SXSWi presenter recommends content strategy to improve your website

One of the major themes from SXSWi was the idea of cleaning up the Web. Some would say that widely available and simple-to-use Web publishing tools has made self-publishing too easy. So much so that instead of useful informational websites, we have mountains and mountains of garbage cluttering our browsers.

photo by Warren Parsons

Brain Traffic‘s Kristina Halvorson would like to help you fix that problem. During her presentation at the 2010 SXSWi festival, she argued that including a web content strategist during the planning and execution phases of your online business strategy will greatly increase the quality of your content.

The problem with web content

All to often the last piece of a website or web initiative is the actual content. Copywriters are brought in too late to the process and are forced to work with outdated plans. The result is that they don’t have a strong enough sense of the goals of the project to write meaningful content. This is not the writer’s fault.

Halvorson claims that businesses creating their own websites or those hired to create one get too involved in the creative process and focus on white-boarding rather than consumer needs. This is because we are in denial about the complexities that creating content involves.

We begin to think about content the same way we begin to think about features. We focus too much on the tool (CMS), which Halvorson likens to the Pixar character Wall-E: The little robot is responsible for compressing mountains of rubbish into boxes that can easily be arranged, but it’s still garbage even after he neatly stacks it up. The point is that content is not a feature. Looking at it as something to check off our list at the end of the project is the wrong approach.

What is content strategy?

The content strategist is the person responsible for asking questions throughout the life of the project, including post launch maintenance, to make sure that content is useful and easy to find. Although the content strategist is usually a web writer thrust into the position, there is a difference between copywriting and creating content. Everything online is content: text, graphics, video, etc. Furthermore, text isn’t just copy, it’s also metadata, forms and other components.

Content strategy involves asking questions about messaging. The guiding question should be what is the understanding that you want to impart on users? Businesses focus too much on the what without asking about the how, why, for whom, by whom, where, with what, what’s next, etc. It’s about looking at the whole plan.

Good content strategies

Halvorson pointed to REI’s content strategy. The outdoor products retailer has in-house content creators who follow a calendar. REI employees offer advice based on frequently asked questions.

Room and Board’s website is another example of a well-executed content strategy. The site features an ideas and advice section, case studies and other content. Room and Board also follows an editorial calendar with content produced by two staff writers.

Implementing a content strategy

Halvorson identifies five components for implementing a content strategy:

1. Qualitative content audit. You have to know what you have. Make a content inventory. This will take time. if you have hundreds of pages, do the top pages. id what is working and what isn’t, outdated, etc.
2. Ask. Find out what the thinking is behind content. What is the reason for this page, video, etc.? Does it serve the overall message? If not, get rid of it.
3. Look. Look at your industry ecosystems to see what your users want and what your competitors are doing. Hit the social media channels, fill out their forms, and build your business intelligence. Look internally, too. Who are the content owners? Who reviews and approves? You have to understand skill-sets, as well as internal politics.
4. Align. Where does your content fit into the strategy? Plan for a content lifecycle.
5. Accountability. You are a publisher. it is our job to continually ask: what about the content?

Other takeaways

How do you measure the effectiveness of your content strategy?

More metrics are needed, but you can get some easy wins by working with SEO specialists to improve content.

How do you work with brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines should be taken into consideration when developing a content strategy.

How do you sell content strategy to management?

Do an audit of your homepage or other high-profile page and compare it to one of your competitors who are doing a good job. Management will want to get onboard if they think they’re loosing business by not implementing a content strategy.

Are there tools available to help you with your audit?

There are, but human review is best. Use a rolling audit; hit problem areas in chunks.

How does the strategy change considering mobile?

The message has to absolutely nailed down. You have slower downloading and smaller spaces. The largest consideration is context; how are your elements arranged? Does the architecture make sense?

What about reusing content?

Don’t just reuse content because you have it. Your evergreen content must be high quality. Provide some context around why the content is still relevant.