2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
CONTENT & IA STRATEGY WITH IMPACT:
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Maximizing the Content Experience
Using Topics, Themes & Taxonomy
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Thank you for coming today!
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 2
Jeff Johnson Education Practice Lead
Managing Director | Boston
Full Service Digital Agency:
Website Strategy, Design and
CMS Development
Mobile | Social | SEO | Digital
Marketing | Analytics
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Tweeting today?
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@ZigZagJeff
@thePrimacy
#igxuc13
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Good conference?
How many here are…
– With a school?
– Different business?
– An agency or vendor?
– Marketing side?
– Technology side?
– Just me! (Marketing and Technology and everything else, too)
Today a focus with schools, but concepts apply to all
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 4
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Content and IA Strategy with Impact
Lost in the conversation of website design and implementation…
…How to effectively create the “connective tissue” that brings it all together in the form of an effective content and information architecture (IA) strategy.
Today… Look at power of developing unique topics, themes and taxonomy to unify overall content experience
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 5
Maximizing the Content Experience Using Topics, Themes, and Taxonomy
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
At the Conference: Listening. Talking. Sharing. Many challenges to address!
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Common theme: This stuff is hard!
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
No other category of website has a greater range of relevant target audiences than a college or university.
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Feel free to tweet this.
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Typical Education Website Audience Identification and Prioritization
9
Media, Faculty, Staff and Prospective Faculty/Staff
Current Students
Alumni/Donors
Family/Influencer of Prospects
Prospective Students
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Its easy to oversimplify
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 10
htt
p:/
/xkcd.c
om
/773/
Quote just heard from the
audience…
“Ugh, if I have to see that graphic one more time in a presentation!”
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
And… also easy to spoof!
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Typical Website Redesign Takes 9-18 Months!
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…Once you actually start!
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
All too familiar result…
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Result of many website redesign efforts
Major website redesign initiative
– New design
– New CMS (more often than is necessary)
Question...
How different is the underlying structure?
What has changed with your content strategy?
Little or nothing?
Congrats! You put a new suit on the same challenges.
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 14
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
What makes you different?
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 15
“But you don’t understand! Our faculty really do care more than their faculty.”
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
But ARE you different?
Faculty care
Strong student relationships
Dozens of programs to offer
Great campus
A gazillion clubs and activities
Great food in the dining hall
Rock climbing wall
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If everyone says
it, it’s NOT a differentiator!
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
THE PREMISE
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
“WHAT” AND “HOW” IS NOT “WHY”
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Why
High Value
Look in the middle
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Home Page
Typical IA Structure
Final calls
to action
What How
The battleground areas
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Education stakeholders are consumed by reflecting their organizational model.
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 20
What’s missing? The “connective tissue” to tie it all together.
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Let’s take a look: Our Starting Point
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 21
And so we embark on a website
redesign…
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Let’s get our priorities straight
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 22
Website Redesign Priorities
Attract (higher-
credentialed) Students
Tell the (College Name)
Story
Engaging and Intuitive
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Foundation for Website Redesign
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Foundation for Website Redesign
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 24 24
Where teams should spend
MORE of their time
Where teams should spend
MORE of their time
Where teams spend MOST of their time
Where teams spend MOST of their time
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
We provide for so many ways to navigate, but we’ve forgotten about the reason “they” are here.
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To consume, experience and interact with… content!
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Often, the structural “bones” are there…
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There’s only so many ways to name and
organize these sections
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
…but every page works too hard
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Navigation
Contextual
Links
Factoids
and
thematic
content
AKA: “I read
somewhere
about a 3-click
rule, so lets put
navigation
everywhere”
AKA: “We
have added
too many
things and now
the IA isn’t
intuitive”
AKA: “I know
you came
looking for
something
specific but
maybe click on
me instead”
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
WHICH BRINGS US TO…
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Cue up the foreboding
music please
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
The Information Architecture (IA) Dilemma
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Information architecture has performed
admirably, considering…
Often the real need transcends ANY
information architecture structure.
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
The “IA Dilemma”
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Providing easy, intuitive wayfinding to task-driven content,
WHILE we…
Enable contextual relationships between
related but decentralized content, AND…
Showcase differentiating aspects of (School Name)
in an experiential and engaging manner, that doesn’t stop us from…
The Dilemma
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Longstanding Approach: Aligning Website with User’s Mental Model
Organizational Structure versus User’s Mental Model
Question: What if we stop fighting the endless, winless battle?
