I taught this introductory Content Strategy course at General Assembly in 2015-2016. It focuses on what makes content usable, and how to incorporate Content Strategy into all phases of a User Experience Design process. Want to learn more about Content Strategy? Sign up for my free email course on Becoming a Content Strategist: http://prosekiln.com/courses/become-a-content-strategist/.

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CONTENT STRATEGY
Melanie Seibert
Content Strategist, Razorfish

2. ‣ Worked with content for 15+ years as a
writer and strategist
‣ Learned about content strategy from
Kristina Halvorson’s book Content
Strategy for the Web
‣ Focus: content strategy for ecommerce
websites and software applications/UIs
‣ 1 year agency, 10+ years in-house
ABOUT ME
HELLO!

3. ‣ Your name
‣ Your role
‣ Why you’re taking this class
HELLO!
ABOUT YOU
?

4. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT STRATEGY
AGENDA
‣ Why content strategy?
‣ Usable content: the goal of content strategy
‣ Including content strategy in the UX design process

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WHY
CONTENT
STRATEGY?

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What is content?
• Copy
• Photos
• Video
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Articles
• Music
• Updates
• Illustrations

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The stuff people come to your site for.

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What is content strategy?
“Content strategy guides your plans for the
creation, delivery, and governance of content.”
Kristina Halvorson & Melissa Rach,
Content Strategy for the Web

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Content Marketing
Content Strategy
vs.

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Content Marketing
‣ Goal: attract, acquire, engage
a target audience (Content
Marketing Institute)
‣ Tools include editorial
calendars, market segments
‣ Results in social media, blogs,
white papers, articles,
magazines

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Content Strategy
‣ Goal: create, deliver, maintain
usable content (Halvorson)
‣ Tools include audits,
inventories, workflows, voice
charts, copy decks, sitemaps
‣ Results in more efficient
processes, more usable
content

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VS.
This class
Content Marketing
‣ Goal: attract, acquire, engage
a target audience (Content
Marketing Institute)
‣ Tools include editorial
calendars, market segments
‣ Results in social media, blogs,
white papers, articles,
magazines
Content Strategy
‣ Goal: create, deliver, maintain
usable content (Halvorson)
‣ Tools include audits,
inventories, workflows, voice
charts, copy decks, sitemaps
‣ Results in more efficient
processes, more usable
content

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USABLE CONTENT:
THE GOAL OF
CONTENT STRATEGY

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business
goals
user
needs
Usable content lives here.

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3 BASICS OF USABLE CONTENT
1. Findable

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1. Findable
2. Understandable
3 BASICS OF USABLE CONTENT

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1. Findable
2. Understandable
3. Actionable
3 BASICS OF USABLE CONTENT

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1. FINDABLE
Avoid clutter.
UnnaYmir on Flickr

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Do more with less.
1. FINDABLE

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Incorporate search
engine optimization
(SEO) into your content
process.
1. FINDABLE
Example:

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2. UNDERSTANDABLE
Clarity trumps persuasion
Optimizing the first 7 seconds of a web
experience drove a 201% gain, in a
Marketing Experiments study.
Source: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/improving-website-conversion/claritytrumpspersuasion.html

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2. UNDERSTANDABLE
The content must answer:
1. Where am I?
2. What can I do here?
3. Why should I do it?
Source: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/improving-website-conversion/claritytrumpspersuasion.html

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“Omit needless words.
“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain
no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary
sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should
have no unnecessary lines and a machine no
unnecessary parts.”
Strunk & White
The Elements of Style
2. UNDERSTANDABLE

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Guidelines for text:
• Use headings.
• Use bullets.
• Avoid “walls of words.”
• Avoid passive voice —
use action words.
• Avoid “to be” verbs.
• Avoid jargon.
2. UNDERSTANDABLE

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What action do you want users to take?
Incorporate links into your copy.
Carefully write clear, active
buttons (calls to action).
Make calls to action prominent.
3. ACTIONABLE

