran a Publisher Spotlight featuring Aric Boyles and his already outstanding web site, CentralPark.com. Well, Aric continued to enhance his site, adding quality content, new features and functionality. At Yahoo!, we were pretty pleased to see Flickr and Yahoo! Answers interactivity badges among the many additions and refinements. “I’ve found that the addition of Yahoo! content really enhances the overall user experience on my site,” Aric told us over the phone from his home New York.

Now Aric’s inventiveness and attention to detail have won the site recognition. On August 8, Time magazine announced its 50 Coolest Web Sites of 2006 and CentralPark.com was one of them. Time’s Maryanne Murray Buencher enthuses:

This comprehensive, interactive guide to one of the world’s most famous public spaces offers up-to-date information on 43 different attractions, from the Carousel to the Conservatory Garden, Strawberry Fields to the Swedish Cottage. A model of organization and design, it’s a pleasure to navigate.

We think the award is well deserved. CentralPark.com is a living case study for good publishing practices—great, original content; clever use of interactive features; attractive design and crisp layout.

Congrats, Aric.

—Willan Johnson, Vice President & General Manager, and the Team

Don’t forget the “dub-dub-dub” when entering URLs to target

Ad Targeters, take note: When entering URLs into the Ad Targeting tool, it’s important to always include the domain prefix—“www”, “www2”, etc.—on all entries, even sub-domains, individual pages, RSS feeds and RSS posts. Note the examples provided on the Ad Targeting page:

Ad Targeting is designed to function this way, so be sure to dub-dub-dub your domains.

Ad whating? 

Not familiar with Ad Targeting? It’s a feature of our network that allows you to choose ad categories that best appeal to your users, in addition to contextual matching. There are many ad categories and subcategories to choose from. For more on Ad Targeting, see our April 20, 2006 blog post and our Ad Targeting FAQs.

—The Team
 

Yahoo! bloggers find lessons for everyone at BlogHer ’06

Yahoo! Personals’ Susan Mernit wraps up her thoughts about the popular women’s blogging conference. Writes Susan:

There are so many great posts about BlogHer that it’s hard to know where to start, but here are a few facts:

• More than seven hundred people from around the world attended.
• Eighty-nine percent of attendees were women.
• The crowd was wonderfully diverse.
• It was a blast!

Some high points for me included:

• A discussion about love and online relationships (after all, I do work at Personals!).
• A session with my friend, Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim and others on blogging and entrepeneurship on the Web.
• The final panel, which showcased how powerful women have used the Web to develop and control their agendas. This session starred Arianna Huffington, Mena Trott, Grace Davis, and Carolyn Little of the Washington Post, and was moderated by Chris Nolan.

Most amazing, everyone there was a blogger, or intended to become one. The sheer energy—and delight—of the audience was memorable. And for photos of the event, check out the blogher06 tag on Flickr.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! Senior Editor Havi Hoffman has this to say about the BlogHer conference:

I’d be lying if I told you that the mood in the blogher-sphere following the second annual BlogHer conference was one of love, consensus, and “kumbaya.” This past week, coverage of the two-day event has run the gamut: complimentary, contentious, provocative, bitchy, grumpy, high-minded, strident, creative, insightful, defensive, forward-looking, apologetic, apoplectic, chaotic, well-reasoned, thoughtful, tolerant, intolerant, inconsistent and impassioned… Read more on the Yahoo! Search Blog…

 

—Michael Mattis, Blog Editor

Creative Commons’ monthly Salon is an open content Mecca

Familiar with Creative Commons? As a Web publisher, you should be. Creative Commons is an organization that provides flexible copyright licenses for creative works.  In other words, publishers, CC shows you where to find content for which you can obtain licenses, provided you adhere to their guidelines and terms and conditions.  

If you are lucky enough to be in San Francisco tonight—maybe getting in a little Barbary Coast time away from the flurry of SES—you can attend Creative Commons’ monthly Salon: it’s free.  Eric Steuer of Creative Commons sends us this note:

This month’s event takes place tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. at Shine.

 

Our line-up of speakers includes Hemai Parthasarathy and Barbara Cohen of the Public Library of Science, Owen Byrne of Digg, and John Buckman of Magnatune. Shannon Coulter will be DJing a set of CC music from Magnatune’s catalogue.

For more information, visit this event’s Upcoming.org listing. To keep up on the latest on open content be sure to visit the wittily written CC blog.

—Michael Mattis, Blog Editor

Conversations with Webmasters, Take 2

We opened a little window into Yahoo! Search last year when we launched Site Explorer. In doing so, we hoped it would be useful to publishers—providing you with information about the links to and from your site, neatly categorized and displayed in an easy-to-use interface.

Now, we’ve listened to your feedback, and are ready with the next version of Site Explorer—our biggest update since December. Site Explorer is now organized around the sites that you’d like to track. You can explore these sites and add feeds to each site. Once you authenticate your site, you can see much more information about your URLs and monitor feeds that you’ve submitted.

So what’s new?

• There’s more information about the sites you own, including “last crawled” date and more
• Feed submissions are much smoother. You can submit RSS, Atom and URL lists, and manage all of them from one place. For authenticated sites, you can also track when they were submitted and processed.
• We’ve added the Update Notification Web Service for you to notify us of feed or site updates, part of the popular Site Explorer API suite. Since these return the same data as the tool, we recommend using them for automated applications.

What’s more, our new interface has a lot of new details sprinkled all over, such as the expandable results to reduce clutter, the ability to download more URLs from sites you own, and robust authentication. You can share your comments through our feedback form or see what others are saying on the new Site Explorer forum.

—Amit Kumar, Priyank Garg and the Yahoo! Site Explorer Team

A version of this article was originally posted on the Yahoo! Search Blog