Content Tips
As this website divides its reviews between “content” and “design,” I feel it necessary to complement my Design Tips article with a Content Tips article. Here I will give some pointers on a few suggested content options, but please, by no means do I believe that all websites should have these content elements. These are just my various suggestions on certain types of contents which may or may not be included on your website.
All quoted definitions obtained either from OED Online or Dictionary.com.
About Me
In my opinion, the about me section is the most important part of a personal website, because it’s what makes the site personal. However, you don’t want to put too much junk in the about section. As a general rule, I try only to include the information that I enjoy seeing on others’ website. Perhaps that is a guideline which you, also, should follow. A review site reviewer may not be interested in your top five lists, but if you really love seeing those on other people’s pages, it’s only cordial to offer that information for your visitors as well. :)
Lists
Lists are all very fine and well, of course, but too many lists can be a little daunting. Unless you’re putting up a full-on outline, I’d never suggest doing a “biography list.” What those usually end up being are “random things about me” lists, rather than step-by-step illustrations of one’s life. An outline would be acceptable in this situtation, because you would be able to neatly organize each stage of your life and give a few facts about each of those stages, rather than throwing a bunch of unorganized surplus information out for your visitor. Even so, if you love reading lists on other people’s pages, do you always read all of them? Try to keep lists to a down-low.
Biography vs. Autobiography
For that matter, you should never have a “biography list” that you wrote yourself. A biography is “a written account of another person’s life.” Therefore, technically, you cannot write a biography about yourself. (I suppose if you had a multiple personality disorder, you might be able to write a biography about yourself, but I think that would really complicate things, not to mention make your website very confusing.) An autobiography is “a history of a person’s life written or told by that person.” This is more in tune with what is on most websites, although most sites still write “biography” or “bio” instead of “autobiography” or “autobio.” Please at least try to make that distinction. (On that matter, if you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life willing to write about you, by all means, call it a biography.)
Length
Personally, I prefer to see a substantial bit of personal content. This doesn’t mean tons of “ABC” lists or playlists or memes/surveys or whatever else; this means creative ways of presenting yourself online. For example, in addition to a few short paragraphs about myself, I also have a “how we met” story about my boyfriend, a list of books I highly recommend (and why), “guides” or “how to’s” based on things that I enjoy, etc. This isn’t particularly engaging content, nor is it extremely unique; however, it’s me, and it’s what I thought would be neat on my website. It’s not just a one-page short “profile” with some bullet points in “subject: response” format. No one really knows how interesting you are until you show them.
Portfolio
A portfolio is “a set of pieces of creative work collected to be shown to potential customers or employers,” and thus any set of creative works you put on your website (writing, art, graphic design, etc) is considered to be a portfolio of that work.
Folio vs. Portfolio
Lately a lot of people seem to want to put the word “folio” as their portfolio header instead of “portfolio.” I don’t know if this is from a desire to be different, or if it’s because they are tired of seeing the word “portfolio.” When you decide to use a different word, however, I suggest visiting Thesauras.com and using a more relevant word. A “folio” is, in essence, a page, but it could also be a system of numbering pages. There is no definition in the Oxford-English Dictionary which implies a “folio” is a collection of creative work. Thus, using this word to head your creative works is misleading.
Your Best Work
Whether or not you are posting your creative works in hopes of getting future employment, I strongly suggest you only display your best. This doesn’t necessarily mean your most current, and certainly doesn’t mean all finished works. However, no one is honestly going to want to read your horrible writing, especially if you know it’s horrible, and no one is going to take any interest in viewing your drawings that you’ve presented as “the worst drawings I’ve ever done.” In other words, don’t put content up just to have content.
Visitor Content
When you are putting visitor content on your website, you have to ask yourself: What can I offer that no one else has? If you can’t answer that question, maybe you shouldn’t have visitor content.
Tutorials and Articles
One of the biggest arguments I’ve seen about not displaying tutorials is that “they’re all already out there, so why should I have repeat-content on my website?” Well, that’s only partially true. Yes, there are a lot of web design tips and tutorials; however, did you write any of them? I’d wager not (unless, of course, someone is stealing your content, which sadly happens a lot these days). On the other hand, reviewers might come to your site and tell you that your content is everywhere because “everyone has web design tips on their website.” Clearly, they have not been to every site: I don’t have web design tips on my personal website. In any case, a tutorial or tips page becomes unique once it is written from a different perspective. One person’s ideas of a “good website” will differ vastly from another’s on several levels.
This goes for any kind of how-to, opinionated pages on a website. On my site, I have a tutorial on How to Make Strawberry Shortcake. You might make it differently. Look also at review sites that value validation over anything else - they’re usually more thoughtful and harsh in their reviews, but they usually make better suggestions. The alternate? Review sites that tell you your header graphic doesn’t have enough celebrities in it, or that your text could be smaller, or maybe you should change the scroll bar color.
