In my previous post: An Introduction to Content Strategy, I described a content inventory as “your site in an Excel-spreadsheet nutshell: what content is found where, page by page.” Now, I’ll explain how to create this document and what this information can be used for.

I know what you’re thinking – Excel, really? Of course, if you have a more advanced content management system, you can (and should!) use that to intelligently manage your content.  However, many businesses do not have the budget to employ such systems, hence the reason for using Excel.

To complete a content inventory, you will have to go through your site page by page, recording your content findings.  And be aware — content is not limited to website copy!  This inventory should include web copy, photos, videos, forums, infographics, guides… basically any content that is living your site.

Start with the home page. Set up your spreadsheet (or other document) to include the following:

• Unique identification for each piece of content or each page, so you can easily navigate the document later.
• Name, topic or overall theme of the page.  You can usually grab this information quickly from the title tag of your page, or the content heading.
• Link – of course – so you know where to find the page.  You can also use this information to examine URL structure later.
• Type of information on the page—is it a product page, media information or a whitepaper? Be sure to be as specific as possible to make it easier for yourself in the long run.
• Keywords associated with that specific piece of content (Think META keywords, or image tags.)
• Meta description.
• Owner of the content, if you know. Who created the content and who is responsible for updating it? Whoever it is should be known as the content owner.  You may even want to record that person’s contact information in case the content needs to be revised.
• Internal links found on the page, and all of the above information regarding content on those pages.
• Notes on the status of the page addressing revisions or outdated content.  You should also keep track of any broken links or images that don’t load, as well as SEO and usability concerns that need to be addressed.

You can make more columns to cater to your website, though I would recommend recording all of the above information to have a concise and complete inventory. You can create the inventory to include more usability information or more detailed SEO information if you like.

Now What?

Once you have completed your content inventory, there are many ways to utilize this information to improve your site and your content.

Now you have a map of your website content page by page.  This makes it much easier to manage what content needs to be updated and when, as long as you took good notes!  Also, when it is time to update the content, you will know exactly who to contact since you have already recorded it.

A content inventory is a great way to discover outdated or insignificant content that is no longer needed or just flat our wrong.  Also, you can discover if content is missing and content development opportunities.

If you kept track of SEO concerns, an inventory will bring these issues to the forefront that you otherwise might have missed. The inventory will also reveal dead-end pages, poor URL structure and incorrect meta information.  Also, by viewing the internal linking structure page by page you can see what a visitor or customer may experience while on your site.

So, no matter how you format it, a content inventory is a necessary document to organize your website content. But unfortunately, a content inventory is almost never complete.  The second you remove or add new content to your site, you should update the inventory accordingly.

There are many uses for a content inventory, and all are going to improve your website visitors’ experiences on your site. Content is considered the most important component of your website, so keeping it updated and organized is essential.  And though this process is time-consuming, tiring and painstaking, the wealth of information you are left with is well worth the hard work. If you lack the resources needed to complete this task, it is important to understand and consider the benefits. And don’t worry, there are resources, like ourselves, willing to work with you.

What are your experiences with completing a content inventory?  What have you used your content inventory for? Let us know in the comments below!

Abby Gilmore

Abby Gilmore is a content strategist at Vertical Measures. When she is not creating, tweaking and developing strategies for online content, she creates her own offline content as a freelance print journalist.

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Content strategy is defined a number of different ways, mostly because it encompasses a number of different pieces of the overall Internet marketing puzzle. In the simplest definition, content strategy is the process of creating and developing a plan that includes content creation, distribution and governance.  It answers the “why am I creating this content?” question, along with “where should this content go?” while also tackling the “who is this content for?” debacle. The process includes a look at content from a user perspective to ensure that web content is useful, flows logically and can be effectively navigated, as well as makes certain the content plan aligns with company objectives and goals.

Content strategy can be broken down into a few (okay, more than a few) different parts.  These parts include:

Content audit. This audit includes a content inventory that is basically your site in an Excel-spreadsheet nutshell: what content is found where, page by page.  A content inventory is useful in that it shows the structure of your site and allows you to see not only where individual pieces of content are located, but what other destinations those pieces point to. (Think, where would a user go after this page?) The inventory can also divulge what content is outdated or flat out incorrect, as well as dig up content that you may not even know you had. (And if you didn’t know you had it, should you use it? Probably not.) The qualitative part of your audit can divulge insights such as if the content is appropriate for the audience. Does it answer questions your audience needs the answers to? And of course, much, much more.

