Where I had “Vodafone will correct its billing system on 8 July 2011 to include three types of data usage,” she suggested adding the word “additional” so that the sentence would read:

Vodafone will correct its billing system on 8 July 2011 to include three additional types of data usage.

That single word clarifies the situation a lot more.

One of the reasons we perform user testing in web design is to get someone who has not lived with a website for months to point out something we’ve missed. The same thing happens with content. Having another pair of eyes look over some content is a vital part of a content strategy.

When we build content at Soupgiant, almost nothing leaves the office without at least one other person looking at it. That’s part of our content strategy.

Every blog post is read, redrafted and proofed before publishing. Many of our emails are double-checked and workshopped. We want to make sure that the message going out with our brand on it accurately represents our brand. Sometimes we even cross-check tweets.

This helps in a number of ways. Most importantly it means that every bit of content is clear in its intention. It also, however, means that we’re involved in, and aware of, how the business is represented in the outside world.

In small to medium sized businesses, it’s rarely prudent to run a piece of content through a focus group but it is often easy to get someone else in the organisation to read through something.

For a large organisation, like Vodafone, there are hundreds of people within the office who could have looked at the content of that email and offered suggestions.

This part of content strategy fits into content management and follows two very simple rules:

1. Somebody must be in charge of approving content before it is released.
2. The person who created the content cannot be the person approving it.

Sometimes you might find you’re all alone, with no one to check the content and no ability wait until somebody else has a chance to look at it. This always feels weird but it works every time; If your content is written, read it aloud.

When you read something aloud you’re substituting your ears for someone else’s eyes. You will be able to hear long sentences, ambiguities, questionable jargon and anything else that doesn’t fit into your branded message.

Nobody enjoys reworking something they previously thought was finished. It’s tedious and annoying but it’s less tedious and annoying than having your brand associated with a twitter hashtag that ends in “fail”.

I was there in my capacity as one of the hosts of Boxcutters. We were presenting and recording a panel. It was wonderful to meet a lot of people who already enjoyed the podcast and those who seemed interested in downloading it.

Actually, it was just wonderful to meet a lot of people.

My experience at SxSW earlier this year was similar.

These conventions are not just about learning things. In fact, and let’s be honest here, they’re not really about learning things in panel sessions. They’re about being around like-minded people who might be interested in what you do and vice-versa. They’re about meeting people.

I went to a few “networking” evenings arranged by various “small business” groups back when I ran my first business a few years ago. There was too much pressure on those nights. People would be busy sussing other people out, swapping business cards and big-noting themselves. It felt really sleazy and desperate.

Networking is not about desperation. It’s just about meeting people. Some of them will be useful to you, some of them will find you useful, some will become actual friends and others will be forgotten.

The point is, though, that actual physical exposure is what is important. These are people who would not have heard of you if you hadn’t been there.

As a result of my time at AussieCon and SxSW, a lot more people have heard about Boxcutters and Soupgiant. In turn, I’ve been exposed to some podcasts, blogs and services myself that would never have come into my radar if I hadn’t been there.

It’s that simple point of mutual exposure that makes going to conferences and conventions worthwhile.

Also sometimes the parties can be really good.

There are search engines, like Google, and Search Engine Optimisation experts who will give you advice on how to possibly get to the top of search engine results pages. The truth is that there is no magic wand to wave to get you to the top of Google’s listings.

Google explains its search algorithms and techniques used for pushing results to the tops of their pages. It’s clear, that there are so many different factors that go into their algorithms there is only one way to really get noticed: Earn It.

When first setting out to build the site, ask the following questions:

• Why do I need a website for my business?
• What are my goals for the website?
• Who is going to use the website?
• What are people going to do once they’re there?

You might just be building a website to tell people about your business. Is that enough? Should a website just replace an ad in the yellow pages? If so then you might need to invest in online advertising to get people to your site. The content is what will ultimately bring people to your website and if all you have is a photo of some of your products and an address and phone number, you will be overlooked.

Website content is a lot more than just an “About Us” page. You need to work out ways and reasons for other people to link to your site. A large part of how search engines measure the importance of your site is how many other sites link to yours and in what context.

What you need to concentrate on first, though, is building the content to make sure your business gets the most out of the website. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft Live Search all have content guidelines to help you start thinking about what you should include and exclude.

Building a website for your business is one of the best ways to learn more about how your business works and where it’s going. In the coming weeks we’ll start answering the questions raised in this post and then we’ll move on to other ways to put your website in the best position possible.