Make Your Search On ChemicalProcessing.com More Efficient
Feb. 1, 2020
Consider several ways to zero in on the content you seek
I like to focus on usability when it comes to chemicalprocessing.com. So, when I set up new tools, I always try to think about how people navigate the site. Additionally, I’m always eager for suggestions. Fortunately, we meet quarterly with our editorial board members and they bluntly point out what they consider the good and bad of the magazine and its online presence. These folks represent you and in many ways reflect a microcosm of our audience. You can see for yourself. Once there, you’ll be greeted by a list of articles that we’ve published based on suggestions from our board members. Following that is the roster of members.
The last time we met, board member Julie O’Brien, director of sustainability at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, Pa., suggested adding “sustainability” as a category in our menu (see Figure 1). It made complete sense, so I set about making it happen. You now can access the category via the hamburger navigation under the Asset Management tab. (Need a refresher on what the hamburger navigation is? See: "Check Out Site Upgrades, Top Content on Chemical Processing") You can go directly to the sustainability page here: ChemicalProcessing.com/category/Sustainability. While it was simple to set up, going back and tagging all the appropriate material in that category is a manual task. I’ve made a start and will list more and more pieces over time. That won’t be an issue for future sustainability content; it will get categorized when posted.
Another good suggestion came from an advertiser. Yes, editors are open to ideas than can benefit you no matter their source. This time, it was adding a Dust Control category (see Figure 2). This lives under the Safety/Security tab of the hamburger navigation. Here is the direct link: ChemicalProcessing.com/category/dust_control.
We categorize every article, news item, product or white paper we post to give you easy searching through our menu bar. But an added benefit to the categorization is that each piece of content has what we call an “eyebrow,” which leads to more information in that category (see Figure 3). So, if you’re reading the January 2020 cover story "U.S. Chemical Industry Advances Amid Choppy Seas," you’ll notice there’s a hotlink category just above the title. In this case, it’s “Economics.” Clicking on that will take you to a landing page with all of our other economic coverage.
I’m always searching for ways to make the site more user friendly. If you have suggestions, please send them to me at [email protected].
Traci Purdum is Chemical Processing's senior digital editor. You can email her at [email protected].
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