Web content creation. Writing and creating for the web is a harder task than it may seem, as there is so much to take into consideration including user needs, company objectives and style. Not only does this include website copy, it also regards other content development including blog writing, slideshows, webinars, videos and photos.  Content strategists are faced with the questions: Does the content make sense to a user? Do internal links point to the correct places? And of course, what about those search engines…will they find this data useful?

Editorial strategy. An editorial strategy includes the tone and voice of your content and ensures content produced follows a certain style. The editorial strategy also includes developing and creating an editorial calendar, which depicts when and where certain content will be published. The strategy also defines who owns the content that is published and how long that content will be up to date for, also known as the content lifecycle.

Listening to your audience and your competitors. What exactly does your audience need to know about your product or service in order to make a decision or complete a call to action? This information can be found by listening to what your customers are saying.  Also, investigating your competitors content can show you what your visitors will end up reading/watching/seeing if they aren’t on your website.

Content distribution. There are a number of different channels content can be distributed to, but which makes the most sense? Distribution channels include your website, blog, social media platforms, e-mail marketing and more.

Seems like a lot to take in, right? Perhaps it is.  But content strategy is something that all websites publishers should take into account if they want to be successful in pleasing their visitors.  Ever heard the phrase, “content is king?” It’s true. Quality content is what drives us to visit websites and spend our time and money online. It is what keeps us coming back for more and is the reason why we trust the people and brands that we do. If we don’t have great content and a plan to back it up, then what do we have?

Though content strategy may seem like a challenging project to take on, it doesn’t make it any less important.  By listening to our visitors and asking ourselves “why” content should be created and what it is meant to accomplish, we are giving our visitors what they need to be successful and have a positive online experience with our brand.

Do you have content strategy in place? Tell us about your experience in the comment section!

Abby Gilmore

Abby Gilmore is a content strategist at Vertical Measures. When she is not creating, tweaking and developing strategies for online content, she creates her own offline content as a freelance print journalist.

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This week, just before our monthly webinar “Winning Tactics for Content Creation and Marketing” on October 14 at 11:30 a.m. EST, I had the pleasure to sit down (virtually) with Alison Driscoll, an interactive copywriter and social media strategist with a background in advertising and marketing. She has worked with a wide variety of clients ranging from small, local businesses to international brands and is the co-author of the forthcoming “Facebook Marketing Book” from O’Reilly. She currently works as an interactive copywriter and community manager at Zipcar in Boston while running her own social media consultancy.

Elise Redlin-Cook: I hear the phrase “content strategy” used in different contexts and ways. How would you define content strategy?

Alison Driscoll: A content strategy is a well-thought out plan for writing and publishing content to the web. With more and more avenues to choose from, there is the opportunity to post more content than ever before. But you should not post whatever and whenever you feel like it. Each piece of content should work towards achieving one or more goals.

Publishing content is also faster than ever before, thanks to one-click posting on sites like Facebook and Twitter. This makes it even more important for marketers and brands to think before they speak.

While it is not advisable to copy and paste email content into a landing page, Twitter post and Facebook update, current content should work together and support each other. I’m a huge fan of creating patterns or topics for days of content and tweaking slightly for each channel, without reinventing the wheel with each piece.

Elise: I take a very similar approach. So, let me ask you…What are the best ways that you’ve found to organize or prioritize your content creation and curation tasks?

Alison: Like I said, topics and patterns can be a huge help, both for you the creator, and your audience. As you write new content, having set topics for each day will help you get the ideas flowing and trim down a daunting task.

For example, if you have a website and corresponding social channels about shoes, there are hundreds of topics and styles to talk about. But if you’ve designated Monday as high-heel day, you just gave yourself a place to focus.

This also helps your audience get to know you better and tune in on their favorite days. A sneaker fan might not always want to read about high-heels on Monday, but they always check in for Tuesday’s talk about running shoes.