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 31
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Revisiting the “IA Dilemma”
32 #igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com
Answer: And…Choose both!
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
1st: IA Organizational Approach
Everything gets a home within core IA structure
Navigation and nomenclature streamlined to accelerate “findability”
Stay somewhat common to most colleges, therefore low learning curve
Mostly managed by respective organizational owner
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 33
Home
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Home
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
1st: IA Organizational Approach
Good for finding a piece of information
Not as good for contextually related information
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 34
Test drive:
“what’s your passion?”
Science?
Programs Internships Research Alumni Faculty Big News
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Most websites lack the “connective tissue”
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Every school has signature features that truly differentiate it from other
schools. Celebrate them.
2nd: Add a Topical / Thematic Overlay
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Sciences
at
Emmanuel
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Present content that relates topically/thematically without forcing the user to
jump all around the website. Help website visitors “connect the dots”.
Conceptual Approach: Connect the Dots
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Sciences
at
Emmanuel
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Topical / Thematic Overlay
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 38
Sciences
at
Emmanuel
Celebrate them… as you may have already done
The difference: Build in, not bolt on
Typical approach: Create a microsite
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Eschew organizational boundaries
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 39
All schools have topics and
themes that make them
distinctive.
Topics/themes transcend
any one part of the
organization.
Consider ways in which to
“celebrate” your school,
topically/thematically.
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle #igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 40
Arts at
Emmanuel
Topic of
____ at
Emmanuel
Boston
Residence
Life at
Emmanuel
Mission
and
Spirituality
at
Emmanuel
The
Catholic
Intellectual
Tradition Academics
at
Emmanuel
Visiting
Emmanuel
Beyond the
Classroom
Global
Studies
Research
at
Emmanuel
Sciences
at
Emmanuel
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle #igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 41
Arts at
Emmanuel
Topic of
____ at
Emmanuel
Boston
Residence
Life at
Emmanuel
Mission
and
Spirituality
at
Emmanuel
The
Catholic
Intellectual
Tradition Academics
at
Emmanuel
Visiting
Emmanuel
Beyond the
Classroom
Global
Studies
Research
at
Emmanuel
Sciences
at
Emmanuel
Home
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3 Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Tier One
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5 Tier 5
Organizational AND Topical
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Identify unifying topics/themes across campus
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Identify unifying topics/themes across campus [ex: Health Care]
43
Topic of Health Care
School of
Medicine
School of Health Sciences
School of
Nursing
School of Commu-nications
School of Law
School of
Business
Community Service
Practical Training
Global Programs
-JD, Health Law
Concentration
-MBA, Healthcare
Management
-Healthcare PR
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Identify unifying topics across campus
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
…and then celebrate them
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
I mean really celebrate them
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Another robust approach
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Which leads to this…
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
But where’s the main navigation?
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Create your own topic mash-up
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Start somewhere, like “News”
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
What’s in a name? Topics as “channels”
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Brand attributes as themes
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Enhanced Search with filters
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Key aspects of the customer journey treated as a topic:
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The campus visit is a primary inflection point for selecting a school
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Before: Visit page lost in the IA
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Addresses the “What” and
“How”
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
After: Celebrated, topically
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Articulates the “Why”
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Emmanuel College: Topics in action
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Content can live anywhere
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In the topic area
In News
Any other place in the site
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
And contextually relevant throughout experience
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Conveniently, all wired and ready
to go for DMS
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Takeaways
#igxuc13 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 61
Tear down the organizational
barriers.
Create pages that address key
“signature” and “ownable” topics.
Use to aggregate access to
content found throughout the
website (connect the dots).
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Identifying Topics
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Signature themes
Brand attributes
Centers of gravity around
research, centers and
institutes
Aspects of the customer
journey that matter
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Outcomes we are seeing
Enhanced engagement
SEO effect, particularly with un-branded searches
Internal satisfaction
Valuable content managed by the “best” authors
Inspires increased storytelling
– More good content is surfacing as a result
– Its showcased, not buried
Foundation for overall content strategy (online and offline)
– Paves way for syndication
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2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
Next wave
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Customized content delivery
based on user behavior
Integration with external
marketing efforts (online
and offline)
Take advantage of IGX9 search and
digital market tools
2013 Ingeniux User Conference | Seattle
THANK YOU
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@thePrimacy
@ZigZagJeff