Field notes // content craft

ContentMine

Build pages people finish.

Hard lessons on building web content that holds up.

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From the mine

15 seams
  1. 01Redirects are documentation your future self will needEvery redirect you set up is a tiny piece of institutional memory. Treat them like the load-bearing infrastructure they are, not cleanup tasks.
  2. 02The second paragraph is where you lose peopleYour intro hooks them, but paragraph two is where readers decide if you're worth their time. Here's what actually keeps them reading.
  3. 03Breadcrumbs that actually tell users where they areMost breadcrumb trails break at the worst moment—when users need orientation. Here's how to build navigation that survives real content sprawl.
  4. 04Edit for the person who arrives at 4pm on FridayYour reader is tired, distracted, and has six other tabs open. If your page demands their best attention, they'll leave.
  5. 05Metadata inheritance saves hours you're currently wastingStop filling the same fields on every page. Let parent pages pass values down and override only what changes.
  6. 06Taxonomy before taxonomy: name your buckets onceMost sites drown in overlapping categories because no one sat down first. Define your buckets before you file a single page.
  7. 07URL structure you can maintain for ten yearsGood URL patterns survive redesigns and organizational changes. Plan them with durability, not cleverness.
  8. 08Alt text audit in fifteen minutesA systematic sweep through image descriptions that actually helps search and screen readers, without overthinking or AI slop.
  9. 09One H1 per page is not a ruleThe single-H1 myth survives because it used to matter and now it's just cargo cult. Current HTML and search care about hierarchy, not counting.
  10. 10Build pages people finishIf the reader bounces at paragraph two, the page did not fail at SEO. It failed at being a page.
  11. 11CMS guardrails for staff who should not designEditors need power over words and images — not over the gravity of the layout.
  12. 12Write for scanners without lyingScannability is not clickbait. It is honest labeling of useful sections.
  13. 13The editing pass that shipsStop polishing forever. Use a brutal checklist once, then publish.
  14. 14Images that earn their kilobytesA hero image is not decoration. It is either evidence, atmosphere with intent, or dead weight.
  15. 15Information architecture before voicePersonality is paint. IA is the load-bearing walls. Paint the walls after they stand.