If you're working on any kind of redesign project involving a large amount of content, such as that of a website, intranet or mobile site, one of the first tasks you'll need to perform is a content audit. I say need, not want-a content audit isn't something you're necessarily going to want to tackle.
One of my favorite things about going to conferences is all of the exciting ideas you come away with. At MozCon 2013, which just ended yesterday, the focus was on creating quality content strategies. But unless you're building a brand new company right now, the site you're working on probably already has a good amount of content.
Content audits are tedious and time-consuming, but necessary if you want to take stock of the content you have on your site. Why do an audit? An audit will help you collect the information you need to: Review or redesign your information architecture (site structure, navigation systems) Migrate content into a content management system or new design Manage content quality Develop your content strategy.
In this blog post, Uli Trute, Senior Communications Adviser at the Commerce Commission, outlines the benefits of content audits and how to get started performing your own. A content audit is a snapshot of everything on a website or a section of a website.
By transforming a content inventory into a content audit, you gain a powerful tool in further understanding your website. Containing both quantitative and qualitative data, a content audit allows you to dig deeper, analyzing page-by-page how your content is structured, displayed and maintained.
The first time we did a content inventory, we got dragged into it kicking and screaming. It was a number of years ago, and we were working on a site with about 30,000 pages of content - and we knew them all, because over a number of years, we'd put them there.
If there is one thing content managers, web developers, and similar specialists dread doing with their website, it would be content auditing. However, they are the same people who will attest how valuable this task is when optimizing a website, especially when you're planning to take on a new marketing campaign.
Last week, Paula Land (founder and principal content strategist at Strategic Content) covered a lot of material in her webinar "How to Perform a Content Audit". Here are a few key takeaway points. If you think any important ones out have been missed out, please leave a comment below so that they can be added to the list!
Why and How To Do a Content Audit This is the final installment of our five-part series on editorial calendars and content strategy. If you missed the first ones, you can access them here: What is an Editorial Calendar and Why Do I Need One?
By Ahava Leibtag published January 24, 2011 I had the strangest thing happen to me last week. I was talking to the lead on a big website project, and I asked him, "So what types of content do you plan to include?" He told me, "Written, video, message boards, podcasting and downloadable documents."
Have you ever been to the end ... of your blog? I've been editing Raven's blog for about a year now, but the blog has a much longer history.
Upcoming Live Webinar Nov 20th: Tour of Assiniboine Credit Union's intranet. Register Now! If you're building a new intranet, you have lots of work to get done. Aside from the budgeting, strategy setting, stakeholder communications, software selection and other important intranet planning activities, you need to build a site that employees will actually use.
A content inventory is an essential early step in your content strategy. How do you know what content you need if you don't know what you have? But that's not w
If phrases like content audit, content inventory, and stakeholder interview make you giddy with excitement and possibility, chances are that you need to seek help immediately. Either that, or you just have a sincere appreciation for the benefits of the content strategy discovery process. And that's not crazy at all!
A content audit is where you perform a full assessment of all of the content assets on your website and catalogue them according to type and purpose. This allows you to compare and contrast each of your content items to determine the level at which they are performing, with regard to attracting traffic and converting prospects and leads.
I think it would be fair to say that Google's major algorithm updates in the last couple of years have seen us all asking ourselves some tough questions about the quality of what we're putting on the web.
Is your current web content underperforming? Whether you want your website to generate more leads, attract more subscribers or get more sales, your web content needs to be producing first-rate results. If it's not, a Savvy Web Content Audit™ is your roadmap to making simple fixes that will drive the business outcomes you, and your boss, require.
Short on time but want to find some areas on a site you can add immediate value to from a content optimization perspective? Let me show you how to use Google Analytics (along with some other tools), and a Web content audit checklist to identify and prioritize those ideas, fast.
If you run a website or a blog, then you would have developed enough content for your organisation's web presence. How familiar are you with your site's content? Do you know what types of content that have been created? Do you know how many web pages you have?
The Qualitative Audit is designed to identify issues with your existing content and answer the question: is this content accomplishing what it needs to? During this portion of the audit, you should go through your content page by page and ask yourself a few key questions.
Content is an all encompassing word; but at heart it is shorthand for pieces that demonstrate knowledge and authority in your field. A content audit, therefore, analyzes how you deliver your expertise to the outside world and how far it reaches. Performing this necessary step in your content's journey helps you make decisions about not...
In May of 2011, I came home from the best conference I'd ever attended, took a deep breath, and decided dammit, I'm gonna blog about content strategy. It was now or never, I figured. I'm glad I did. So last week, I took the stage at Confab myself, tackling a topic that's been on my mind...