Elise: Would you like to talk about any specific tools that you’ve found useful in creation of content strategies? How about specific tools that you’ve found useful in measuring and reporting the success of your content?

Alison:Listening is the most important thing you can do to keep a content strategy going. For me, this means subscribing to email lists and newsletters in my industry, and staying on top of trends and topics with an RSS reader and, admittedly, somewhat of an addiction to Twitter.

For tools, I love Google Reader to keep blogs and sites organized. As for Twitter, I personally still like to spend some time scrolling through Twitter.com, but I’ve found using Tweetdeck search columns and Twitter lists to be more effective from a content standpoint. Creating lists and search of keywords and topics in your industry gives you a great place to pull ideas from, as well as people to talk to about your content once it’s published.

Elise: What are the primary elements or pieces of a complete content strategy?

Alison: For me, a complete content strategy spans across multiple channels and plays to each one’s own specific strengths and areas of interest. This might be a website or blog, a Facebook page, Twitter account and newsletter or email list.

One general content idea can be used across all four channels, but in different ways. The main piece of content will live on the website or blog. The email can summarize it, to varying lengths or degrees, and drive people to the full article. The Facebook status update should be a quick snippet that’s easy to share, like or comment on, and may link to the full article on the site or through a Facebook application like Notes or Social RSS. And finally, the Tweet, which is the shortest of all and should get right to the point or headline, with a link to the full article.

The content strategy doesn’t stop there of course. On the social channels, you also want to foster discussion by asking questions.  (As well as answering or commenting on responses.) You also may want to repost the link to your article later in the day, with a different hook, to hit all time zones effectively.

Elise: I’ve been finding out that many content strategists come from very different parts of the industry with very diverse backgrounds. How did you find yourself in this specialization?

Alison: From a very young age, I wanted to go into advertising. I’m talking age 7, I was writing jingles. This led me to enter the Communications department at Boston University, where I concentrated in copywriting. The focus there was still on print advertising, but I learned a lot. I also joined Facebook the first year it spread outside of Harvard, which had a lot to do with how my career progressed.

After school, I started working at a small SEO and web development shop. It was there that I learned the value of balancing search engine optimization with content clarity. I also started working on social media marketing projects, before Facebook pages even existed. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Overall, I would say my love of the written word guides me through all types of content creation. I don’t believe in sacrificing clarity for more keywords, or punctuation and proper grammar for brevity on Twitter.

Elise: Where would you say that Content Strategy is going now? Do you see any big changes on the horizon?

Alison: Social Media is playing a larger and larger role in content creation and promotion. These platforms are quick and easy to update and are becoming an integral part of search results. My advice is to always cross-promote your content, from website or blog to email, Facebook, Twitter and any other channels you have found that work for you or your audience.

People use these sites differently, so you may need to experiment with what type of content, phrasing or timing works best. Often, you are using Facebook or Twitter to promote external content on your site. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t give each setup post its own unique spin. Every sentence you post, no matter how short, is important. It’s all content, and it all drives back to your site and represents your brand. Put as much thought into a Tweet as you do a headline.

This extends to answering questions and engaging in discussions on these sites. Your response is content, too, and should be treated with care.

Elise: Are you inspired by anything in particular outside of your Content Strategy field?

Alison: I always look to fashion brands as inspiration for new content ideas. There are only so many things that can be said about a shirt, but they are some of the most active content producers, particularly in social media. They break outside of their specific product and talk about how to use it, care for it, and style for different occasions. When you can do a whole blog post on the versatility of one sweater or bag, you’ll never have a problem with scrambling to find content ideas.

Elise Redlin-Cook

Elise is the Content & Marketing Manager at Vertical Measures, an internet marketing company in sunny Arizona providing services ranging from content marketing, to social media marketing, link building, and advanced SEO. She’s fully immersed herself into the world of content marketing and content strategy and is the managing editor of this blog.

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My plunge deep into the heart of Content Strategy continues this week with my discussion with Rick Allen an accomplished manager of complex web-related projects, with ten years experience in creating dynamic web identities for knowledge-centric organizations. Rick is the principal of ePublish Media, a web publishing agency focused on content strategy, user experience design, and marketing communications.

