Nearly all of the web communication challenges I’ve encountered with the groups I’ve worked with stem from basic content planning and governance issues.
People come to your website, first and foremost, to get information, so Content Strategy is relevant for any communications work you do. Your organizational content should be intentional.
Duh, right? But, the reality is we’ve gotten carried away – I know I’ve been guilty – with focusing our energy on visual design and functionality. You know: making sure the colors are perrrfect, then dropping in web content at the last minute in hopes of making our websites look “full”.
Truth is, content is messy, and the politics, governance issues, and discussions around it can be complicated and time-consuming. We’re all afraid to go there. But we need to.
In case you’re still on the fence, or you’re not really clear about what Content Strategy is and what’s involved, here are answers to the top 10 most important Content Strategy questions.
1. Is Content Strategy a fancy term invented by consultants?
Fancy term? No. Invented by consultants? Sort of. Content Strategy is basically the how-to of online publishing. Think about the newspaper model. There’s an editor in chief, many writers, publishing timelines, specific sections and word counts, and everyone has an assignment. Content Strategy is basically bringing elements of the newspaper model to websites. In the last ten years the growth of the web has brought on new and different challenges from print. Suddenly organizations had websites that needed to be filled up with content and maintained! Many organizations didn’t know how to approach this. So, Content Strategy was born!
2. What are the different tasks within Content Strategy?
Content Audit & Gap Analysis: Before you dream up what new content you need, you should know what you already have.
During the Content Audit, you’ll document all the pages that make up your web presence in a big ol' Excel spreadsheet. Additionally, you may want to record the “assets” on each page (like text, photos, videos, files), meta-data, technology issues, owners, date last updated, etc. This is your chance to get intimate with your content. Only then can you see what work lies ahead.
Now, your ready to do the Gap Analysis. This process will help you determine what content is missing and what needs to be reworked. Using all of the information you captured during the content audit, you can evaluate your content’s quality.
Ask yourself:
- Do you have all the content that needs to be there?
- Is it up-to-date?
- Is it clear and concise?
- Is the tone and style appropriate?
- Is it meeting your business needs?
Messaging Architecture: This task helps you outline your message and tone. It’s time to talk the talk. You need to identify your website’s primary message, secondary messages, and the calls to action (what you want your audience to do). Additionally, figure out how to say it. Are you conversational, formal, academic, cutesy? This will help all of your authors write with one style and provide the same messages to users, no matter what page they’re on. It can be jarring when one section is written like an academic journal and the next section is written very conversationally.
Content Planning: It’s time to write, but you need to give your authors some guidance. Content Creation Templates identify the messaging, calls to action, assets, and meta-data for each page of your website. You’ll then be able to hand-off these templates to your writers.
Governance: This is a big document that says who does what. Who decides if you need a new section? Who needs to approve photos? Your content governance model details ownership for the ongoing decisions that are made as content is developed, edited, approved, published to the web and retired. Tools include editorial calendars, content workflows, style guides, and editorial reviews.
3. Do I *have* to do the content audit? It seems time-consuming and I’m already stretched thin.
The short answer is “yes, as much as you can.” Obviously, the bigger the site, the longer it will take. An audit is useful to get a handle on the scope of your site - it’s definitely the least glamorous step of content strategy, but it is invaluable in helping you figure out what work lies ahead.
If time is of the essence, at least, record all the primary and secondary pages. Let’s say you have a library of 100,000 publications. Record the 50 most recent and the 50 oldest publications. This will go a long way in helping you understand your content, assess it’s quality, and begin planning your next steps.
4. Can I learn how to do Content Strategy, or do I need an expert to help me?
Content Strategy isn’t rocket science, but it does take time to learn best practices. If you have a person on staff interested in the discipline, it might be a good investment to have them train to be a content strategist too. That said, Content Strategy is often a full-time job and most people don’t have time to add its responsibilities on top of their existing workload. Having an expert involved may be the most efficient and cost-effective way for your organization.
5. When should I start working on my organization’s content strategy?
Now. Your Content Strategy is an ongoing process and once you’re done, it doesn’t just stop. You’ll keep revising and evaluating as your content evolves (and it should!). It’s never too late to start, and you’ll find that nailing your content will have a huge impact on your site analytics and conversions.
6. I work for a really small nonprofit, does content strategy matter for us?
Of course! Having strong, strategically designed content will maximize your web presence and provide a larger ROI. This is critical for all nonprofits, especially smaller ones that have limited staff and financial resources.
7. If I don’t have the time / resources to complete every task within the Content Strategy methodology, what are the most important activities I should spend time on?
Develop a messaging architecture to ensure your messaging is consistent and clear throughout your site. Then, use your web analytics software to determine the most frequently visited pages and focus your content strategy work there. Conduct a content audit and gap analysis to evaluate the quality of your key content, and build out content creation templates to solidify your messaging.
8. How can I justify ROI for Content Strategy to my senior management?
Again, people are coming to you site for the info! If your Content Strategy is solid, you’ll more effectively reach your audiences and compel them to take action. Results can be measured with your web analytics and in your conversion rates. At minimum, get permission to optimize a few pages of your website first, and demonstrate the value after a few weeks. Content Strategy is also great for improving your SEO.
9. What’s the best way to manage my editorial calendar so that I really follow through this time?
Choose a tool to manage your calendar (Google Calendar, Excel, etc.) that your staff is comfortable with, AND appoint an editorial calendar manager. This person will have to be ruthless in chasing down content writers, but then again, hiring a copywriter can solve this issue as well.
10. I’m sold! Where can I learn more?
Here’s a list of content strategy resources I assembled back in August. It includes books, websites, and conferences.
Michaela Hackner is Project Director at Forum One Communications, where she leads strategy and web development projects for foundations, government, and non profit organizations. In her former life she was a web developer for the private sector, with a stint in humanitarian aid analysis, and a couple years overseas working for a women's micro-finance program in Cambodia and Kenya. Shifting to a focus in international development related work in 2005, Michaela recognized the need for technology expertise within non-profit organizations - both in terms of marketing and communications purposes, and for the delivery of services to constituents/beneficiaries. Taking advantage of her varied background, Michaela seeks to make the internet and technology accessible for all non profits and their audiences as well as exploiting it for the good of humanity.