Can your website visitors easily find important information? Are you overwhelmed by the need to constantly create new content while maintaining all of your existing pages? Attend this session and learn how implementing a comprehensive content audit can help you increase conversion rates, improve traffic from search, decrease bounce rates and prioritize the most impactful online content. Learn how to effectively use your current content assets as well as have a better understanding of how to develop new content that’s relevant to your audiences.
In this webinar, you learn how to:
Implement a quantitative content inventory
Employ popular methods for evaluating your content quality
Use your current content assets more effectively
Get laser–like focus in developing new content that's useful and relevant to your audiences
Create a basic content governance structure to help manage online content assets for the long–term
2. David Sturtz
Directory of Product Strategy | Geonetric
David is the product lead for Blaze.
He is passionate about connecting
people with information through
systems that support user
experience design, information
architecture, and content strategy.
He holds a MS in library and
information science, and a BA in
graphic design.
David tweets at @sturtz
Today’s Presenter
4. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
About Geonetric
Geonetric develops the VitalSite healthcare CMS,
and provides online marketing services to
hospitals, physician practices and health systems.
5. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
Video Of This Webinar
Watch the Video
Can your website visitors easily find important
information? Are you overwhelmed by the need to
constantly create new content while maintaining all
of your existing pages? This session will explain
how implementing a comprehensive content audit
can help you increase conversion rates, improve
traffic from search, decrease bounce rates and
prioritize the most impactful online content. You’ll
walk away knowing how to effectively use your
current content assets as well as have a better
understanding of how to develop new content
that’s relevant to your audiences.
Watch the webinar!
7. DAVID STURTZ | DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT STRATEGY
Improve Under–Performing Web
Content with a Content Audit
8. Have You Ever…
• Discovered new content (or entire websites) halfway
through a project?
• Had difficulty defining what content was in/out of scope
for a project, where to draw the line?
• Were afraid to look at some of the content on your site
out of fear of what you might find?
• Debated whether you have too little or too much
content?
• Spent more time developing content than anticipated?
18. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
1. Plan
“Begin [your content audit]
with the end in mind.”
– Stephen Covey
19. What Data Will We Need?
Outcome
URL
Topic
Format
ContentOwner
Audience
CalltoAction
PageViews
Etc.…
Balance content X X X X X
Support new organizational goal X X X X X
Clean up outdated content X X X
Create new navigation/IA X X X
22. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
Comprehensive Audit
When?
• Major overhaul, redesign, migration, rebrand, merger or
acquisition
Why?
• Establish accurate scope and estimate of effort
• Reduce, reuse, recycle
What?
• All the things
24. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
Rolling Audit
When?
• All the time! (Weekly, monthly, quarterly)
Why?
• Improve governance, consistency, accuracy, voice and tone
• Prioritize review and revision
What?
• All the things (A little at a time)
33. Content Quality
Content Quality
So what?
No call to action
Useful & Relevant
Clear purpose
Actionable, Timely
Errors
Poor readability
Clear & Accurate
Factually correct
Plain language
‘Coming soon…’
Missing information
Complete
All info provided
Related info linked
Poor usability
Harmful SEO factors
Usable & Findable
Follows SEO guidelines
Clear navigation and
cross-linking
‘Fake’ or ‘sales-y’
Influential &
Engaging
Worth sharing
Best format
Wrong voice
Inappropriate tone
Voice & Tone
On-brand
Authentic, empathetic
35. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
4. Decide
“One's [content strategy]
is not best expressed in words;
it is expressed in the choices one makes”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
36. Item-level Decisions
Placement
Keep in place
Move / migrate
Merge with other content
Split into separate pages
Delete
Editing
No edits
Proofread
Revise
Rewrite from scratch
Create new content
37. Site-wide Decisions
Balance
Subjects
Audience / Stage
Content Type
Enhancements
Content Quality
Messaging
New Content
Format
Structure
Navigation
Linking Strategies
Priorities
Problem Areas
Underperforming Content
Governance
Workflows
Review / Maintenance
Scope
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A traditional content audit
won’t tell you about
content that doesn’t exist.
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Reverse Audit
When?
• Change (or reinvigoration) of strategic direction
Why?
• Identify content gaps and opportunities for improvement
• Prioritize effort based on strategic goals
What?
• All the relevant things
43. Mapping the Business Strategy
Action
Audience
Goal
Increase Cardiovascular
Patient Volumes
Patients
Use Benefit Health
Medical Group
physician for managing
high blood pressure
Have minimally-
invasive cardiovascular
surgery performed at
Benefit Health hospital
Referring
Physicians
Refer patients to
Benefit Health affiliated
specialists
44. Gather Relevant User Tasks
• Open-ended user interviews
• User proxy interviews
• Stakeholder interviews
• Brainstorming
45. Audience: Patients
Action: Use Benefit Health Medical Group
physician for managing high blood pressure
Understand why
managing blood
pressure is important
Unmanaged high blood pressure
can have serious long-term
health effects.
Find out if my current physician is managing
my condition appropriately
Benefit Health physicians offer
the most effective and current
management for high blood
pressure
Benefit Health Medical Group is
home to the region's most
experienced experts at managing
high blood pressure. Here’s what
they do…
TASK
46. Reverse Audit: Match
Create a content inventory, add tags for sorting and
filtering, then:
• Match existing content to user tasks
• Evaluate interlinking of content
• Evaluate format of content
• Identify new content needs (and prioritize)
47. Audience: Patients
Action: Use Benefit Health Medical Group
physician for managing high blood pressure
Understand why
managing blood
pressure is important
Health effects of
unmanaged high blood
pressure …
Find out if my current physician is managing
my condition appropriately
Benefit Health physicians
offer the most effective
and current management
for high blood pressure
including …
How Benefit Health
Medical Group care for
patients with high blood
pressure …
TASKCONTENT
48. Reverse Audit: Decide
• Determine any changes to navigation / linking
• Plan for any suggested revisions or updates
• Add new content ideas to your editorial calendar
49. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
Collaborative Audit
When?
• Best for smaller, focused audits
Why?
• Knowledge sharing
• Strategic alignment
• Voice and tone
What?
• Sit down with a small team and discuss what is/isn’t working with a
slice of content
50. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
Competitive/Comparative Audit
When?
• Occasionally, in combination with new strategic direction
Why?
• Improve differentiation
• Identify gaps and opportunities
What?
• Apply audit criteria to competitive/comparative sites
• Don’t assume that everything a competitor does is a good idea
51. Tweet it: #GEONETRIC
A content audit
is the essential foundation
for a rock-solid content strategy.
Keep the focus on one thing at a time.
Different lenses
What will you *do* based on the audit?
What data points will you need to support those decisions?
What business goals will help you make the decisions?
Scope
Content governance is the process of managing your content strategy.
What areas can most benefit from attention? (Or, what are you most afraid of finding?)
Have you established…
Editorial style guide?
Voice and tone?
Quality metrics?
An appropriate (and achievable) review timeframe?
Define the first ‘slice’ (and keep it small!)
Create an Inventory
Add rolling audit tracking:
Last Reviewed
Next Review
Add tags for sorting and filtering:
Subject
Format
Content Owner
Audience
Plan for any suggested revisions or updates
Add new content ideas to your editorial calendar
Update the next review date in your rolling audit
Identify the next slice of content
Inventory Sources
Web crawling/spidering software
Database exports
Google Analytics
SEO Tools
Blaze
What is relevant?
Understand the Context
- Defining business goals
- Identifying the relevant audiences
- Establishing what we are asking them to do