Slidedeck from 4-hour workshop presented at Designing for Digital in Austin, TX on 4/3/17.

1. building your content
strategy toolkit
tiny
Rebecca Blakiston
@blakistonr
April 3, 2017
all images in this slidedeck are from pixabay.com

2. follow along:
tinyurl.com/d4dcontent
tiny

3. content
it’s why people visit your website

4. content
it’s messy...
real messy

5. content strategy makes content
useful, usable, and findable

6. ● who creates content?
● what is the message?
● who is the audience?
● why do they care?
● how often is it updated?
● when does it go away?
● where does it live?
● how do people find it?
● how do we know it’s
useful?
● what does it all mean??
by answering
questions like

7. ● audits
● governance models
● workflows
● style guides
● page tables
● editorial oversight
● standards
● training materials
● documentation
● metadata oversight
● SEO guidelines
● editorial calendars
through stuff like

8. Hello!
I’m a nut for content strategy.
2008 hired as an instruction and reference librarian
2010 became our first website product manager
2011 completed a massive content audit, created editorial standards
2012 deleted 200 pages off our main website
2013 implemented new roles, responsibilities, and workflows for content
hired a full-time, temporary content strategist
2014 deleted another 100 pages off our main site,
created a permanent content strategist position
2015 oversaw new standards for LibGuides, database descriptions, and more
2016 appointed head of Web Design & User Experience (6 FTE team)

9. I like to talk and write about it.
2012 Presented poster, “Is Your Content Useful, Usable, and Findable? Developing a
Content Strategy for an Academic Library Website” at ALA Annual
Presented “Too Many Cooks in the Web Kitchen? A Successful Case of Herding
Cats to Improve the User Experience” at edUi
2013 Wrote “Developing a Content Strategy for an Academic Library Website” in the
Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship.
2014 Presented “Content Strategy in Action: Taming a 5,000 page Frankensite” at
edUi
2015 Presented “Content Strategy for Library Websites” at Designing for Digital and
Florida Library Webinars
Presented “Content Strategy” at Library Journal’s Digital UX online conference
Co-Wrote “How We Hired a Content Strategist (And Why You Should Too)” in
the Journal of Web Librarianship
2016 Presented, “There’s No Time for That! Content Strategy for Naysayers” at edUi
2017 Wrote, Writing Effectively in Print and On the Web: A Practical Guide for
Librarians

10. ● what is your role and
where?
● why did you pick this
workshop?
● what project do you have
in mind for today’s
activities?
Your turn. Tell someone
next to you:

11. get familiar with tools
learn from one another
practice, practice, practice
goals of this workshop

12. part 1: auditing
part 2: analyzing
part 3: strategizing
part 4: sustaining
today we’ll build a toolkit

13. ● interrupt me
● recognize bad content, but be
respectful to people involved
● Tweet (#d4d17 @blakistonr)
● do what’s most useful for you
● learn
● have fun
“rules”

14. part 1: audit
By getting a handle on what we currently
have, we can better plan how to manage
content now and into the future.

15. a spreadsheet is
your new best friend

16. discover content using
● navigation
● site search
● your CMS
● web analytics
● web crawlers
● content inventory tools

17. best done by humans who know
their stuff and are invested in the
user experience

18. capture quantitative data
● page title
● URL
● where it lives in the architecture
● # of page views (or other analytics
data)
● number of broken links
● last updated date

19. tracking the IA
Page ID URL
1.0 example.edu
1.1 example.edu/services
1.1.1 example.edu/services/loan
1.1.1.1 example.edu/services/loan/request
1.1.1.2 example.edu/services/loan/apply
1.1.2 example.edu/services/borrow
1.2 example.edu/collections
1.3 example.edu/contact
2.0 anothersite.edu
2.1.1 anothersite.edu/staff/member

20. ● relevance of content
● quality of writing
● formatting issues
● usability issues
● accessibility issues
● priority
capture
qualitative
data

21. capture other things that
might be helpful
● content editor
● content provider
● target audience
● metadescription
● key message(s)
● type of content (e.g. video,
documents, images)

22. to evaluate use tools like
● analytics data
● broken link checkers
● spell checkers
● grammar checkers
● readability scores
● personas
● your judgment

23. example
checking for broken links

24. example
checking for accessibility

25. go big or go home
Maybe you want to audit your entire
website and learn all the things. That’s cool.
Just know what you’re getting yourself into.

