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The Value of Content

by Tom Johnson on Jun 24, 2011
categories: technical-writing

For the past few weeks, I've been obsessed about building a technology blog for my organization. But this past week I had a sobering wake-up call that has made me rethink what types of content readers find valuable. It turns out, if you look at the metrics for the site, that the blog isn't hardly read at all. Instead, many people read the forums and help content.

Really? Yes, I think in comparing content value, an informative set of help topics is more valuable to a reader than an ephemeral blog post on a random topic.

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About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, agent skills, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my AI courses for more on the latest in AI and tech comm. If you're looking for info about documenting APIs, see my API documentation course.

If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me.

Finally, I want to note a couple of things. I usually write the first drafts of my posts myself and then use AI to improve accuracy, clarity, and detail in places, so my writing is a mix of human and AI. (Hopefully that's not too off-putting.) Also, the opinions I express on my blog are my own perspectives, not those of my employer.