Rick writes and speaks regularly on the topics of content strategy, online communications, and web analytics strategy. He is also the founder of Content Strategy New England, a community of web content professionals aiming to bring clear communication to online user experiences through the evolving discipline of content strategy.

Elise Redlin-Cook: I often hear the phrase “content strategy” used in different contexts and ways. How would you define content strategy?

Rick Allen: A commonly accepted definition of content strategy is found in Content Strategy for the Web, by Kristina Halvorson. It reads: “content strategy is the practice of planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content.” This clear, concise description has had tremendous impact on the establishment and widespread adoption of content strategy. I often add “effective” as a modifier when defining content strategy for students and clients. I find it helps people to understand why quality content is valuable.
Useful and usable describes the what, effective describes the why—the result. Effective content meets business objectives and user goals.

When you get into the intricacies of content strategy, you appreciate the challenge of establishing a clear definition. But, for the discipline to be valued in the industry, it is important for practitioners to articulate it well. As your question indicates, there’s still room for improvement.

Elise: After conducting my own content inventory, I realize that this process can be a long and tedious process and it can sometimes feel like you’ll never finish. How do you stay motivated during this process?

Rick: Hmm. Long and tedious? Whatever do you mean? Content inventories can certainly be time-consuming, but the process can also be fun. Yes, fun! It’s like cleaning your basement. Who knows what’s down there? You might find your high school yearbook or your old baseball card collection. Seriously, content strategists tend to thrive on organization. At the beginning of a web project, content is overwhelming, massive and seemingly unmanageable. A content inventory simplifies a web project by allowing people to see content more clearly. Personally, I’m motivated by discovery and insight: making sense of existing content, understanding the project scope, and realizing potential content challenges. Admittedly, I still can’t find my childhood baseball card collection. I find spreadsheets easier to manage than boxes and duct tape.

Elise: Fantastic!  What does the typical content lifecycle look like, and are there ways that you’ve found to extend the life of content?

Rick: This is an important topic. Understanding an organization’s content lifecycle is critical for a content strategy to succeed. If you don’t know who or what is involved in the analysis, creation, publishing, and maintenance of content, you can’t effectively govern it.

A content lifecycle is complex in scope—accounting for every point at which content is created, evaluated, and managed—so for clarity it helps to break it down into categories. At the very least, it should include content analysis, planning, creation, and maintenance. Two great diagrams on the topic, by content strategists Erin Scime and Rahel Bailie illustrate content lifecycles well.

One way to extend the life of content is to evaluate its potential value for new audiences. Organizations often consider content for a single purpose when it often has much more potential. For example, in higher education, community news and events targeted at current students, faculty, and staff can also benefit prospective students, alumni, and affiliates by providing insights into the school. Student and faculty profiles are useful for admissions materials, but also for community building when shared through social media, including blogs.

Elise: Great Examples, thanks! So, how exactly does content strategy fit with other UX processes and disciplines?

Rick: Most often the focus is content deliverables. However, a hidden value of content strategy is its ability to improve the web publishing process, supporting related disciplines in their roles. At a recent Content Strategy New England event, an attendee said, “I can’t be a great designer if the content sucks.” Indeed, if the content is of poor quality, so will go the design, usability, SEO, marketing, UX, and much more. How can a visual designer be effective without understanding the content needs and editorial style guide? How can an SEO specialist effectively attract relevant traffic without understanding the site message architecture and brand-appropriate keywords? Content strategists support collaboration between designers, SEO specialists, analysts, project managers, and others, by focusing on a shared element: content.

Elise: I’ve been finding out that many content strategists come from very different parts of the industry with very diverse backgrounds. How did you find yourself in this specialization?

Rick: It’s true that content strategists come from diverse backgrounds—some technical, some creative. Content strategists also have diverse specialties, focusing on branding, analysis, editorial strategy, content delivery, metadata strategy, and more.

I was guided toward content strategy through studies in writing and publishing, and professional work in academic technology, project management, web strategy, and marketing communications. As my career evolved, content strategy for the web was a natural fit.

