Full-day workshop on content strategy processes from IA Summit 11 in Denver.

1. HOW TO DO CONTENT STRATEGY
IA Summit 2011
#CSIAS11
http://bit.ly/csias11

2. Hi!
I’m Karen McGrane
from Bond Art + Science
@karenmcgrane
2

3. 3

4. Could have done with less discussion on
content strategy.
3

5. 4

6. 5

7. 6

8. 7

9. 8

10. 9

11. what
about
the art?
9

12. 10

13. 11

14. when do
we see
the art?
12

17. 14

18. WHERE IS
THE ART?
15

19. 16

20. 17

21. 18

22. DISASTER
STRIKES!
18

23. 19

24. 20

25. 21

26. 22

27. YOU WOULDN’T BUILD
A GALLERY THIS WAY.
23

28. WHY WOULD YOU BUILD
A WEBSITE THIS WAY?
24

29. TWO BIG PROBLEMS
25

30. “
Organizations invest tremendous resources on
developing the framework for a great user
experience — fabulous design, robust content
management infrastructure.
Yet when it comes to the content itself, there's
often a gap.
The end result is that the value proposition for
customers can't be delivered because the
content is insufficient, inadequate, and
inappropriate.
— RAHEL BAILIE
26

31. We already have
most of the content. Copywriting just isn’t
that big of a deal.
We can figure the
content out later.
We pretty much know
what we want to say.
Our marketing intern is
handling the content.
Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic 27

33. Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic 29

34. Here be dragons
Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic 29

35. Here be dragons
Melissa Rach, Brain Traffic 29

36. Codename Logo Features Browse Our Sites About Us Sign Up Login Support
Feature Name
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit
esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla
facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui
blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed
diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Find out more about:
Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name 30

37. CONTENT STRATEGY DESERVES
PROCESS TOO.
31

38. WARNINGS + DISCLAIMERS
32

39. NO SOUP
FOR YOU!
33

40. 34

41. JOB TITLE≠
PROJECT ACTIVITIES ≠
DISCIPLINE
35

42. JOB TITLE≠
PROJECT ACTIVITIES ≠
DISCIPLINE
35

43. THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY
36

44. Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

45. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

46. IMAGINE
ENVISION
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

47. IMAGINE DEBRIEF
ENVISION LAUNCH
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

48. ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

49. ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

50. ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
ANALYZE
PLAN
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

51. ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
ANALYZE EVALUATE
PLAN TEST
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

52. ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
INCEPTION ELABORATION CONSTRUCTION TRANSITION
ANALYZE EVALUATE
PLAN TEST
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

53. CONTENT?
ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
INCEPTION ELABORATION CONSTRUCTION TRANSITION
ANALYZE EVALUATE
PLAN TEST
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

54. CONTENT!
ENGAGE IMAGINE DEBRIEF ENHANCE
DISCOVER ENVISION LAUNCH MAINTAIN
DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
INCEPTION ELABORATION CONSTRUCTION TRANSITION
ANALYZE EVALUATE
PLAN TEST
Dubberly Design Office, How Do You Design? 37

55. STRATEGY
38

56. • What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?
STRATEGY
38

57. • What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?
DE
SIG
N
STRATEGY
• How will users interact with it?
• How will it be structured?
• What will it look like?
38

58. • What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?
DE
SIG
N
STRATEGY
• How will users interact with it?
• How will it be structured?
• What will it look like?
TECHNOLOGY
• How will we build it?
• Who will maintain it?
38

59. • What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?
DE E NT
SIG
N O NT
C
STRATEGY
• How will users interact with it? • What do we want to say?
• How will it be structured? • Where will we get the content?
• What will it look like? • Who will maintain it?
TECHNOLOGY
• How will we build it?
• Who will maintain it?
38

60. THE CONTENT STRATEGY PROCESS
39

61. THE CONTENT STRATEGY PROCESS
PLAN
39

62. THE CONTENT STRATEGY PROCESS
PLAN ANALYZE
39

63. THE CONTENT STRATEGY PROCESS
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE
39

64. THE CONTENT STRATEGY PROCESS
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE GOVERN
39

65. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE GOVERN
RESEARCH + TESTING
40

66. AGENDA
MODULE 1: PLANNING 9:30–10:30
Exercise 1: User Needs and Business Goals
Break 10:30–11:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS 11:00–12:00
Exercise 2a: Content Inventory
Lunch 12:00–1:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS (continued)
Exercise 2b: Content Audit
1:00–3:30
MODULE 3: CREATION
Exercise 3: Messaging and Content Annotations
Break 3:30–4:00
MODULE 4: RESEARCH + TESTING 4:00–5:00
Exercise 4: User Interviews
41