27. EXERCISE
Determine how usable a particular web article is.
EVALUATING CONTENT USABILITY
GOAL
10 minutes 1. Read the copy. Consider:
Does it incorporate elements that would make it findable?
Is it understandable and high-quality?
Is it actionable?
10 minutes 2. Discuss your findings.
TIMING
Edited (improved) version of website copy.
DELIVERABLE

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CONTENT STRATEGY
IN THE
UX PROCESS

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Content Strategy is not a phase
Rather, it impacts every phase
of the UX design process.
!
IMPORTANT!

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Content Strategy is not a phase
Let’s look at some ideas for approaching
content strategically throughout the UX
design process.
!
IMPORTANT!

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PHASES OF THE UX PROCESS
1. Discovery
2. Analysis
3. Build
4. Maintenance
!

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DISCOVERY

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CONTENT IN DISCOVERY PHASE
Content Audit
Halvorson & Rach identify
3 types of audits.
!
Whichever you choose,
it can (and should!) be
customized for your project.
Quantitative
Inventory
Shows magnitude &
complexity of site.
Best Practices
Audit
Helps prioritize by showing
content problems & gaps.
Strategic
Assessment
Identifies gaps between
strategic plan & current state.

34. EXERCISE
Audit the website DubAcademy.com (or a website of your choice).
BEST PRACTICES AUDIT
GOAL
10 minutes 1. Audit as many pages as you can in the allotted time.
10 minutes 2. Discuss your findings.
TIMING
Partial website audit.
DELIVERABLE

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AUDIT TOOLS
http://www.content-insight.com/products
https://gathercontent.com/
https://www.blazecontent.com/

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CONTENT IN DISCOVERY PHASE
Stakeholder interviews
Identify crucial stakeholders.
Listen to their pain points,
backstory, ideas, and
recommendations.

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ANALYSIS

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CONTENT IN ANALYSIS PHASE
Competitive Content Analysis
Compare your site to
competitors’. Look for:
• What competitors do
that you should
• What they do that
you shouldn’t
• What they don’t do
that you should do
From Richard Sheffield,
The Content Strategist’s Bible
Type of page Our content Competitor 1 Competitor 2 Analysis
Product
Static page listing
features, benefits,
technical specs.
Written in
professional,
unemotional style.
One product
image.
Similar
descriptions.
Images can be
zoomed and
viewed from
different
angles.
Tech specs on
a different
page.
Descriptions
have more
emotion
emphasizing
fun of using
the product.
Comp 2 has best-
in-class
implementation
that we should
emulate. Add
rich media
presentation for
certain high-
margin products.

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CONTENT IN ANALYSIS PHASE
Content Brief (or Report)
This is where you use the
insights from your discovery
and analysis to make
recommendations.
Executive Summary
Goals of this Evaluation
Content Strengths
Content Weaknesses
Near-term Recommendations
Long-term Recommendations
Conclusion

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Core Content Strategy Statement
Use all your previous findings,
and get the stakeholders in a
room, to create a Core Content
Strategy Statement.
Your organization will be
able to use this statement
to say “yes” and “no” to
projects and tasks.
It doesn’t have to be long.
In fact, it can be a sentence.
CONTENT IN ANALYSIS PHASE

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CORE CONTENT STRATEGY STATEMENT
Here’s
what
it might
look like.
From Halvorson and Rach,
Content Strategy for the Web

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CORE CONTENT STRATEGY STATEMENT
How?
!
Send a mad lib to your
stakeholders. They fill in
the business goal, audience,
content product, and user need.
From Casey,
The Content Strategy Toolkit

43. EXERCISE
Fill out the “mad lib” to create a Core Content Strategy Statement
for Dub Academy.
CORE CONTENT STRATEGY STATEMENT
GOAL
5 minutes 1. Fill out the form.
5 minutes 2. Discuss your findings.
TIMING
Core Content Strategy Statement.
DELIVERABLE

