Members of the technical content team here at SolarWinds have been applying a new approach to how we write our content. I thought I’d share a few tips from our approach. The guidelines can be used for THWACK posts, KB articles, and more!
Define purpose
Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keys), consider the purpose of your post. Do you want to provide guidance to users on how to achieve a goal or inform users of a new product feature? Defining the purpose of your post helps you stay on topic. Your post should have a specific and limited purpose so that your content does not go off topic and you don’t overload the reader with too much information.
Establish context
Because a reader can arrive at your post from anywhere, the post must establish its context. Write a few sentences that tell the reader what your post is about and why they should care. There is a relationship between context and purpose, so if you have trouble defining context, you may need to reevaluate your purpose.
Self-contained
Write your content to your purpose. Avoid adding loosely connected material or asides that can distract the reader. Your reader should be able to consume your content as a whole and leave it feeling accomplished. You may need to create additional posts that cover only slightly relevant information.
Link richly
Use links to point readers to information rather than duplicating the information in your post. Duplicating content can skew search results and leave readers feeling overwhelmed with too many search returns to consider. Providing solid links to thorough content allows the reader to better engage with your post. Clicking a link is less disruptive to the reader than performing another search. Identify areas in your content where a user might have additional questions or need additional information and find or create that content and link to it. Your post can be a starting point from which a reader can explore a subject further.
