Date post: | 26-Jan-2015 |
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Introduction to Content Inventories and AuditsPaula LandContent Insight
Introduction Paula Land Co-founder and CEO of Content Insight Owner and Principal Consultant at Strategic Content
What we’re going to talk aboutThe
WhoWhatWhenWhereWhy*How
*Not quite in that order
What?
Content inventories and audits Early steps in a content project
Form the foundation for the larger initiative
Strategy
Gap Analysi
sAuditInvento
ry
Inventory vs. audit Inventory - Quantity Audit - Quality
Another way to think of itInventory - Data Audit - Analysis
Yet another way to think of it
Some rights reserved by phil_g
"Not doing an inventory is like starting to bake when you don't know what ingredients you have in the house.“ – Rahel Bailie
How do we create a content inventory?
Crtl+C, Ctrl+V
The manual way The automated way
What goes into a content inventory?• URLs — How many pages are there on the site?• File types — What are all of the formats?• File size — How large are the files? • Level — How deep does the site go?• Images — How many of them, what format, where do they live?• Media — How many audio and video files exist, what format, where do they
live?• Documents —How many, what format, where do they live?• Metadata — What title, description, and keyword metadata is on each page?• Links in and out — What links to and from each page?• H1s — What is the H1 text (matters for SEO)• Analytics — What traffic is each page getting?
Why inventory?• Assess as-is landscape of a site or content set• Scope a project for resource estimation• Identify patterns in content structure• Set a baseline to measure to-be site against• Establish a basis for migration tracking
What is a content audit?• Qualitative assessment of content against a set of criteria
GoalsStandardsUser tasksCompetitors
• Set of recommendations
Why audit?• Assess current state of content to inform strategy• Identify whether content consistently follows
brand, template, editorial, style and metadata guidelines
• Assess whether content supports business and user goals
• Establish a basis for gap analysis between content you have and content you need
• Prepare content for revision, removal and migration
• Uncover patterns in content to support structured content initiatives
• Understand content lifecycle and workflows
Business Goals
User Goals
Content
Organizational value of audits Become the content expert
Be the content advocate
Drive change forward
Image by Thibault fr (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
When do we inventory and audit?• Planning a content strategy initiative • Website redesign• CMS implementation• Ongoing
Audits aren’t just for content strategists Content strategists Information architects Project managers Site managers Everyone who interacts with your content
Audit across all content touchpoints
Turning an inventory into an audit Scope the audit
Gather information
Analyze content against criteria
Scoping the audit Why are you auditing?
• Scoping a project• Content strategy initiative and/or site redesign • CMS implementation• Ongoing
What do you need to learn?
Who is your audience?
How much time do you have?
What’s your project timeline?
Assembling the audit ingredients Information to gather before beginning:• Inventory data• Business requirements• Analytics data and other metrics• Editorial and brand guidelines• Personas• Customer journey maps• Customer feedback• Search logs
What we audit forQualityBreadth and depthPerformance and effectivenessCompetition
Auditing for content quality What to assess:• Content is relevant• Content is current• Content is accurate• It is easy-to-read/scan• Tone is audience-appropriate• Content communicates key
messages• Content facilitates key user activities• Content is engaging• Content presentation is consistent• Nomenclature is clear and consistent
What to assess against:• Editorial style guide• Brand guidelines• Voice / tone guidelines• User research• Personas• Customer tasks
Auditing for structure and function What to assess:• What content elements and
interactions exist on the site?
• How well do they perform?• What are the implications
for redesign or migration?
What to assess against:• Customer journey maps• Analytics goals• Business requirements for
CMS
Auditing for breadth and depth What to assess:• Range of subjects
covered• Comprehensiveness
of coverage• Format
What to assess against:
• Competitor sites• Business
requirements• Personas• Customer journey
map
Auditing for content performance What to assess:• Analytics data• Site metrics• Search data
What to assess against:• Business goals• Personas• Key performance indicators
(KPIs)• Search rankings
Auditing against competitors What to assess:• Audience(s)• Type and quantity of content • Formats• Language (tone and voice)• Contributors (numbers, names)• Community features • Frequency of publication • Overall impression• Stand-out or differentiating
features
What to assess for:• Breadth and depth• Consistency• Completeness• Currency and
frequency• Findability
Auditing against competitors What to assess:• Audience(s)• Type and quantity of content • Formats• Language (tone and voice)• Contributors (numbers, names)• Community features • Frequency of publication • Overall impression• Stand-out or differentiating
features
What to assess for:• Breadth and depth• Consistency• Completeness• Currency and
frequency• Findability
Gathering insights Review your goals
Look for patterns
Draw conclusions
Assemble evidence
Presenting audit findings
Context
Content
Users
Presenting audit findings – context What decisions need to be made?
What change are you trying to drive?
Presenting audit findings – content What are the most compelling data points?
What is the call to action?
Minimize surprises
Presenting audit findings – usersThink about your audience:
Who are they? How much background do they have? What will be most persuasive to them? What format is appropriate for the type of information you are
sharing?
Presenting audit findings – format Presentation deck – high level overview, summary of findings, recommendations,
Document – detailed results, section-by-section, examples, illustrations
Graphics – present visuals to quickly illustrate data points
Data – spreadsheet or other data sets
Summary Begin your audit with an inventory
Understand the business context
Immerse yourself in the available information
Set goals and scope your audit
Look for patterns to identify areas of focus
Present your findings in an effective way
Try CAT Automate your content inventories for fast, easy data gathering!
Free trial available Sign up at www.content-insight.com