67. PLAN:
USER NEEDS AND
BUSINESS GOALS
Module 1

68. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Business Strategy
_Brand Strategy
_Personas + Scenarios Content strategy
_Competitive Analysis can contribute to all
of these activities.
_Web Analytics
_Technical Assessment
_Creative/UX Brief
43

69. BUSINESS STRATEGY
_ Content strategy isn’t
What business about creating content
are we in?
“just because you can.”
_ It’s about aligning a
publishing model with
ENGAGEMENT COMPETENCY business goals.
_ Understanding how
content aligns with
business goals is the
“strategy” part of
Who are our ALIGNMENT How do we content strategy.
constituents? create value?
Marigo Raftopoulous,
Business Strategy Fundamentals 44

70. BRAND STRATEGY
Content strategy ensures
POSITIONING
that brand strategy carries
through to:
VISION
_Messaging
MISSION
_Tone of voice
_Content creation
_Content style guide
45

71. PERSONAS +
SCENARIOS
_ Personas document the
user’s information needs.
_ Content strategy goes
“the last mile” to make
sure we actually deliver
that information.
Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar,
The User is Always Right 46

72. PERSONAS +
SCENARIOS
_ Personas document the
user’s information needs.
_ Content strategy goes
Learn more about the “the last mile” to make
home-buying process, sure we actually deliver
including jargon, that information.
realtors, mortgages,
insurance, and how to
evaluate houses.
Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar,
The User is Always Right 46

73. COMPETITIVE
ANALYSIS
Competitive audits tend to
answer the following:
_What features do our
competitors offer?
_How are their sites
architected and designed?
Content strategy can
answer:
_What messages do they
communicate?
_How does the content
deliver value?
47

74. WEB ANALYTICS
Use analytics data to
inform:
_Content inventories
_Content audits
Search engine data is quite
useful in developing:
_Naming/Labeling systems
_SEO-friendly content
48

75. TECH ASSESSMENT
_ CMS evaluations in
particular tend to focus
on features and technical
architecture.
_ Content strategy looks at
the CMS like a user,
evaluating interfaces and
task flow.
cmsmatrix.org 49

76. CREATIVE/UX BRIEF
The brief summarizes the
project inputs and defines
the “vision” for the site.
Be sure content is
reflected:
_How content helps meet
business goals and user
needs
_How tone of voice and
messaging supports brand
strategy
_Who will own and
maintain content
BBH
via The Planning Lab 50

77. EXERCISE 1A:
USER NEEDS
_ Review the sample user persona and scenario on Page 3 of your
handout.
_ Write down a list of user needs on the worksheet on Page 2.
_ What does this user need or expect to find when he does his research?
51

78. EXERCISE 1B:
BUSINESS GOALS
_ Review the sample case study on Page 5 of your handout.
_ Write down a list of business goals on the worksheet on Page 4.
_ What does this company expect to achieve by putting information on
the web?
52

79. AGENDA
MODULE 1: PLANNING 9:30–10:30
Exercise 1: User Needs and Business Goals
Break 10:30–11:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS 11:00–12:00
Exercise 2a: Content Inventory
Lunch 12:00–1:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS (continued)
Exercise 2b: Content Audit
1:00–3:30
MODULE 3: CREATION
Exercise 3: Messaging and Content Annotations
Break 3:30–4:00
MODULE 4: RESEARCH + TESTING 4:00–5:00
Exercise 4: User Interviews
53

80. ANALYZE:
CONTENT INVENTORY
AND AUDIT
Module 2

81. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP
PLAN ANALYZE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Requirements _Content inventory
_Page inventory _Content audit
_Sitemap _Gap analysis
_Data model _Sourcing plan
55

82. CONTENT COMES
FIRST!
_ Content inventory
informs the page
inventory and sitemap
_ Content gap analysis and
sourcing plan are
analogous to the
functional requirements
56

83. GIANT
SPREADSHEET FTW!
Separate activities,
evolving document:
_Content inventory:
Quantitative list of all the
content on the site
_Content audit: Subjective
assessment of quality
_Gap analysis: What’s
missing that you need?
_Sourcing plan: Who, how
and where you’re going to
get new content
57