26. example
The big audit

27. example
The big audit

28. example
The big audit

29. this can take serious time

30. pick a
focus
auditing for a
specific project,
to reach certain
goals

31. example
usage and currency of subject guides

32. example
Health Sciences LibGuides

33. example
end-of-year course guide analysis

34. example
analysis of PDFs

35. example
news content analysis

36. example
Facebook engagement analysis

37. A sample of some of the
strange, embarrassing, and
annoying things that we’ve
found...

38. example
raw code on a web page - oops!

39. example
very old conference websites

40. Example of outdated junk?
example
a whole website that never went away!

41. your turn
make a spreadsheet and
start an audit
tinyurl.com/d4dcontent > Audit activity

42. time to share
how did it go?
what did you find out?

43. break time

44. part 2: analysis
By analyzing our environment and defining
our objectives, we can set a strategic
foundation for the future.

45. what is the whole point?
library’s mission/vision
audience & goals

46. who is your audience?
undergrad students
grad or PhD students
teaching faculty
research faculty
library staff
potential donors
visitors

47. What is your organization
trying to achieve with your
website content?

48. align with your strategic plan

49. ● Direct users to scholarly resources, library
hours, services, and more
● Promote the library’s place on campus,
highlighting library services, collections, and
events while also supporting fundraising
● Positively influence students’ opinions of the
library and the quality of education they are
receiving
● Positively influence the opinion of donors and
alumni
example
website goals

50. map content to org goals

51. What do your
users want
and need
from your
content?

52. ● conduct research
● find information about the libraries
● find library materials, including
books, journals, and articles
● access content from their phones
example
user goals

53. map content to user goals

54. write a core strategy
statement for your site
“The University of Arizona Libraries website is
reliable, easy to use, and accurate.
It exemplifies the principles of user-centered
design, and users consistently and readily find what
they need.
It advances our goals of discovery, information
access, and quality customer service.”

55. review current processes
how does content happen?

56. Who creates new web pages, and how?
Who updates web pages?
Who deletes web pages?
identify who does what

57. Who is most invested in your content?
Who might help you champion content strategy?
Who might be your biggest skeptic?
identify who cares

58. What training is provided?
What are the expectations?
Is there a system of accountability?
What workflows exist?
Is there documentation?
identify processes in place

59. How many web pages were created in the past year?
How many pages were archived or deleted?
How often are web pages usually updated?
How is this information tracked?
find out what the content
lifecycle looks like

60. it’s now time...
what you are
going to do?
what direction
are you going
to take?

61. define the scope of what you
want to tackle
website(s)?
standalone applications?
third party tools (e.g. LibGuides, Illiad)?
social media?

62. example
defining scope
in scope out of scope
● main library website
● mobile website
● LibGuides
● library hours
application
● staff directory
application
● social media channels
● Special Collections
website
● University Press
website
● databases
● catalog

63. outline any assumptions
about roles, decision-making, communication
Are you assuming that…
● there will be a content review process?
● you’ll be deleting content?
● permissions related to content will change?

64. recognize any risks
to stakeholders, users, resourcing, and timeline
Strategize on how to
minimize risks.

65. your turn
define current roles and
responsibilities
tinyurl.com/d4dcontent > Analysis activity

66. discuss in small groups
what did you come up with?
what will be your biggest challenges?

67. break time

68. part 3: strategy
By establishing roles, responsibilities, and
workflows, we’ll ensure our content is useful,
usable, and findable.

69. get the right people in the room
decision makers and influencers

70. content champions
recruit content champions

71. Put someone in
charge.
Oversight is key to
successful content
governance.

72. determine who should be doing what

73. example
defining roles
role responsibility
content requestor requests new content, content edits,
or content deletions
content provider provides subject matter expertise
content manager edits, improves, and manages
content
content reviewer reviews content before publication

74. example
using the RACI model

75. create a clearly defined role
for people who will be
managing content

76. good content managers...
● understand the goals
of the content
● write with clarity
and precision
● focus on the user
experience
● learn from critique
● enjoy new challenges