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The Message Architecture
“…can reflect a mission or vision statement,
but it goes beyond either element to offer a
strategy that is both actionable and specific
to communication.”
Margot Bloomstein,
Content Strategy at Work
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

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Message Architecture - connecting content with brand
Think about your organization’s values, vision, and
audiences. Be aspirational.
CONTENT IN ANALYSIS PHASE

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Communication goals
If our organization were a person,
what would it sound like?
Example:
CONTENT IN ANALYSIS PHASE

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1. Gather brand information for communication goals
Possible sources:
• Vision statement
• Mission statement
• Executive memos
• Core Values statement
!
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

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2. Card sorting exercise with stakeholders
Write down 100 or so brand attributes
Ask stakeholders to categorize them into:
• Who we are
• Who we’d like to be
• Who we’re not
!
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

49. GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT STRATEGY
3. Share Message Architecture with Content and Design Teams
Provides “cues for look and feel as well
as style and tone.” (Bloomstein)
!
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

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Bloomstein’s example: MOO
Vision statment: “Great design for everyone.”
!
!
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

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A Possible Message Hierarchy
Cheeky
Witty and fun
Young without being childish
Customer-oriented and responsive
Approachable, friendly, welcoming
Championing and empowering
Helpful
Accessible
!
CREATING A MESSAGE ARCHITECTURE

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BUILD

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CONTENT IN BUILD PHASE
Content Matrix
Tracks the development,
implementation, and testing
of content.

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CONTENT IN BUILD PHASE
Page Template
Gives writers guidance for
what to write about each
page in a redesign.

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CONTENT IN BUILD PHASE
Style Guide
Gives writers guidance
for how to write copy.
Details standard usage for
common terms, to promote
consistency across the org.
From Richard Sheffield,
The Content Strategist’s Bible

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MAINTENANCE

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Document policies, processes, and people
• Policies: standards and guidelines
• Process: workflows
• People: roles and responsibilities
CONTENT IN MAINTENANCE PHASE

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CONTENT IN MAINTENANCE PHASE
RACI
Defines roles &
responsibilities.
Responsible — Performs task.
Accountable — For task being
completed to spec/timeline.
Consulted — Provides input to task.
Informed — Made aware of task.

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CONTENT IN MAINTENANCE PHASE
RACI
Defines roles &
responsibilities.
Example:

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HELPFUL
RESOURCES

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HELPFUL RESOURCES
Content Strategy for the Web
Halvorson & Rach
Letting Go of the Words
Ginny Redish
Content Strategy at Work
Margot Bloomstein
The Web Content Strategist’s Bible
Richard Sheffield
Managing Chaos
Lisa Welchman
The Content Strategy Toolkit
Meghan Casey

62. Q&A
GETTING STARTED WITH CONTENT STRATEGY
Connect with me:
Twitter: @melanie_seibert
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanieseibert

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BONUS STUFF

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My interview with Copy Hackers - look for the “Free Download” CTA:
http://copyhackers.com/2013/09/content-strategy-for-the-web/
CONTENT MARKETING WORKSHEET

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For an example of documenting voice and tone, be sure to read
MailChimp’s guide here: http://voiceandtone.com/
!
Voice Charts - a couple of good examples:
• http://www.citygirlcareer.com/2013/05/tone-and-the-appropriate-
voice-for-career-writing-how-to-stay-true-to-your-voice-but-still-be-
polish.html
• https://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/
finding-your-brand-voice/ (the second graphic)
(Personally, I would combine the columns for “characteristic,” “description,” “do,” and
“don’t” from the first link, with the columns “like this” and “not like this” from the
second link.)
VOICE CHART & RESOURCES

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Download my Dub Academy content audit and content report here:
http://prosekiln.com/sample-content-audit-content-report/
SAMPLE AUDIT AND CONTENT REPORT