84. CONTENT INVENTORY
WHAT CONTENT DO YOU HAVE?
Look at (all) the pages of the site
Make choices about what content to evaluate:
_How deep do you need to go?
_How do you ensure you see examples of all the different content types?
_What are common pathways that users are likely to take?
_Can you find content that has been lost or hidden?
Assume this will be a living document you use throughout your process

85. EXERCISE 2A:
CONTENT INVENTORY
_ Go to http://www.cisco.com/
_ Inventory the content related to business collaboration and
videoconferencing
_ Make choices about what to evaluate and how to document it
_ A sample spreadsheet has been provided to get you started
59

86. EXERCISE 2A:
WRAP-UP
Why do a content inventory? When is it useful?
_To understand the story the site is trying to tell
_To get a sense of the range of pages that need to be designed
_To determine the range of content types the site will support
_To decide what content to eliminate or migrate
When is a content inventory unnecessary? Why not do this?
_You can learn 80% of what you need to know by sampling representative
content
_When the site is too large for a full inventory
_Consider automated tools to index the site
60

87. AUTOMATED INVENTORIES
Use tools to gather information Benefits of Automated Tools
_Power Mapper _When you just need a page count
_SiteOrbiter (for Macs) _Helps find “lost” pages
_HTTrack (For PCs) _Useful when scanning thousands
of similar pages (products, articles)
Get help from the CMS team
_Output data or metadata from the Limitations of Automated Tools
CMS _May only index to a certain depth
_Results may not be organized in a
meaningful way
_You don’t get firsthand insights
about the content
61

88. AGENDA
MODULE 1: PLANNING 9:30–10:30
Exercise 1: User Needs and Business Goals
Break 10:30–11:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS 11:00–12:00
Exercise 2a: Content Inventory
Lunch 12:00–1:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS (continued)
Exercise 2b: Content Audit
1:00–3:00
MODULE 3: CREATION
Exercise 3: Messaging and Content Annotations
Break 3:00–3:30
MODULE 4: RESEARCH + TESTING 3:30–5:00
Exercise 4: User Interviews
62

89. CONTENT QUALITY
HOW GOOD IS THE CONTENT?
Ask yourself:
_Do you have all the content that needs to be there?
_Is the content up-to-date? Are the examples presented fresh?
_Is it communicating clearly?
_Is the content relevant to its intended audience?
_Is the tone and style appropriate for your goals and reader? Is it
appropriate for your brand?
_Is it meeting your business needs?
There is no overall definition of content quality—only quality within your
business and user context.
63

90. EXERCISE 2B:
CONTENT AUDIT
_ Working off the inventory you just completed, assess the quality of this
content
_ Make decisions about how to assess “quality.” What evaluation criteria
will you use?
_ How will you document your findings? What columns would you add to
your spreadsheet?
_ How will you persuade your stakeholders that your findings are valid?
64

91. EXERCISE 2B:
WRAP-UP
Why do this?
_To determine what content needs to be eliminated or updated
_To evaluate if content is meeting business and user needs
_To establish an editorial calendar and messaging strategy
_To create a sustainable content strategy that can be supported by your
staff
_To set guidelines for tone and style
65

92. AGENDA
MODULE 1: PLANNING 9:30–10:30
Exercise 1: User Needs and Business Goals
Break 10:30–11:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS 11:00–12:00
Exercise 2a: Content Inventory
Lunch 12:00–1:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS (continued)
Exercise 2b: Content Audit
1:00–3:30
MODULE 3: CREATION
Exercise 3: Messaging and Content Annotations
Break 3:30–4:00
MODULE 4: RESEARCH + TESTING 4:00–5:00
Exercise 4: User Interviews
66

93. CREATE:
MESSAGING AND
CONTENT ANNOTATIONS
Module 3

94. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Schematics _Messaging architecture
_Wireframes _Content annotations
_Task flows _Naming/Labeling
_Moodboards _Taxonomy
_Design comps _Metadata framework
_Prototype _SEO framework
_Annotations/Specs _Copy Deck/Workbook
68