A background in creative writing taught me storytelling: how to convey ideas and evoke an emotional response. Such training now assists me in helping organizations to be storytellers as well, to convey their brand message in a compelling way that attracts and engages, not just informs. My graduate degree in publishing was readily applicable to content strategy. To succeed online, organizations must treat their website as a publishing platform, which demands the same quality standards as traditional publishing. Editorial calendars, style guides, and quality content are all equally important on the web.

Through my early work in academic technology and marketing communication, I developed and managed large-scale web projects. This training helped me bridge the gap between writing and technology and motivated me to expand my knowledge in related web disciplines.

Elise: Where would you say that Content Strategy is going now? Do you see any big changes on the horizon?

Rick: Content strategy will certainly continue to grow in popularity and demand. However, there will be less talk about whether a content strategist is needed and more talk about who is going to do the work. The value of owning quality content will rise and website owners will be more mindful of the responsibilities needed to produce and govern that content.

I also foresee that content strategy will be challenged to better demonstrate results. People understand that content strategy is important, but how do they know it works for their organization? What metrics can be used to effectively measure success? This is a topic I’m excited about and will be discussing more.

Elise: Are you inspired by anything in particular outside of your Content Strategy field?

Rick: I’ve always been enamored with the power of words and how the simplest turn of phrase alters meaning. Similarly, I’m often impressed by the ability to visually communicate complex ideas. I love to experiment with photography and visual design to enhance meaning and evoke emotion. I admire visual thinkers who naturally work in this mindset. It’s a tremendous communication skill.

Elise: I completely agree!

Elise Redlin-Cook

Elise is the Content & Marketing Manager at Vertical Measures, an internet marketing company in sunny Arizona providing services ranging from content marketing, to social media marketing, link building, and advanced SEO. She’s fully immersed herself into the world of content marketing and content strategy and is the managing editor of this blog.

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I’m pleased to announce that for the next few weeks I’ll be reaching out to some of the thought leaders in my own specialty, Content Strategy. You can probably imagine that I’m just tickled pink with the opportunity! I’ve decided to kick it off with someone who I’ve yet to meet in person but found her writing and especially her slide decks shared on slideshare.com very useful in development of my own personal take on the field. Without further adieu, Margot Bloomstein, Brand and Content Strategy Consultant at Appropriate, Inc. She was a participant in the inaugural Content Strategy Consortium, and speaks regularly on the evolution of content strategy within interactive agencies; recent engagements include SXSW, Web Content 2010, A List Apart, and more intimate regional events across the country.

Elise Redlin-Cook: I hear the phrase “content strategy” used in different contexts and ways. How would you define content strategy?

Margot Bloomstein: Content strategy is planning for the creation, aggregation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable, and appropriate content in an experience. Whew! Specific, right? Every word is in there for a reason. While most of that definition came from the Content Strategy Consortium at the 2009 IA Summit, I add “appropriate” because I focus on brand-driven content strategy that starts with and manifests a message architecture appropriate to the needs of a brand. If content fails to do that, if it fails to accurately project a brand in a manner conducive to the medium, communication suffers. The user experience suffers. It might still be useful and usable, but it could also be out of character or generic. Nobody wants to be generic.

Elise: Very concise! After conducting my own content inventory, I realize that this process can be a long and tedious process and it can sometimes feel like you’ll never finish. How do you stay motivated during this process?

Margot: Short answer? Dunkin Donuts iced French vanilla, skim milk and two Splendas please.

Outside of tasty beverages, it helps to really, really love a comprehensive spreadsheet—and, more importantly, to appreciate the information it reveals: gaps, opportunities, loss of revenue, wasted time, and great ideas mired in outdated contexts. Keep your eyes on the prize: you’re not conducting the inventory to compile data. You’re conducting the inventory to analyze the data, get at all that information, and determine the scope of work. And because content in a website or other experience will likely need to grow and change over time, it’s important to make the content inventory an ongoing process you periodically revisit.

Elise: Great point on revisiting! So, what are the primary elements or pieces of a complete content strategy?

Margot: A complete content strategy speaks to the many parties and states that comprise the “rhetorical arena.” When that arena is a corporate website, I try to balance the needs of the two main parties, the brand and the target audience. But it’s a space that exists in time, so I also work to balance the current state with longer-term aspirations. A website overhaul is an aspirational initiative; if you’re not addressing the long term, you’re not fully addressing content strategy.

