Any digital initiative — be it a website redesign, a social media campaign, or an enewsletter — should follow a content-first approach. But, as content strategist Corey Vilhauer reminds us, “There is no universal content strategy methodology.” Thanks to the insights shared from our peers across higher education and the broader world of content strategy, we have a lot of models to learn from and adapt for our needs. Yet, as we know, things … [Read more...]
Web Focus Groups: Know Your Users, Know Your Content
March 12, 2013 by
For most organizations, the go-to method of content analysis is web analytics. People love numbers: 2,000 inquiries, 500 sign-ups — oh, baby! Unfortunately, these numbers don't tell the whole story, and if we base our content strategy on quantitative data alone, we're missing a big piece of the content measurement puzzle. Web analytics is great at answering "What?" What pages do people view on our website? What actions do they take? … [Read more...]
The Case for a Web Editor-in-Chief
February 26, 2013 by
Web content workflow and governance include many moving parts. In order to keep the wheels turning, roles and responsibilities must be defined to make sure that all work gets done and that content contributors have clear expectations about their own and others’ responsibilities. As described in Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd Edition by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach: "It’s critical for each person to know what their role is and how … [Read more...]
Guidelines for Effective Editorial Calendars
February 19, 2013 by
Whether we’re planning content for a homepage, a blog, a news site, a Twitter account or some other destination, an editorial calendar is an essential tool for making sense of the who, what, when, where, why and how of our content: Who is responsible for creating this? What content type are we publishing? When will we publish this content? Where will we publish it? Why are we publishing this? How are we promoting this … [Read more...]
Content Resolutions for 2013
December 18, 2012 by
With 2012 nearly wrapped up, we’re looking ahead. Whether you enjoy creating New Year’s resolutions or not, here are some content goals we hope are on your list for 2013. De-Silo Social Media We may feel like we’ve got this social thing down. We’ve built large communities via Facebook and Twitter, creating great content that spurs tons of engagement. Our student bloggers are going like gangbusters. And we’ve successfully experimented with … [Read more...]