Hack 20. Define Useful Page Names and Content Groups
Make sure that everyone in your organization can decipher your page and content group names. One aspect of implementations that is often overlooked is the importance of establishing meaningful page names and content groupings. Fight the temptation to take shortcuts during implementation, and instead strive to define useful and human-readable names for your web pages. For example, rather than allowing the overworked implementation team to create incomprehensible page names like pv_133221, invest the few extra seconds it takes to make a more meaningful name like Product View: Product ID 133221. TRanslating developer-speak into human-readable names dramatically increases the likelihood that non-techies will be able to make use of the information. 2.8.1. Good Names, Bad Names, I Know You've Had Your ShareIf you're using a web measurement solution based on a JavaScript page tag [Hack #28], make sure you actually set a page name programmatically instead of using the document <TITLE> or script name (for example, index.asp) and always make sure you follow any directions your vendor provides regarding the script, such as converting spaces and removing illegal characters. If your data source is a web server logfile, you start at a disadvantage; generating useful page names usually requires some type of translation table [Hack #22]. Some examples of good and bad page names include:
Content groups are virtual containers for your web pages that are similar to your directory structure or the folders on your computer. Content groups can also be tricky. Sometimes it's actually a good idea to leverage your document path (the /products/shoes/mens/running in http://www.shoes.com/products/shoes/mens/running/index.html), especially when your web developers have been moderately thoughtful in how they've organized pages. Problems arise, however, when sites are generated dynamically or built from content management systems. In these instances, translation is necessary to make content groupings useful to nontechnical users. Treat content groups the same way you treat page names whenever possible, defining human-readable, insightful, and brief names for each content group. 2.8.2. Rules for Naming Pages and Content GroupsHere are a handful of page naming guidelines to help you create more meaningful page names:
When in doubt, remember that simplicity rules the day. You may also want to read Information Architecture and the World Wide Web (O'Reilly) for more information about naming pages and content groups and how, in general, to think about the relationship between information and site visitation. |