The Internet has changed the way people search for and consume content. The term “Every Page is Page One,” coined by the author Mark Baker, describes the fact that all websites found via search engines are the first page a reader finds for their search term. The reader expects such a page to contain all the information required to understand the topic at a certain level of abstraction – without having to “flip” to previous or subsequent pages.
By linking to lower levels of abstraction, the reader can delve into details; by linking to higher levels of abstraction, they can zoom out to an overarching subject area.
Nowadays, nobody wants to read a several hundred-page manual to learn how to configure a video camera’s autofocus. People expect to enter the term “autofocus” and their camera model into a search engine and be taken to a page that answers their question – no more, no less.
And it is precisely this new way of consuming information that you should consider when producing content for the web if you don’t want to alienate your readers. Every website should be designed and written as an independent, self-contained unit and be richly linked to related topics. This applies to encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia as well as blogs and product documentation.
The book uses numerous examples to show precisely how “Every Page is Page One” content should be structured so that readers can benefit most.
I recommend the book to anyone who creates content for the Internet – at least the first two-thirds. After that, the author repeats himself quite often and digresses into related topics such as minimalism, the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), and tools for content creation.
🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? No, due to numerous illustrations.
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