95. SCHEMATICS +
WIREFRAMES
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69

96. TASK FLOWS
B. Friends - TurnTo
Without Facebook
3.4.2.B 3.6.1.B
3.5.1.1.B
Sign Up
1.3.x or 1.4.x TurnTo Email If past Member Header
Connect with
Friends Widget
Friends
No connections
Registration no
CAPTCHA
Authenticate purchases found Manage
Purchases Interaction design or
3.6.2
No connections
No purchases
3.6.3.B
Member Header
No Purchases
business analysts typically
map out transaction flows
On close
error
Found
C. Ask - Facebook
purchases found
Content strategy may need
Connect with
3.1.1 3.4.2.C IF NEEDED 3.6.1.C
Facebook
Facebook 3.5.1.1.C IF NEEDED
If past
Ask Widget TurnTo 3.1.2.D Member Header
Connect Connect with Email
Registration Registration no Question Not Manage
Overlay
Service
CAPTCHA
Friends
Sent Overlay
Authenticate
Purchases
to document and track
No purchases
On close
3.6.3.C
Member Header
No Purchases
different conditional
D. Ask - TurnTo
Found
messages, for example:
purchases found
_Create password vs. Forgot
Without Facebook
3.1.1 3.4.1.D 3.6.1.D
3.5.1.1.D 3.1.2.D
Sign Up
If past
Ask Widget TurnTo Email Member Header
Connect with Question Not
Registration Registration with Authenticate Manage
Friends Sent Overlay
Overlay CAPTCHA Purchases
3.6.3.D
password
_Add vs Edit
Member Header
No purchases
No Purchases
On close
Found
E. Answer - Facebook
Same functionality, but
purchases found
Connect with
3.3.2 3.4.2.E IF NEEDED 3.6.1.E
3.5.1.1.E
Facebook
Facebook IF NEEDED
If past
Answer TurnTo 3.2.4.D Member Header
Connect Connect with Email
Registration Registration no Answer Not Sent Manage
Overlay
Service
CAPTCHA
Friends
Overlay
Authenticate
Purchases
different messaging!
3.6.3.E
No purchases Member Header
On close No Purchases
Found
70

97. MOODBOARDS +
DESIGN COMPS
_ Moodboards offer a good
opportunity for
collaboration around visual
identity and tone of voice.
_ Content strategy should
ensure designers are
working with “real
content.”
_ Another opportunity to
work through best/worst
case scenarios for content
sizing.
_ Both content and design
contribute to style guide
71

98. PROTOTYPING
Interaction prototypes
_Evaluate the designs with real content, or a representative sample of real
content.
_Evaluate where the designs might break or places where the content
dump is not aligned.
Prototypes for testing
_ Selecting the right subset of content to test is one of the most important
(and time consuming) aspects of prototype testing.
_ Content strategy should work closely with the user researcher to plan the
test script so the study is an accurate representation of the experience.
_ Plan enough time to actually get the content into the prototype.
72

99. ANNOTATIONS +
SPECS
You can annotate
content with more
than just “text“
and “dynamic.”
73

100. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Schematics _Messaging architecture
_Wireframes _Content annotations
_Task flows _Naming/Labeling
_Moodboards _Taxonomy
_Design comps _Metadata framework
_Prototype _SEO framework
_Annotations/Specs _Copy Deck/Workbook
74

101. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
75

102. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION
75

103. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION
PRIMARY
MESSAGE
75

104. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION
PRIMARY
MESSAGE
SECONDARY
MESSAGES
75

105. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION What next?
PRIMARY
MESSAGE
SECONDARY
MESSAGES
75

106. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION What next?
PRIMARY What?
MESSAGE
Why?
SECONDARY
MESSAGES
75

107. MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
CALL TO
ACTION What next?
PRIMARY What?
MESSAGE
Why?
Who?
SECONDARY How?
MESSAGES When?
How much?
75

108. EXERCISE 3A:
MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE
Based on your understanding of business goals and user needs, what
should Cisco say about its business collaboration products?
Using the worksheet on Page 9 of your handout, develop the following:
_ Primary message: Should capture the essence of “what” and “why”
_ Secondary messages: Provide supporting information and context,
answering questions like “who” and “how” and “when” and “how much”
_ Call to action: What change should happen in the user’s mind based on
seeing this information? (Hint: this probably isn’t “Buy Now!”)
76

109. EXERCISE 3B:
CONTENT ANNOTATIONS
Look at the wireframes on Pages 11–13 of your handout.
These depict the following templates from Cisco.com:
_Solutions Landing Page
_Product Landing Page
_Product Page
Provide direction to a copywriter about how to communicate your
primary and secondary messages.
If you’ve ever written annotations for wireframes, you might think of
these as annotation for content rather than interaction.
77

110. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Schematics _Messaging architecture
_Wireframes _Content annotations
_Task flows _Naming/Labeling
_Moodboards _Taxonomy
_Design comps _Metadata framework
_Prototype _SEO framework
_Annotations/Specs _Copy Deck/Workbook
78