A tutorial “provides instruction in a particular area.” An article, on the other hand, is “a written composition in prose, usually nonfiction, on a specific topic.” Most people include their tutorials in their articles sections, which is fine I suppose, though there is a distinction in the definitions. To bring you back to 10th grade Mathematics, I’ll give you this logic problem: Tutorials are articles, but articles are not always tutorials. In other words, if you have an “articles” header link that is full of a bunch of tutorials, that’s fine, but if you have a “tutorials” header link that is full of a bunch of articles, that’s not necessarily correct.
As with the tutorials, the best thing to keep in mind is to include articles that were written by yourself, and which you feel might provide interest to the viewer. In some cases, I suppose, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to cater to everyone. I skip over websites that have beauty tutorials in favor of those that have writing tutorials. The case might be different for someone else. Remember always to make the articles on subjects that interest you!
Reads, aka Generic Filler Content
Avoid them. There isn’t a whole lot to say about this subject. Everyone gets those exact same “reads” from their aunts and grandmas after they’ve discovered the Internet and how utterly adorable email forwards are. Thus, they don’t want to be bombarded with them once again, on your website, after being promised “interesting content.” A long time ago one of my good Internet friends (at the time) had reads on her website, but instead of lists of things to do at Walmart and heartbreaking stories of cancer patients, she included Poe’s short stories and treatises on eating babies in Ireland. I’m not sure I’d call this “generic filler content,” but it’s definitely a step-up on the originality level.
If you absolutely must have some sort of “reads” section, look along this line of thinking. Put up the great works of fiction that have impacted or influenced your life so your visitors might benefit also. (Project Gutenberg and The Online Books Page are excellent resources for retrieving texts that are out of copyright. I would never suggest posting, in full, a story that is still within its rights. The Online Books Page has an article explaining what makes a book public domain, and thus what is acceptable to post online without infringing any laws.)
Domain Information
It might seem silly that I’m including this, but some people seem to fail at giving any relevant information in this section. By the way, you should not shy away from using the word “domain” even if your site is hosted. Some people are bugged by this, but as the defnition of “domain” states, “the territory governed by a single ruler,” implying that you are the ruler, you can technically call your hosted website your domain.
Credits
When I create websites, the first thing I do is open a text file and name it credits.txt. Then, as I’m creating the website, I record every resource I’ve used. This isn’t the only way to create a credits page, of course, but I find it’s the most efficient. Give credit where credit is due, and in cases where it is required, ask if you can use something before you throw it up on your page. Most people will oblige kindly as long as you’re not making a profit from it.
Site Information
The next most important thing in this section, I believe, is information about your website. This doesn’t necessarily include credits (but could, of course). Tell your visitor where the site/domain name came from; to me, that is always the most interesting part of a domain section. Give layout information, such as what inspired you to create that specific header image, or which other sites may have influenced your design. Even putting something like what album you were listening to while designing the website can be interesting. The possibilities are almost limitless!
Past Layouts
Not everyone does this, and that’s fine. Personally, I keep old screencaps (of which I am most proud) on my web design page, instead of my site information page. That’s fine too. However, if you’re going to include screencaps of old layouts, say something about them. Even if it’s just the date the page was displayed, your inspiration, or your current thoughts about the older layouts, write a little blurb underneath each one. This provides more interest to the visitor; rather than just looking at a bunch of screencaps, they get to dive a little bit into your past.
Web History
I love web history pages! I’ve written quite a few about myself but never to the most satisfactory degree; however, I almost always read them on other people’s websites. What got you started in web design? How many years has it been, and why do you continue? Did you start on Expages, Geocities, or using programs such as Dreamweaver? Whether you give an extremely detailed account of your web design history, or if you just skim the details, this section can be very intriguing. Another thing to consider when creating this section (or past layouts, if you prefer), is making use of the Wayback Machine. In some cases, you’ll get a nice full layout design; in others, just some links randomly throughout the page. Either way, it’s another fun way to invite your visitors into your history.
Short Conclusion
As I’ve said on other tutorial pages, and will say again and again throughout this website, always cater to your own needs as well as those of your visitors. Most people will tell you that your visitor is the most important part of your website, but I disagree, especially if your website is “personal.” We don’t all have a desire to be seen, to put ourselves out there for admiration. Some of us just want to have a personal page, to have a place to share our thoughts and ideas, art and designs, and we might want to include the silly guides we’ve written along with these things.
I wrote my How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich tutorial for a job application, but then, simply for want of another use, decided to put it on my website. I didn’t get that job, but the tutorial didn’t go to complete waste either. My point is, it was put up because I thought it was cute, not because I wrote it specifically for my visitors.
When including content on your page, make sure you are happy with it. It will show if you haven’t put a lot of effort into it, or if you just don’t care.