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10 things I learned from my
first ‘proper’ content strategy
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1.
I'd already been doing bits of content strategy for many years without a name for it
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- Why is the content I receive always so rubbish?
- Why are people who don’t know anything about the web telling me what to put on the website?
- Why am I expected to edit and publish a huge amount of content within an impossible amount of time?
- Why am I asked to put pointless and irrelevant content online?
- Why does the website keep growing but no one takes ownership of getting rid of stuff?
- Etc, etc…
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2.
You can (kind of) learn it from a book
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www.contentstrategy.com
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3.
You can never talk to your users enough
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4.
Bypass key internal stakeholders at your peril!
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5.
A business strategy is not the same as a content strategy
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6.
Content audits are long, hard, messy... and crucial
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7.
Content strategy is a huge field; select the bits you need for your project
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Skills and governance audit
Content audit / content matrix
Content gap analysis
Competitor audit
Core strategy statement
User hierarchy
Messaging hierarchy
Topic map
Editorial style guide
Content models
Taxonomy and metadata
Workflow design
Content calendar
Maintenance plan
Content KPIs
Content prioritisation matrix
Content training
Search strategy
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8.
Doing the strategy is the easy bit, making it happen is tough
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9.
Without a content strategy, your site will most likely drift... and then die
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10.
Not many people know about content strategy, so we need to keep talking about it