Content Management

In the recent poll posted here, many readers agreed that an organized layout is one of the most important features of a website and a few also commented that this layout is intrinsically linked with the site design. So how do you achieve this desirable design with an organized layout? I’ve pulled together some thoughts on how to do this in a way that will both move visitors smoothly through your site but also appeal to the search engines. The good news is that Squarespace already helps with a good deal of the site organization.

Consider creating a site map. If you have a lot of hidden pages, this may be a good thing to add to your site. If not, the Squarespace interface is pretty straightforward and you may not want to clutter your website with a site map, but you may want it for your own uses. Take a look at the pages and widgets you have to get a clear idea of all the items on your website. See if any of these could be better organized to make it as easily navigable as possible. Not only does this streamlining process make the layout clear to you and visitors, but it also makes it more obvious to search engine spiders.

It’s always a good idea to use other sites you’ve seen as examples, and then branch off to find what organization works for you. Every site is different and categories will be different. Think creatively about how to organize your information and who is going to be looking for it. Try to put most link options in one place so that people do not have to scroll all over your site to find out where to go. Also, be sure to make clear what link will lead to what information. Clever labels may seem fun to you, but it doesn’t make your site navigable and it doesn’t help get better search engine results.

Make the site what you would want to see as a visitor. You are a consumer too and you know what looks good and is understandable. Trust your instinct. Plus, if you really like how your site has come out, you’ll be more likely to update often and give the site the attention it needs. Most important, even if you have created a site you love, don’t let it stay stagnant. The best sites are the ones that are being changed. So experiment and see which layouts bring visitors further into your site and lead them to the information they are seeking.

Surviving Web Traffic Surges

Great news; your site has been Slashdotted, Dugg, or Stumbled Upon. You get lots of exposure and a flood of traffic like you have never seen. Then it begins to dawn on you that you may have a problem. Will your site hold up? There’s so much to gain and also something to lose with interested readers giving up and going elsewhere if they can’t load the page.

Too much traffic is a fortunate problem to have, yet a problem all the same. I recently read a piece talking about all the programs that can help you survive such a spike in visitors. I must admit, quite a bit of it went over my head. And the thing is that I don’t think I’m the only one. This is something that would be confusing to a lot of people and, not to bring everything back to Squarespace, I think this goes back to the point that web publishing needs to be an easy solution. If you want to tinker with it, that’s fine, but I think most people would prefer not to bother.

I’m not going to learn pages and pages of workarounds so that my site stays up if it gets hit by a lot of people all at once. All this effort may not even solve the problem. Think about it; it doesn’t matter what steps you put in place if you are hosting a blog or website yourself. Most websites only get disk space on a shared server at an ISP, and even in the most reliable systems they can only take so much “throughput”. Going with a hosted solution provides you with the proper load balancing so you don’t have to worry about traffic surges. I want a product that has already taken care of these issues and one where I don’t have to worry about the back end.

I am amazed by the inertia needed for people to switch blogging platforms. Tools have been set up to ease the transition, and the newly formatted pages would be optimized even better than before. While it’s a pain to switch, so is going through all the steps people recommend simply to serve all your visitors. At what point do you look at the process and instead choose someone who has already solved the problem for you like, well, us?

Blog Advice from Winnie the Pooh

Sometimes you find the best ideas in the strangest of places. And while some of the thoughts may not be new, thinking about them in a novel way can give you just time for reflection you need to truly take them to heart and incorporate them into your daily life. One place where I find such wisdom is Winnie the Pooh and if you take another look at this childhood icon, you may find that he has a lot to say about the project you’re working on now. I give you the Blog of Pooh.


“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’”

Blog readers stop by for a quick snippet of information. Let’s make it easy on them. Now is not the time to pull out the flowing prose, but instead a chance to reach out to someone and offer an idea. If they like what you wrote they will come back, and if it’s easy to read in a short period of time, they will be more likely to enjoy it. Plus, shorter words are more popular search terms, so using them can be more helpful for search engine results.

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

This is a poignant reminder to branch out from your own URL every once in a while. Become a participating member in the Internet community and comment on other blogs. If you make really interesting comments elsewhere, readers will follow them like bread crumbs back to your site.

“If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”

While visitors may not have fluff in their ears exactly, there may be a reason they aren’t hearing what you’re saying. Don’t be afraid to blog again on the same topic, just in a different way. Sometimes it takes creativity, patience, and persistence to really connect with an audience, but if you have an important message, it’s worth the effort.

“It gets you nowhere if the other person’s tail is only just in sight for the second half of the conversation.”

This one may be less obvious, but another issue, especially with blogs, is that someone may not get all of the message. A reader could do a search and surf onto your site at any point and they may not stay long. You have a short period of time to grab their attention and turn them around. If you have a blog entry that builds off of a previous entry, be sure to add an easy link back for anyone joining in the middle. Also, make sure there is an easy to spot About page that can be accessed from anywhere on your site and can quickly orient a new visitor.

“‘I don’t see much sense in that,’ said Rabbit.

“‘No,’ said Pooh humbly, ‘there isn’t. But there was going to be when I began it. It’s just that something happened to it along the way.’”

It’s always good to have a plan. And sometimes it’s a good idea to stick to that plan. Other times, you drift away from the original goal when you have latched onto a better idea. The trick is to know when you’re headed in the right direction and when your new direction just doesn’t make sense. The key here is to look for feedback from your audience about what they want to read and connect that to what you can tell them. If you are writing about your area of expertise and you have a strong audience base; that is the ideal direction.

Job Openings: Support Team

Have experience working on the Squarespace platform? We’ve got two positions open for technical support roles here at Squarespace.

These are part time positions (4 hours per day) and can be performed from any location (we actually prefer one be filled by someone non-US so we can begin covering a broader range of hours). In this role, you will be responsible for managing incoming customer inquiries and expanding our online support documents and tutorials. Excellent communication and writing skills are absolutely critical, with an understanding of HTML/web design being an enormous plus.

If interested, send a resume (and quick cover letter) to jobs at squarespace dot com.

Squarespacer to hold lab session at BlogHer 2007

So it’s official. I’ve been confirmed to speak on a design panel at BlogHer 2007! (We were tossing around two topics, so I didn’t want to blog it until I was sure what I’d be doing.)

If you’ll be there, make sure you attend the Lab Segment on Saturday July 28th called Taking your blog to the next level. We’ll be getting into the nitty gritty details of creating your website and customizing it. My session will be for Intermediate to Advanced users — we’ll be digging in to CSS and HTML and might even get into Javascript and CMS specific coding (i.e. Squarespace.) 

Goggles and lab coats optional. ;)