One of the biggest challenges we face in higher ed getting people to buy into the value of content strategy and build support for content across our organization. At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., executive director of integrated communications Melanie Moran has rung up a string of successes doing just that. Whether it’s their news site, the 365@VU photo project, the alumni magazine or a recent reorganization, Moran and her team at … [Read more...]
A Web Analytics Framework for Content Analysis
November 8, 2012 by
Last month we kicked off a series of posts on web analytics by discussing the value of web analytics for content measurement. So, now that you're on board with adding web analytics to your content measurement toolkit (right?), let's talk about making use of it. Author Lou Rosenfeld describes two approaches to using web analytics: top-down and bottom-up. Top-down analytics is when you start with a narrow set of goals to identify a larger set … [Read more...]
What To Cut: A Content Cropping Checklist
October 9, 2012 by
Sooner or later website owners realize they have much too much content on their website — too much redundant, outdated, irrelevant, off-brand content. More so than ever, organizations appreciate that less is often more on the web. Less content can improve communication, findability, usability and usefulness. Not to mention, less content is easier to maintain and measure. But trying to figure out what content to cut is daunting. You might be … [Read more...]
Making Content Strategy Work with Student Staff (Part Two)
September 25, 2012 by
Yesterday, we began discussing how our content strategy efforts can be made more effective by smartly applying student workers to the cause. As Texas A&M’s Amy Grace Wells explained, the challenge is in getting the students to see past individual assignments and embrace the larger strategy at work. With the right training, context and support in place, Wells has made it happen. Today, we bring you the student perspective. Laura Lorenz is a … [Read more...]
Making Content Strategy Work with Student Staff (Part One)
September 24, 2012 by
Content strategy in higher ed can be a gnarly, complex pursuit, and more often than not, we may feel we don’t have the staff to adequately take on the challenge. This is where student workers can prove invaluable. But how can we apply the time and talent of students—some of whom may only be with us for a semester, or only for a few hours a week—toward content strategy work, which is inherently long-range, in-depth and holistic? We talked to … [Read more...]