http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Content-Management/Content-Strategy A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Content Management and Content Strategy in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Content-Management/Content-Strategy http://tc.eserver.org/35701.html http://tc.eserver.org/35701.html If you don’t have a professional blog or web site, you may think that you don’t need to worry about content strategy. Think again. Celine gave some great advice in her article “How to Develop a Content Strategy for Your Professional Blog,” but these days our blogs and web sites aren’t the only windows to our professional souls. If you use social media platforms for professional purposes, you should consider having a content strategy for the material you publish on them as well. http://tc.eserver.org/35654.html http://tc.eserver.org/35654.html As a participant in the Content Strategy Consortium at the IA Summit 2009, I have enjoyed watching content strategy grow into a user experience discipline. The most recent and significant sign of content strategy’s rise is the release of Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson. Kristina is a renowned content strategist, co-curator of the Content Strategy Consortium, and president of Brain Traffic. I was honored to chat recently with Kristina about her new book. http://tc.eserver.org/35298.html http://tc.eserver.org/35298.html A Content Curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online. The most important component of this job is the word "continually." In the real time world of the Internet, this is critical. In an attempt to offer more of a vision for someone who might fill this role, here is my crack at a short manifesto for someone who might take on this job. http://tc.eserver.org/35170.html http://tc.eserver.org/35170.html If content strategy isn’t in the current budget, though, how do you convince your client to add money for it? Your client might already realize content strategy can help create measurable ROI. If they don’t, help them understand. After all, relevant and informative content is what their audience wants; content strategy assesses the content they have and creates a plan for what they need and how they’ll get it. http://tc.eserver.org/35030.html http://tc.eserver.org/35030.html Usually, the one thing missing from the planning of a WCM-driven web site is what's most likely to shoot the implementation in the foot: the functional design of the CMS back-end. The form and function of how the CMS will work, look and feel for the end-user of the system, not the visitor to the web site, is too often overlooked. This is odd: isn't the rationale for getting a CMS in the first place usually based on some kind of ROI in efficiency in actually producing the content and sites? http://tc.eserver.org/35033.html http://tc.eserver.org/35033.html Web Managers must think globally (information) and act locally (Web) all the while trying to widen your universe and build the internal business relationships which will allow your organization to manage its information more holistically now or in the future. http://tc.eserver.org/34801.html http://tc.eserver.org/34801.html It’s great to have a little 90-second elevator pitch ready to go for those times when you’re invited to talk about what you do (or even when you’re not). It’s also handy to have a version of this speech at the ready when someone outside of your industry, like a family member, asks what you do for a living. http://tc.eserver.org/34754.html http://tc.eserver.org/34754.html A content strategist looks at all the content from a holistic point of view, treating everything as content, and analyzing whether each aspect of the content aligns with the company’s messaging, branding, and intent. The content strategist is acutely aware of the multifaceted nature of the user experience. It’s not just the user interface that influences the user, or the marketing material, or the training — it’s all of this and more, working together as one. The whole user experience is the content strategist’s domain, not just help materials or written text. http://tc.eserver.org/34727.html http://tc.eserver.org/34727.html Getting even semi-publishable writing from experts is notoriously difficult; they may be immersed in their “real jobs” and too busy to write even a first draft of content, they may not understand why web content matters at all, they may not be fluent in the language(s) in which you publish your website, or they may just be terrible writers. Define a content workflow as early as possible, preferably as part of a unified content strategy that includes a content audit (a detailed analysis of what content you have, what content you need, and how to bridge that gap), voice and tone guidelines, and a schedule for collecting and generating content. http://tc.eserver.org/34728.html http://tc.eserver.org/34728.html It’s an open secret in our daily work how often the challenges posed by content elude our collective talents and acumen. We’ve all been there. For me, lorem ipsum makes it personal. It personifies the proposition at the heart of what content specialists do and mocks how often the manifold complexities of content can get the better of all of us. It’s happening because we haven’t been talking. http://tc.eserver.org/34732.html http://tc.eserver.org/34732.html If you or your organization has any sort of media presence (especially online), it’s useful to consider your overall content strategy: what you intend to say, and when and how to say it, in order to connect and interact constructively and efficiently with the people you need to help you achieve your goals. http://tc.eserver.org/34733.html http://tc.eserver.org/34733.html Content strategy seems still to be a nascent discipline that folks are catching wind of. We kind of know that it lives somewhere between web writing, web editing, information architecture, SEO stuff, web analytics, and production. We know that it (and content in general) are often overlooked in the web design and development process, despite everyone’s insistence that Content is King. And we know it’s all about planning for what content will go where, who owns, authors, and maintains it, how the content relates to a company’s business and other goals, how it fits within a larger matrix of technologies and constraints, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/34692.html http://tc.eserver.org/34692.html The definition of content strategy, according to Wikipedia, is “a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content development process for a website development project.” This definition, not surprisingly, is taken from the The Web Content Strategist’s Bible, by Richard Sheffield. While there is no explicit connection of Web copy to marketing copy, the implication is that Web sites are marketing sites. I would argue that, depsite the perception that websites consist of marketing content, for many sites, the marketing content is only the top layer. http://tc.eserver.org/34678.html http://tc.eserver.org/34678.html “Content types” are among the least understood, and yet most potent, aspects of user experience and web design. Most people encounter them for the first time when implementing a grand-scale content management system (CMS) because you have to define content types before building templates for each kind of content you’re going to publish. Because they associate content types so closely with CMS, some make the mistake of equating content strategy with content management. They’re not the same thing, though they are certainly related. Your content strategy specifies the content types that will then be modeled for your CMS. http://tc.eserver.org/34680.html http://tc.eserver.org/34680.html If you’re getting ready to implement a CMS, and you haven’t yet worked out your content strategy, then I urge you to do it now. