content categorization & migration: organizing & preserving your message in a website...
DESCRIPTION
After its year-long website redesign and content migration engagement with Frederick, Maryland’s Hood College and its work with more than 25 other higher education institutions, EMG has an abundance of experience and advice to inform any educational institution looking to embark on strategic marketing, branding, recruitment, enrollment and other related endeavors. EMG’s eduWEB presentation itself will focus on how more than 1,000 pages of content were effectively categorized and migrated from a static website into a new content management system for Hood, resulting in a customizable and user-friendly web presence with clear, consistent and well-maintained messaging.TRANSCRIPT
eduWEB 2011: Web Content Categorization & Migration | Slide 1
Content Categorization & Migration: Organizing & Preserving Your Message in Website Redesign
eduWEB 2011 Information Architecture TrackeduWEB 2011 Information Architecture TrackPresented by: Amanda Vande Brake, EMG & Dave Diehl, Hood College
08.01.2011
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Introducing . . .
• Hood College, est. 1893
• Private, liberal arts university • 50-acre campus in historic Frederick, MD• 1,486 undergraduates & 962 students seeking
master’s degrees, certificates or certifications • 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio• A “Great School at a Great Price” in U.S. News
& World Report’s "America’s Best Colleges in the Universities-Master’s category“
• One of the “Best Northeastern Colleges” & “America’s Best Values” in the Princeton Review
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Introducing . . .
• Earthbound Media Group
• Established in 1999• Privately held company• 50+ higher education clients, past & present• 40 full-time employees• Los Angeles Office – Headquarters • Orange County, CA & Austin, TX Offices
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Who we are
We are a strategic marketing agency rooted in storytelling and digital technology
Introducing EMG
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Core Divisions
Strategy MediaPlans brand stories and experiences that engage consumers in relevant,
meaningful ways
Plans propagation of brand stories and experiences
through owned, paid, earned and shared media
Translates brand stories and experiences to visual
identity and concepts
Discovers new methods of consumer engagement
utilizing technology
Creative Technology
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Core Competencies & Service Lines
Strategy MediaPlans brand stories and experiences that engage consumers in relevant,
meaningful ways
Plans propagation of brand stories and experiences
through owned, paid, earned and shared media
Translates brand stories and experiences to visual
identity and concepts
Discovers new methods of consumer engagement
utilizing technology
Creative Technology
Experience & Storytelling
Performance & Intelligence
RelationshipBuilding
Custom Development
Strategic Consulting& Planning
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Project Overview
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Hood College: Website Redesign & CMS Implementation
Approach & Solutions•Audit of website and all marketing materials•Conducted stakeholder and student focus groups•Designed information architecture and creative for new site•Developed and implemented a content migration plan •Integrated Content Management System solution (Ektron) with custom components•Conducted staff training for new Content Management System
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Hood College: Website Redesign & CMS Implementation
What We Knew Going In . . .
•Centralized content management resourceLittle enterprise-wide content ownership / responsibilityNeed for content owners to be identified and on-boarded
•Not all pages tagged by analytics Need for manual content indexing
•Lack of structured content databaseNeed for manual content migration
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Hood College: Website Redesign & CMS Implementation
What Was Discovered Along the Way . . .
•High volume of ROT pages / content • Redundant• Outdated• Trivial
•Hood migration resource needs • EMG set pace, Hood completed• Manual process requires QA still
•Content optimization = content owner•Content migration = content manager
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Content Migration: To Dos & How Tos
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Step 1: Take Inventory Create a comprehensive page-level inventory of ALL site content • Listing of each individual page details:
– Place within the hierarchy– Current (new URL added in migration plan)– Primary, secondary audiences, etc.
• Level of effort is high if no analytics, minimal if every page is tagged• Completed by content strategist and / or information architect
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Step 2: ID Owners Identify an individual owner for each page of content • Owners responsible for final content, might not write it directly • Should be included in website discovery and planning processes• Should be included in administrative and content training • Opportunity to become your strongest advocates!
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Step 3: ID ROT
Review all inventoried content, identifying all content ROT:• Redundant: About Us info, fast facts, program / class info• Outdated: events, schedules, fast facts, program / class info• Trivial: “insider” info better included on intranet, etc.
• Evaluation owned by content strategist• Level of effort is very high and dependant on total # of pages
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Step 4: Present Page-level Recommendations
Develop page-level recommendations within the site map and content migration plan, resolving any ROT and other content challenges by recommending the following for the owner to address:• Pages to delete• Pages to add• Pages to combine or edit significantly • Pages to edit / update minimally
• Recommendations made by content strategist• Level of effort is moderate and dependant on engagement of owners
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Step 5: Owners Revise Content
After finalizing page-level direction with content strategist, contentowners oversee or directly execute delivery of final site content.• Communicate expectations and timelines clearly and often• Provide training and support for less confident owners• Provide a standardized Word or document template• Level of effort is moderate and dependant on engagement of owners
• NOTE: Content development continues throughout design phase and even after launch toward optimization, so stress the “living” nature of your site content to lower the stakes for your owners and keep the process moving!
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Step 6: Begin Migration
After finalizing page-level site map and content migration plan withowners, page-to-page migration can begin! • Content migration plan is your color-by-number, page-level plan• With a plan, migration can be completed by students / interns w/ oversight • Level of migration and QA effort is high and dependant on # of pages in site • NOTE: Beginning migration is dependant on the CMS being fully tested and
functional within its production environment.
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Step 7: Quality Check Migrated Content
Conduct various levels of quality control and testing to confirm viability of
migrated content throughout process and at completion.• Visual check: Is spacing and formatting correct?, etc.• Link check: Are all the links directing visitors appropriately upon click?, etc.• Check content migration resources’ work throughout process to identify and
address any bugs, issues and needs in an agile way• Level of effort is high and can be accomplished via automated and manual
processes
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Step 8: Go Live & Repeat!
Content goes live, owners evaluate performance and optimize.• Level of effort is moderate
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Project Outcomes & Takeaways
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• EMG’s approach was that of a marketing & a web development consultant
• Before design and development of the site began, EMG gained a true understanding of:• The College• Its marketing strategies• Its culture
• EMG included all constituencies in focus groups and discovery interviews• Faculty, staff & students• Generated buy-in and commitment• Campus community felt heard and involved
Added Value
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• Don’t underestimate the resources and time it takes to migrate content
• Sweat the little stuff
• Involve faculty in the development
• If you are not IT, involve them!
Lessons Learned
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• An attractive, robust and highly functional institutional website
• A great, adaptable marketing tool
• A community that loves its website!
Ultimate Outcomes
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Q & A
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Thank you for your time!
Dave Diehl, MBAExecutive Director,Marketing & Communications [email protected]
Amanda Vande Brake, MAVice President, Client [email protected]