Be honest… Are you delivering content yet? Universities are teaching courses about it, it regularly comes up at the tekom Annual Conference, and we too are firm in our belief in it. And it is not hard to understand why: content delivery is the next logical step after content creation. It ensures that the necessary content gets to where it needs to be. For years, printed documents have been sent together with the product but these days delivery is digital: context-specific, user-friendly and efficient.
That is why we have a major innovation in content delivery to share with you on September 30! Our new product will complete your technical writing department so keep your eyes peeled.
Digital technical documentation is neither easy to look for nor find without modern content delivery. And when eventually you do find it, unfortunately it is typically always in PDF that fails to meet common usability requirements, particularly on mobile devices. Your technical writing team can benefit from content delivery too; read on to find some convincing arguments for this.
PDF files are indeed digital files but that is not normally what people mean by digitalization. Take your customers, for example. For them, this often means a download and then a fiddly, manual search in a digital print document or a search of the document using “Ctrl + F”. Reference material such as a table of contents or glossary within the document to be searched as well as a complete and self-contained document format are useful for real print documents but this can be frustrating when it comes to digital documents and could even lead to incorrect information. The right, up-to-date information just does not appear at all. Content delivery makes it possible for users to receive content in many different formats. It results in a format and application that is perfect for the customer’s current mobile device and situation.
How quickly does technical documentation date? For instance, do new standards and laws no longer apply? Or have they been substantially revised? In the case of print versions or downloadable PDFs, you have no control over whether your customers are actually using the latest versions of your technical documentation. With content delivery, you adjust your content in the component content management system and publish it, giving your customers exactly what they need. And they are even informed about relevant changes, too.
What is the first thing that lots of people do when they are using devices and need information? Here’s a hint: the table of contents has had its day. Most will google the problem first, which can lead to issues without digital documentation online. Google lists everything that could be related to the search. This is bad for your customers if this information does not come from you or your company because they could find the wrong answers to questions about your product – or no answer at all. With content delivery, not only is your technical documentation online, but it is also just as up to date as your technical writing. This visibility enables you to support not only your customers, but also your marketing department because your company develops a stronger presence on Google.
If there are good reasons for sticking to PDF as the output format, this is obviously not a problem. Content delivery and PDF are not mutually exclusive. PDF files can also be sent to customers via content delivery, as required. Want to send new content in a modular format and then old content in PDF as usual, for example? That is not a problem.
By now, you have heard a lot from us about content delivery but it all comes down to this: content delivery is efficient. Your customers save time and can find the right, up-to-date, and most user-friendly information – allowing you to achieve your goal as technical writer. So, what are you waiting for?