Some meanings of words change over time. Take ‘scan’ for example. That used to mean reading something systematically giving attention to every word in order. Thus when people talk about scanning a newspaper in the 19th Century, they mean someone read it all starting at the first word and going through to the last. Yes, really, that’s what people used to do. We still imply that version of the word when referring to ‘scanners’.
But there was deviation into another meaning. The same task was used by sailors to scan the horizon – systematically looking around it for shipping or land. This gradually shifted to the question being asked – is there anything interesting to see? And that’s the meaning we generally attribute to the verb nowadays. A quick glance or skim over something to see if there is anything that grabs our attention.
Well why is this relevant to the usual subject covered by this blog? Because we sometimes mistake when people are scanning or scanning. And it is important in getting people to the information or service quickly.
People quickly scan (in the second sense) and recognise something familiar in search results lists. So seeing something in a search results list that says it is on Directgov, for example, should signal to the reader that they can trust it as authoritative, that it will be easy to read (because written for them) and that it will point people to other relevant content to their need.
Building brand is important to enable people to quickly skim over something and determine what they choose. It is also important in memorability. That’s why the guidance insists on avoiding sub-domains and using directory structure. In plain words, avoiding URLs of the form YAA.website.gov.uk and instead using website.gov.uk/YAA. The human brain does something different in the two cases.
In the former, one registers the YAA (standing for Yet Another Acronym) and then tends to forget the rest. If that is what we want people to do, then using instructions such as ‘Search for Change4Life’ is a more effective means. We’re increasingly using that to focus people on major campaigns.
However, if we want people to find it easily on the Web, then saying you’ll find it on Directgov, or wherever, is more effective – and the form direct.gov.uk/YAA does exactly this. It both uses and builds the brand. And if it is really current, it will be on the home page.
Sub-domains may be the technical means to delivering services and packaging content into useful and manageable chunks as part of internal processes, but for marketing the directory structure is much more helpful to get people to what they’re looking for.