What does that all mean? First, content strategy needs to address both the brand’s communication goals and the target audience’s information needs. In focusing on brand-driven content strategy, I always start by working with the client to establish a message architecture. What do we need to communicate, and in what order of priority? Drawing on user research, we can determine the most appropriate content types to serve users in their path through an experience, and refine this through the content model.

Moving forward, I use the message architecture to inform the audit and inventory process. This is where it helps to start thinking of the website as a space defined by time and changes of state. That’s not some metaphysical mumbo-jumbo; rather, I work to develop an understanding of the content that is both descriptive and prescriptive. An audit offers a descriptive snapshot of the current state, but is most useful when a team reviews it with a prescriptive plan in mind to evolve the architecture and content. Where can we “translate” copy to better articulate the message architecture? What content types would serve us well, and what content types seem trite? And do we really need more customer quotes anyhow?

A prescriptive content plan details the content we’ll need to create or aggregate in terms of content type, character count, runtime, keywords, and other specifications. Editorial style guidelines explain how to do that. Along with guidance like a governance model and editorial calendar, editorial style guidelines help to ensure consistency and cohesion across the content in an experience over time—whether we’re creating a corporate website, social media campaign, or multichannel presence.

Elise: Great! In your opinion, how exactly does content strategy fit with other UX processes and disciplines?

Margot: In short, “plays well with others.” Visual designers and IAs alike benefit from collaborating with a content strategist. Prioritized communication goals, working with real copy, on-brand nomenclature and instructional copy, and a better sense of scope beyond mere page count all work to facilitate other UX processes and deliverables from the broader team.

Elise: I’ve been finding out that many content strategists come from very different parts of the industry with very diverse backgrounds. How did you find yourself in this specialization?

Margot: Well, I was walking past a bar one day, heard someone heckling a style guide, and thought, man, those people are having fun and that bourbon looks tasty and so what if it’s 11AM!

Or maybe this is the true version: I studied visual design in college, earning my BFA from long hours exploring typography, information design, color theory, and design thinking. I learned to communicate between brands and their target audiences by pulling levers of typeface, color, and density of information on the page. As a content strategist, I effect similar communication, but by working with style, tone, diction, content types; I apply the same problem solving skills, but use different tools along the way. Smart mentors, patient managers, and encouraging clients all helped me refine that toolkit.

Elise: Well, where would you say that Content Strategy is going now? Do you see any big changes on the horizon?

Margot: Over the past two years, content strategy has “hardened” into a more mature discipline with definitions, expectations, inputs, and outputs that its practitioners evangelize and deliver. Agencies large and small are bringing content strategy in house; they realize they can’t sell “full-service interactive” without addressing the very substance of those interactive experiences. Content strategy will continue to evolve in its impact in nontraditional media. Expect to see more of a focus on dynamic context as content strategy addresses location-based experiences. If your business embraces “Enterprise 2.0” beyond the buzzword, expect to discuss content strategy for user-generated content. I’m especially excited about discussing the ethical implications of content strategy, especially as we explore curation as a means of creating new meaning.

Elise: And lastly, are you inspired by anything in particular outside of your Content Strategy field?

Margot: As I mentioned, I approach content strategy from a background in design. In school, I spent many hours in museums: drawing skeletons to better understand figure-ground composition, exploring exhibits designed for moving audiences, and guiding visitors as a docent. Museum exhibit design inspires me because exhibit designers encounter challenges similar to those we find on the web: how do you convey a message architecture to one or more target audiences through a range of content types, along several main paths? Through copy etched in glass, aqua walls and azure floors, and artifacts like mukluks or harpoons, they can pull children and adults alike into an arctic experience and help them form new opinions about the impact of global warming.  That’s impressive—and when done right, it’s an incredible model for what we do too.

Elise Redlin-Cook

Elise is the Content & Marketing Manager at Vertical Measures, an internet marketing company in sunny Arizona providing services ranging from content marketing, to social media marketing, link building, and advanced SEO. She’s fully immersed herself into the world of content marketing and content strategy and is the managing editor of this blog.

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