Introduction to Content Inventories and AuditsPaula LandContent Insight

Introduction Paula Land Co-founder and CEO of Content Insight Owner and Principal Consultant at Strategic Content

What we’re going to talk aboutThe

WhoWhatWhenWhereWhy*How

*Not quite in that order

What?

Content inventories and audits Early steps in a content project

Form the foundation for the larger initiative

Strategy

Gap Analysi

sAuditInvento

ry

Inventory vs. audit Inventory - Quantity Audit - Quality

Another way to think of itInventory - Data Audit - Analysis

Yet another way to think of it

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"Not doing an inventory is like starting to bake when you don't know what ingredients you have in the house.“ – Rahel Bailie

How do we create a content inventory?

Crtl+C, Ctrl+V

The manual way The automated way

What goes into a content inventory?• URLs — How many pages are there on the site?• File types — What are all of the formats?• File size — How large are the files? • Level — How deep does the site go?• Images — How many of them, what format, where do they live?• Media — How many audio and video files exist, what format, where do they

live?• Documents —How many, what format, where do they live?• Metadata — What title, description, and keyword metadata is on each page?• Links in and out — What links to and from each page?• H1s — What is the H1 text (matters for SEO)• Analytics — What traffic is each page getting?

Why inventory?• Assess as-is landscape of a site or content set• Scope a project for resource estimation• Identify patterns in content structure• Set a baseline to measure to-be site against• Establish a basis for migration tracking

What is a content audit?• Qualitative assessment of content against a set of criteria

GoalsStandardsUser tasksCompetitors

• Set of recommendations

Why audit?• Assess current state of content to inform strategy• Identify whether content consistently follows

brand, template, editorial, style and metadata guidelines

• Assess whether content supports business and user goals

• Establish a basis for gap analysis between content you have and content you need

• Prepare content for revision, removal and migration

• Uncover patterns in content to support structured content initiatives

• Understand content lifecycle and workflows

Business Goals

User Goals

Content

Organizational value of audits Become the content expert

Be the content advocate

Drive change forward

Image by Thibault fr (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

When do we inventory and audit?• Planning a content strategy initiative • Website redesign• CMS implementation• Ongoing

Audits aren’t just for content strategists Content strategists Information architects Project managers Site managers Everyone who interacts with your content

Audit across all content touchpoints

Turning an inventory into an audit Scope the audit

Gather information

Analyze content against criteria

Scoping the audit Why are you auditing?

• Scoping a project• Content strategy initiative and/or site redesign • CMS implementation• Ongoing

What do you need to learn?

Who is your audience?

How much time do you have?

What’s your project timeline?

Assembling the audit ingredients Information to gather before beginning:• Inventory data• Business requirements• Analytics data and other metrics• Editorial and brand guidelines• Personas• Customer journey maps• Customer feedback• Search logs

What we audit forQualityBreadth and depthPerformance and effectivenessCompetition

Auditing for content quality What to assess:• Content is relevant• Content is current• Content is accurate• It is easy-to-read/scan• Tone is audience-appropriate• Content communicates key

messages• Content facilitates key user activities• Content is engaging• Content presentation is consistent• Nomenclature is clear and consistent

What to assess against:• Editorial style guide• Brand guidelines• Voice / tone guidelines• User research• Personas• Customer tasks

Auditing for structure and function What to assess:• What content elements and

interactions exist on the site?

• How well do they perform?• What are the implications

for redesign or migration?

What to assess against:• Customer journey maps• Analytics goals• Business requirements for

CMS

Auditing for breadth and depth What to assess:• Range of subjects

covered• Comprehensiveness

of coverage• Format

What to assess against:

• Competitor sites• Business

requirements• Personas• Customer journey

map

Auditing for content performance What to assess:• Analytics data• Site metrics• Search data

What to assess against:• Business goals• Personas• Key performance indicators

(KPIs)• Search rankings

Auditing against competitors What to assess:• Audience(s)• Type and quantity of content • Formats• Language (tone and voice)• Contributors (numbers, names)• Community features • Frequency of publication • Overall impression• Stand-out or differentiating

features

What to assess for:• Breadth and depth• Consistency• Completeness• Currency and

frequency• Findability

Auditing against competitors What to assess:• Audience(s)• Type and quantity of content • Formats• Language (tone and voice)• Contributors (numbers, names)• Community features • Frequency of publication • Overall impression• Stand-out or differentiating

features

What to assess for:• Breadth and depth• Consistency• Completeness• Currency and

frequency• Findability

Gathering insights Review your goals

Look for patterns

Draw conclusions

Assemble evidence

Presenting audit findings

Context

Content

Users

Presenting audit findings – context What decisions need to be made?

What change are you trying to drive?

Presenting audit findings – content What are the most compelling data points?

What is the call to action?

Minimize surprises

Presenting audit findings – usersThink about your audience:

Who are they? How much background do they have? What will be most persuasive to them? What format is appropriate for the type of information you are

sharing?

Presenting audit findings – format Presentation deck – high level overview, summary of findings, recommendations,

Document – detailed results, section-by-section, examples, illustrations

Graphics – present visuals to quickly illustrate data points

Data – spreadsheet or other data sets

Summary Begin your audit with an inventory

Understand the business context

Immerse yourself in the available information

Set goals and scope your audit

Look for patterns to identify areas of focus

Present your findings in an effective way

Try CAT Automate your content inventories for fast, easy data gathering!

Free trial available Sign up at www.content-insight.com