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself saddled with a cumbersome CMS that doesn’t do what you need it to, that actually multiplies (rather than reduces) the time and resources you spend managing content, and that everyone curses and tries to circumvent. http://tc.eserver.org/34452.html http://tc.eserver.org/34452.html Migrating to a new system can be surprisingly difficult (some reasons). The following steps can help in your migration. http://tc.eserver.org/34412.html http://tc.eserver.org/34412.html I’m keenly interested in getting a better handle on content strategy, but it seems to me there’s still much to work out, even among the thought leaders themselves. It’s an exciting time for content and people looking at content strategy as a field. If naysayers speak up, it can only be because content strategy is taking focus off their own game. http://tc.eserver.org/34384.html http://tc.eserver.org/34384.html Although wikis have gained substantially in popularity since they first appeared some ten years ago, many enterprises still begin their wiki projects with unrealistic expectations. http://tc.eserver.org/34122.html http://tc.eserver.org/34122.html There's a common myth that one of the main reasons enterprise customers get locked in to a particular vendor's technology is the huge investment (of time and money) that goes into specifying, procuring, rolling out, and maintaining a large system. I was talking to a financial analyst the other day about this very phenomenon. The name of a well-known CMS vendor came up. My financial-analyst friend -- somewhat new to the software biz -- asked whether the huge cost of rolling out, training for, and maintaining a large system didn't pose an enormous disincentive for customers considering moving to another system. I said no, that's a myth. http://tc.eserver.org/34042.html http://tc.eserver.org/34042.html Choosing a content management system can be tricky. Without a clearly defined set of requirements, you will be seduced by fancy functionality that you will never use. What then should you look for in a CMS? http://tc.eserver.org/33637.html http://tc.eserver.org/33637.html We, the people who make websites, have been talking for fifteen years about user experience, information architecture, content management systems, coding, metadata, visual design, user research, and all the other disciplines that facilitate our users’ abilities to find and consume content. Weirdly, though, we haven’t been talking about the meat of the matter. We haven’t been talking about the content itself. http://tc.eserver.org/33398.html http://tc.eserver.org/33398.html The authors of this article use their own experience in implementing a content reuse strategy to assist the reader in effectively making the changes necessary while minimizing the effect on the departments or the company as a whole. http://tc.eserver.org/33262.html http://tc.eserver.org/33262.html People are looking for content to help them reach their goals, and you should start any site redevelopment by drawing up a content strategy designed to satisfy the user. We're currently doing this for a couple of our clients, and working through it ourselves now we've finally found the time to revamp our own presence (the cobbler's children and all that). http://tc.eserver.org/33284.html http://tc.eserver.org/33284.html Content management systems suck. Or so you would think from the strife heard from analysts and practitioners alike. And yet, many websites regularly publish vast amounts of information with superior control and ease compared to manually editing pages. So where’s the disconnect between what’s possible and the too-often failure of CMS? http://tc.eserver.org/31747.html http://tc.eserver.org/31747.html These are exciting times and we have a great opportunity to finally leverage technical communications into the spotlight. The value of information is finally being properly realised, and we are ideally placed to help any organisation make the most of what information they have and help them understand and create the information they really need. http://tc.eserver.org/31272.html http://tc.eserver.org/31272.html Firms wrestling with unstructured data such as emails and spreadsheets don't see enterprise content management as the answer to their problems. http://tc.eserver.org/30685.html http://tc.eserver.org/30685.html Behind all the questions about how to model something is a bigger question: do you model it at all? When is it obvious to structure some content, and when do you just throw it into the 'WYSIWYG pile'? http://tc.eserver.org/30438.html http://tc.eserver.org/30438.html A unified content strategy can help your organization to avoid the Content Silo Trap, reducing the cost of creating, managing, and distributing content, and ensuring that content effectively supports your organizational and customer needs. A unified content strategy is a repeatable method of identifying all content requirements up front, creating consistently structured content for reuse, managing that content in a definitive source, and assembling content on demand to meet your customers' needs. http://tc.eserver.org/29750.html http://tc.eserver.org/29750.html When it comes to information management or content management strategies, particularly at the enterprise level, there is a strong tendency (and desire) to create long-term plans. This briefing will explore some of the issues encountered when creating and executing long-term plans, and will argue for an approach that delivers benefits on a much more frequent basis. http://tc.eserver.org/28933.html http://tc.eserver.org/28933.html Content Management Systems promise so much: content is easier to publish, easier to update, and easier to find and use. Lots of promises, but do CMSs really deliver? Masood Nasser examines why Content Management Systems often fail and shows how Information Architecture can come to the rescue. http://tc.eserver.org/28930.html