111. NAMING/LABELING
Content strategy presents
multiple options for site
nomenclature:
_Navigation system
_Buttons + Links
_Headings
In some cases the labeling
discussion will change the
overall architecture
79

112. TAXONOMY +
METADATA + SEO
_ Strong arguments
for considering
these deliverables
as part of content
strategy
_ May also be
managed by
information
architecture or
SEO experts;
definitely need
content
participation
80

113. COPY DECK /
WORKBOOK
_ Content strategists aren’t
necessarily copywriters —
any more than interaction
designers are developers
_ Content strategists do
provide the tools that
copywriters use to create
content
_ Content annotations can be
used to support a copy
deck (in Word) or a
workbook (in Excel)
81

114. AGENDA
MODULE 1: PLANNING 9:30–10:30
Exercise 1: User Needs and Business Goals
Break 10:30–11:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS 11:00–12:00
Exercise 2a: Content Inventory
Lunch 12:00–1:00
MODULE 2: ANALYSIS (continued)
Exercise 2b: Content Audit
1:00–3:30
MODULE 3: CREATION
Exercise 3: Messaging and Content Annotations
Break 3:30–4:00
MODULE 4: RESEARCH + TESTING 4:00–5:00
Exercise 4: User Interviews
82

115. RESEARCH + TESTING:
USER INTERVIEWS
Module 4

116. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE GOVERN
RESEARCH + TESTING
84

117. USER RESEARCH
_ Research and testing
take a variety of forms
(too many to cover here)
_ One of the most basic
and useful is a listening
or “think aloud” protocol
_ It can be used for initial
research or for testing
throughout the process
85

118. EXERCISE 4:
USER INTERVIEWS
Working in pairs, select one person to be the participant and one to act
as moderator.
If you’re the participant:
_Pretend you’re Anthony, the IT Director persona.
_You’ll be working off the whitepaper starting on Page 15.
If you’re the moderator:
_Work from the moderator guide on Page 18.
_It may help you to quickly read through the whitepaper before you start.
86

119. DEBRIEF AND FINDINGS
In a more formal test environment, it’s likely that you would record the
interview for later review, and perhaps have a note-taker sit in on the
session.
During your debrief, you might notice that participants:
_Used headings and subheadings to predict what the document would say
_Monitored their own comprehension, noticing where they got confused
_Read ahead to try and clear up their confusion
_Made analogies to other topics to try and explain unfamiliar material
_Create images or mental models of the topic or task
87

120. GOVERNANCE:
A FEW NOTES

121. DEFINE DESIGN DEVELOP DEPLOY
PLAN ANALYZE CREATE GOVERN
PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTENT STRATEGY ACTIVITIES
_Front-end development _Governance model
_Back-end development _Editorial calendar
_QA Testing _Style guide
_Beta Testing _Maintenance plan:
_Design comps • Analytics/SEO review
_Launch • Taxonomy review
_Post-launch review • Ongoing testing
89

122. GOVERNANCE
MODEL
Plan for “Day 2” with a
governance model that
outlines:
_Is content ownership
centralized or decentralized?
_Who owns “core” content?
_What’s the approval process?
How do you deal with
bottlenecks or absences?
_Who can authorize changes
to templates? To workflows?
Randy Woods
Defining a Model for Content Governance 90

123. EDITORIAL
CALENDAR
If you’re going think like a
publisher, then you need
an editorial calendar.
Develop a plan for:
_Content focus for each
day, week, or month
_Strategies for social
publishing
_Advertising targets, if
appropriate
editflow.org 91

124. STYLE GUIDE
Make it usable
One page. Or a simple wiki.
Demonstrate your voice
Show what you mean.
Avoid vague descriptors like
“authentic” or “friendly.”
Don’t reinvent the wheel
Use existing style guides for
common grammar issues.
Put someone in charge
That style guide isn't going
to update itself.
92

125. MAINTENANCE
PLAN
Old content doesn’t just
fade away — it must die.
Set a schedule to review:
_Analytics data to evaluate
engagement (by segment)
_SEO data so you don’t spill
your Google juice
_User-generated tags to add
to taxonomy or prune
_Need for user testing to
confirm findings
Plan for a peaceful afterlife.
93

126. GREAT CONTENT DOESN’T
JUST HAPPEN.
94

127. IT NEEDS ATTENTION
THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT.
95

128. Thanks!
@karenmcgrane
96