No one thinks outdated, irrelevant, reputation damaging content is a good thing. So why is the Internet littered with it? The truth is: sustaining good web content is hard, but it is achievable and in this guide will teach you how.
This guide is full of practical advice based on many years of experience.
You’ll learn:
We’ll introduce you to the key ideas and techniques for sustaining a great content experience:
This guide is for anyone responsible for the ongoing quality of an organisation's content – consider it a springboard into the much bigger world of content governance.
Discover the 5 truths about sustainable content and why people fall out of love with content once it has been published.
What hats do you need to govern content? We outline the roles involved and look at content ownership models, content style guides and how you can take control of your content.
This chapter outlines why you should bother to evaluate content and shares how you can design and implement a content evaluation plan.
What can you sell in? What are the benefits to clients? This chapter answers both these questions, arming you with the power to sell governance to your clients.
Governance is a system, and like any system, it’s easy to design something very large and complex. Gall’s Law tells us that this doesn’t work; we instead have to design simple systems that can evolve over time. If your content machine is already rolling, identify the biggest pain points and start with some very lightweight editorial practices to alleviate that pain.
The value of content governance is that it creates a predictable, repeatable process that ensures that all content is created and managed to a defined and communicated set of standards.
If you’re making a case for budget next year for a new website, consider this. Content is a commitment. You wouldn’t buy a car unless you had plans to maintain it. Same thing goes for content.
Liam is Founder of Lagom Strategy, a UK consultancy specialising in digital user research and sustainable content strategy.
With over 15 years of content production and strategy experience in the UK and Australia, Liam has built up a wealth of practical knowledge on how to put content back at the heart of web projects.
He has led content strategy work for many organisations including the Royal Air Force, Health Education England, University of New South Wales, University of Technology Sydney, UK Department of Health and Social Care, UK Parliament, and the UK Foreign Office.
Liam also has a Master's degree in Web Journalism.