Content Design & Strategy

Content Design/strategy

My style guidelines and content design process:

• I choose my content for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations by conducting research via Google Trends, AnswerthePublic.com, and Pinterest Trends (as approximately 50% of my web traffic comes from Pinterest).

• I also conduct Google keyword searches to see what consumers are looking for when I decide on an angle for a topic to create content around and to make an SEO focused title decision.

• I talk to real people to learn what they want to know about. Sometimes they are family and friends, sometimes they are strangers that I meet out in the world. I will listen with empathy and identify pain points in order to gain some helpful insight. Read my very well researched (and a post that is very popular on CBC) article that was inspired by a conversation I had with a stranger about Bogg Bags by clicking here.

• I sometimes write articles based on my own insights and intuitions. As a creative person myself, I sometimes will predict what users may want to know before they actually know they want to know. I took a risk that people wanted to know my method for how to hang curtains on doors without magnets or drilling and it has been a very popular article on my site and on my social media sites.

• Once I decide on a topic, I aim at targeting all learning styles to make my content equitable and accessible. I follow the style guide I created for my website, carolynsbloomingcreations.com

• I follow the same style guidelines (3-4 sentence “human-friendly” written paragraphs and use of related images and video with ALT text, etc.) I’ve developed for CBC with each content piece I create.

• I easily adapt to other writing styles and guides for other brands. See the email I designed for Basecamp by clicking here.

UX Content (Video and Written)

Being a former teacher helps me with the understanding that people learn in different ways. This is why I create short and long form video content, long and short form written content. People also learn via graphics and numerical content as well, which I produce as well.

See my process below for my UX written content design and my UX video content design on many subject matters.

User Focused Written Content Work Examples

• Click here for a writing sample for the article Cute Guest Bath Decor Ideas, which was written as a result of following my content design process and seeing users looking for ways to update their bathrooms on a budget.

• Click here for a writing sample for the article How to Make Money Online, which was written as a result of following my content design process and seeing users looking for ways to make extra money online.

I always aim to write in a human-friendly and equitable way. Here’s a dilemma I was faced with regarding word choice and how I came up with a solution:

• I was presented with an article to publish on my website where the term MASTER BEDROOM was used several times

• I asked the publishing house to change the term, due to American culture showing it can be insensitive, as it leans towards a slavery reference

• I did the research, and learned it was once used as a “catch-all” phrase, but I decided to follow along with HGTV and other large organizations (including realtors and property specialists) to now only use the terms “main” or “primary” bedroom to describe this room in a house

• Despite me presenting the publishing house with evidence that the term is on it’s way out, they did not want the term changed

• Per our agreement, I declined to publish the article, as I wanted to refrain from using insensitive content on this website

User focused Video Content Work Examples

I create both long form and short form video work to help consumers solve their problems/dilemmas. To make my content accessible, I created video with text and voice-over to make it accessible to multiple types of users)

If there is a topic that is trending (such as how to fix a Clarisonic), I know that simply writing about it won’t stand on it’s own. If a consumer is searching for information on how to do this, a long form video plus some written content will often be the perfect solution.

If I am unable to create the content on my own, I will gather experts to create the material for me. For the “How to Fix a Clarisonic” video , I had my tech-savvy husband create the content for me. I then edited the simple 8 minute video (see below) that proved to be beneficial to people that were trying to fix their broken Clarisonic brushes. The video has over 20,000 views and gets positively commented on often.

I will often create a problem statement, then create content to solve the problem. I created a video tutorial as well as step-by-step user friendly (UX) written content to help consumers faced with a similar problem to easily learn how create this on their own.

The problem statement: Our cupola space (a room similar to an attic space) had no railing. It’s entrance was an open space that was fall hazard. I needed an easy to build, safe and aesthetically pleasing railing to fit the space.

The solution: After sketching out designs, we built a railing out of heavy pipe to prevent falls and be aesthetically pleasing. We placed netting over the rail to further enhance the safety for children.