http://tc.eserver.org/28930.html As interactions proliferate, so does the content that supports them. Why should software professionals take a step back and examine their content from a philosophical perch? Rachel Lovinger takes a look at content strategy and the benefits of its perspectives. http://tc.eserver.org/28562.html http://tc.eserver.org/28562.html As other areas within organizations begin to consider structured content for the same reasons as technical communication departments, technical communicators have a golden opportunity to assist others in their move toward structured CM. http://tc.eserver.org/26742.html http://tc.eserver.org/26742.html Almost one-third of the users reported that more than 40 percent of the storage spending is for unstructured documents and information--I think that percentage will continue to grow annually. Further, AIIM President John Mancini, who prepared the report, found that larger organizations especially are aggressively pursuing consolidation and rationalization of their storage and archiving strategies--but that cost is not the prime motivation behind those activities. http://tc.eserver.org/25826.html http://tc.eserver.org/25826.html I've seen dozens of companies waste hundreds of thousands of dollars because they chose their management tools before they had a clear understanding of their business needs, information life cycle and content. http://tc.eserver.org/25830.html http://tc.eserver.org/25830.html Today's organizational content is created by multiple content creators (marketing/communications, HR, engineering/product development, technical publications/product support, training) delivered to multiple content users (customers, suppliers, channel part-ners, and employees) and delivered through multi-channel information products (Internet, e-commerce, e-catalog, intranet, portals, marketing/communication/product materials, documentation, training, and support) in multiple media (Web, paper, wireless). Too often, content is created by authors working in isolation from other authors within the organization. Walls are erected among content areas and even within content areas, which leads to content being created, and recreated, and recreated, often with changes or differences at each iteration resulting in increased costs, reduced quality, and potentially ineffective materials. We call this the Content Silo Trap. While content migration tools can help, particularly with legacy content, planned reuse is the next step in facilitating content reuse. http://tc.eserver.org/23636.html http://tc.eserver.org/23636.html When people think about content management, they generally think about it from a systems perspective, focusing primarily on tools and technology. While it is true that content management usually requires a technological solution, it also requires that content be designed for reuse, retrieval, and delivery to meet your authors' and customers' needs. Content management requires that tools be configured to support authoring, reviewing, and publishing tasks, but first, those tasks must be designed. Designing content and the processes to create, review, and publish it is what information architecture is all about. The Information Architecture section of The Rockley Report will focus on the different aspects of information architecture for content management. This article introduces you to some of the components of information architecture that we will cover in The Rockley Report over time. http://tc.eserver.org/23638.html http://tc.eserver.org/23638.html Provides you with several resources you may find valuable during the planning and analysis phases of implementing content management. http://tc.eserver.org/22453.html http://tc.eserver.org/22453.html By the time I finished reading Managing Enterprise Content, I was excited! For me, the book answered questions about a unified content strategy on two levels: Not only did it address unified content strategy as a strategic business objective; it also unified the strategic directions that the umbrella of technical communication and training professions have been moving towards over the past decade: single-sourcing, corporate branding implementation, critical involvement in software or system development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies, and even implementation of ISO9000 compliance. http://tc.eserver.org/22414.html http://tc.eserver.org/22414.html The process of content management begins when an organization comes to the realization that it needs a system to manage content. While the interpretation of the term content management (CM) can be as simple as a set of guidelines for organizing and maintaining content, more typically today it means a sophisticated software-based system. A full-featured content management system (CMS) takes content from inception to publication and does so in a way that provides for maximum content accessibility and reuse and easy, timely, accurate maintenance of the content base. http://tc.eserver.org/21768.html http://tc.eserver.org/21768.html Content reuse is fundamental to a successful unified content strategy.This chapter defines content reuse and the benefits ofits use.It explores how other industries have employed reuse for decades to improve their processes and the quality oftheir products. Content can be reused in many ways. The choice ofthe different methods and options for reuse are dependent upon your organization’s needs and technology.This chapter details the pros and cons ofusing each method and the associated options,and it provides the concepts that underlie the remainder ofthe book. http://tc.eserver.org/20388.html http://tc.eserver.org/20388.html Too many organizations take an unprofessional approach to the content they publish on the Web. Many web managers still seem to believe that if they get the technology right the publishing will look after itself. Quality publishing requires skill and discipline. Unfortunately, discipline is something many web teams are lacking. http://tc.eserver.org/14175.html http://tc.eserver.org/14175.html Effective communication is a top priority for most businesses. To help create, manage, and access information that is used to conduct e-business, technologies such as content management (CM) and enterprise information portals (EIP) are dominating IT and CIO discussions. We will review how these rapidly evolving technologies come together to provide benefits for enterprise implementers. Given the historical deployment of these technologies, many associate the application of content management solutions to externally facing sites, serving transactional e-business needs; and the application of portals to internally facing sites for general employee access to a wide range of information sources and applications. However, both technologies can provide support for the complete information lifecycle, from information creation to management to delivery.