Content Management
Introduction
Course code : DESI1181
Course co-ordinator : David Watson
Course tutor : James Barker
Course weighting : 20 credits
Course details : Content Management
This course introduces students who have studied, or are studying, the design of webpages and websites to the issues involved in planning and managing the content of large and small websites.
Aims and Outcomes
The course takes an overview of the factors which influence decisions about managing the content and organization of large websites. Content is reviewed from a number of standpoints, including those of:
- users of websites ("consumers", "visitors", "staff", "punters" etc.)
- designers of websites ("producers", "geeks", "men", "women" etc.)
- financiers of websites ("bankers", "business angels", "VCs" etc.)
- managers of websites ("nerds")
- critics of websites ("media", "metrics", "analytics" etc.)
The focus is on undertaking a critical appraisal of website content, not on design or technology as such.
Students taking this course will learn to:
- Analyse and evaluate the content of websites.
- Appreciate the different perceptions and attitudes of content producers and content users.
- Debate alternative business models for supporting web content (sponsorship, advertising, subscriptions, etailing, IPOs, "build it and flog it", etc.).
- Understand the use of databases in managing web content.
- Design strategies for information architecture and navigation.
- Develop a search engine strategy.
- Understand copyright issues in relation to web publishing.
Indicative Content
Usability and information architecture. Methods of website appraisal. Uses of server logs and other statistics. Reviews of "Top Ten" website lists with regard to aesthetic, technical content and business model considerations . Uses of subwebs, databases and content management software for updating, editing and publishing web content. Search position optimisation. Copyright issues.
Main Learning and Teaching Activities
The coursework will be organised as follows:
- Introduction to course
- Review of issues in study guide
- Student-led seminars on selected topics
Course Schedule
The course schedule gives an overview of the timetable, weekly topics and submission dates for this course. There may be occasional changes, so check back frequently.
| Date | Room | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 18th January 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | Content Management Systems |
| 18th January 2012 (pm) | T302 | Content Management Systems |
| 25th January 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | Content Strategy |
| 25th January 2012 (pm) | T302 | Content Strategy |
| 1st February 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | SEO and Web Marketing |
| 1st February 2012 (pm) | T302 | SEO and Web Marketing |
| 8th February 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | eCommerce |
| 8th February 2012 (pm) | T302 | eCommerce |
| 15th February 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | Analytics & Competitor Research |
| 15th February 2012 (pm) | T302 | Analytics & Competitor Research |
| 22nd February 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | Revenue Generation Models |
| 22nd February 2012 (pm) | T302 | Revenue Generation Models |
| 29th February 2012 (am) | Tower Lab A | Communities & Social Media Strategies |
| 29th February 2012 (pm) | T302 | Communities & Social Media Strategies |
All face-to-face sessions are 3 hours long and take place on Wednesday mornings (am); beginning at 10.00am in Lab A or afternoons (pm); beginning at 2.00pm in T302 unless otherwise indicated.
See the programme teaching schedule for an overview of all courses.
Key Texts
- Smashing WordPress (2nd Ed.) by ¦ details
- Web Analytics 2.0 by ¦ details
- Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics (2nd Ed.) by ¦ details
- The Elements Of Content Strategy by ¦ details
- Content Strategy for the Web by ¦ details
- Clout by ¦ details
- Letting go of the words by ¦ details
- Building Findable Websites by ¦ details
- The Art of SEO by ¦ details
- Web marketing all-in-one for dummies by ¦ details
- Designing for the Social Web by ¦ details
Smashing WordPress (2nd Ed.) by Thord Daniel Hedengren
No review has been written for this book.
Smashing WordPress (2nd Ed.) is available at Amazon.co.uk
Preview Smashing WordPress (2nd Ed.) at Google Books
Avery Hill Library copies: 1 ~ view catalogue entry
Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik
No review has been written for this book.
Web Analytics 2.0 is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry
Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics (2nd Ed.) by Brian Clifton
No review has been written for this book.
Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics (2nd Ed.) is available at Amazon.co.uk
Preview Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics (2nd Ed.) at Google Books
Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry
The Elements Of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
No review has been written for this book.
See more information about The Elements Of Content Strategy
This title is not currently available from the Avery Hill Library.
Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson
No review has been written for this book.
Content Strategy for the Web is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 3 ~ view catalogue entry
Clout by Colleen Jones
No review has been written for this book.
Clout is available at Amazon.co.uk
Avery Hill Library copies: 6 ~ view catalogue entry
Letting go of the words by Janice Redish
No review has been written for this book.
Letting go of the words is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 3 ~ view catalogue entry
Building Findable Websites by Aarron Walter
I've been waiting for someone to write this book for some time. Essentially, Building Findable Websites is a good practice guide for people who actually build websites and who want them found. It describes how web pages should be built in order to make them visible on the web and covers topics such as the correct use of markup, how to name your files and folders, custom 404s, site search and how to create original and attractive content.
Most of these ideas are not new but this is the first book to bring them all together in a logical form and to express them in a coherent manner. This book is a "must have" for all serious web designers. My only criticism of the book is that it is too short. The book ends with an excellent chapter called "Putting Findability Into Practice", which is an action plan that readers can use for their own website. However, there is more to the book than is written between its covers. A companion website includes 5 "bonus" chapters as PDFs that really should be a part of the book - the one on traffic analysis is particularly useful. Still, taken as a whole, this is an excellent body of work - thank you Aarron Walter.
See more information about Building Findable Websites
Building Findable Websites is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 6 ~ view catalogue entry
The Art of SEO by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie C Stricchiola
The Art of SEO is comprehensive. It's not a short amusing guidebook to the As and Bs of SEO, it's a thorough explanation of the A to Z of SEO. The world of SEO is complex and confusing with many conflicting views but this book takes us calmly through the whole thing, giving excellent and well considered advice along the way. From the preface:
"We were inspired to create it (the book) because we have not previously seen a comprehensive work on the topic of SEO, and we believe that it is very much needed in our industry."
Quite right, and this book is set to become the standard text on the subject. In almost 600 pages and 13 chapters, it covers all the bases and the fact that it's written by 4 authors means you're getting the best advice from 4 experts. Some will want to read this book, cover-to-cover, others will dip into it and use it as a reference - the book lends itself to either method. If you only buy one book on SEO, this should be the one.
The Art of SEO is available at Amazon.co.uk
Preview The Art of SEO at Google Books
Avery Hill Library copies: 3 ~ view catalogue entry
Web marketing all-in-one for dummies by John Arnold
No review has been written for this book.
Web marketing all-in-one for dummies is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry
Designing for the Social Web by Joshua Porter
No review has been written for this book.
Designing for the Social Web is available at Amazon.co.uk
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Avery Hill Library copies: 0 ~ view catalogue entry