Web content development is the process of
researching,
writing, gathering, organizing, and
editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
information for
publication on
website
A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
s. Website
content may consist of
prose,
graphics,
pictures,
recordings,
movies, or other
digital assets that could be distributed by a
hypertext transfer protocol server, and viewed by a
web browser.
[{{Cite book , last=Hamza , first=M. A. , title=Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance , date=2018 , publisher=Springer , editor-last=Farazmand , editor-first=A. , chapter=Ethics and Website Content , doi=10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3021-1]
Web developers and content developers
When the
World Wide Web began,
web developers either developed online content themselves, or modified existing
document
A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...
s and coded them into
hypertext markup language (
HTML). In time, the field of website development came to encompass many technologies, so it became difficult for website developers to maintain so many different skills.
Content developers are specialized website developers who have content generation skills such as
graphic design, multimedia development,
professional writing, and
documentation. They can integrate content into new or existing websites without using
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
skills such as
script language programming and
database programming.
Content developers or technical content developers can also be
technical writers who produce
technical documentation that helps people understand and use a product or service. This documentation includes
online help,
manuals,
white papers,
design specifications, developer guides, deployment guides,
release notes, etc.
Search engine optimization
Content developers may also be
search engine optimization specialists, or
internet marketing professionals. High quality, unique content is what search engines are looking for. Content development specialists, therefore, have a very important role to play in the search engine optimization process. One issue currently plaguing the world of web content development is keyword-stuffed content which are prepared solely for the purpose of manipulating search engine rankings. The effect is that content is written to appeal to search engine (
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
s) rather than human readers.
Search engine optimization specialists commonly submit content to article directories to build their website's authority on any given topic. Most article directories allow visitors to republish submitted content with the agreement that all links are maintained. This has become a method of
search engine optimization for many websites today. If written according to SEO
copywriting rules, the submitted content will bring benefits to the publisher (free SEO-friendly content for a webpage) as well as to the author (a
hyperlink pointing to his/her website, placed on an SEO-friendly webpage).
New content types
Web content is no longer restricted to text. Search engines now index audio/visual media, including video, images, PDFs, and other elements of a web page. Website owners sometimes use
content protection networks to scan for plagiarized content.
See also
*
Web content
*
Web content lifecycle
*
Content marketing
*
Search engine optimization
*
Content designer
*
Content management
*
Content adaptation
*
Professional writing
*
Technical writer
*
Web content management system
References
Web development
Web content