77. ● stay aware of policies, procedures, standards,
and workflows
● ensure all content meets standards and follow
standards for new content
● review all content regularly, no less than once
every six months
● keep content inventory up-to-date
● participate in monthly content manager
meetings
● attend required trainings
● respond to feedback or requests
example
content manager expectations

78. assign content to people

79. make it
formal, if
you can

80. example
goal included in annual performance reviews

81. partner with colleagues
● focus on shared goals
● listen before you talk
● practice patience and empathy

82. ● web writing
● standards and style
● workflows
● analytics
organize
trainings

83. web writing fundamentals

84. things to avoid
● passive voice
● jargon
● long sentences
● too many nouns in a row
● walls of text
● inconsistencies
● redundancies
● complexities
● ALL CAPS, underlines, italics

85. example
boring headings, passive voice, policy-driven

86. example
policy-driven, over-complicated walls text

87. things to shoot for
● approachability
● active voice
● plain language
● inverted pyramid (key messages first)
● skimmable, parallel headings
● tables for related content
● bullets for lists of items
● numbered lists for instructions
● plenty of white space
● one space after punctuation, not two!

88. example
active, parallel headings

89. before
after
example
making policies nicer

90. questions about writing
for the web?
learn more here!

91. create workflows that
make sense

92. example
workflow for creating a page
1. provider talks to
content manager
2. content manager talks
to content strategist
3. content strategist
creates page
5. content strategist
publishes page
4. provider and manager
review the page

93. example
workflow for deleting a page
1. content manager
determines page should
be deleted
2. content manager talks
with stakeholders
3. content manager removes or
updates all internal links
5. publisher deletes page
4. content manager sends
deletion request to publisher

94. example
workflow for updating content
1. content manager
makes updates
2. if significant, content
manager notifies content
strategist
3. content strategist
reviews updates
4. content manager
shares updates at
monthly meeting

95. create a style guide
● voice & tone
● terminology
● standards
● proper use of
titles, headings,
lists, links, and
tables
We got
style.

96. example
word list for consistency

97. example
standards for headings

98. example
voice and tone (Mail Chimp)

99. example
training & style guide for LibGuides

100. ● in-person
meetings
● email lists
● shared learning
● Slack
communicate often

101. other tools for
strategizing and
collaborating

102. build on the inventory
format

103. example
add recommendations for deleting/keeping

104. example
create a content outline

105. example
create a content outline

106. example
plan out content structure and metadata

107. generate ideas through
structured brainstorming

108. example
categorizing content using a card sort

109. example
identify key messages and calls to action

110. discuss in small groups
what will be key elements
to your strategy?

111. your turn
draft voice and tone
guidelines
tinyurl.com/d4dcontent > Strategy activity

112. break time

113. part 4: sustain
By planning ahead, we’ll ensure our content
strategy outlasts the current moment. We’ll
be ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

114. have a seat at the table
marketing, communications,
administration, shared governance

115. remember that
staff are users,
too

116. Elle Berry
I use the library website to find answers to customer’s
reference questions, find contact information for other
library staff, and answer questions via email and chat.
example
staff persona

117. example
user stories reflecting the content manager
experience

118. use tech to help

119. customize your wysiwyg
● no underlining
● no centering
● no customizing font
● no indenting
● no inline styling
● only H2 and H3

120. set different permissions
role permissions
administrators all
web managers create pages, delete pages
content managers edit pages
library staff view unpublished pages

121. use safety nets
● revision history
● version control

122. create stuff you
can reuse

123. example
content planning template

124. give help at the point of need

125. look at the user journey

126. example
persona-driven scenarios to guide content

127. example
sketching user journey for borrowing tech

128. ● social media
● print brochures
● digital signage
think outside the website
● email notices
● newsletters
● native apps

129. consistent terminology across Facebook,
Twitter, and the website

130. recruit student workers,
interns, and volunteers

131. build trust
● respond to
concerns
● follow through
● listen first, then
talk
● be flexible
● aim for group
decision making

132. communicate!
broadly
authentically
strategically
thoughtfully

133. expand and
adapt
your
practices

134. your turn
customize a content
planning template
tinyurl.com/d4dcontent > Sustaining
activity

135. time to share
what did you come up
with?
what is your biggest
challenge sustaining a
content strategy?

136. final thoughts
This stuff is hard. So
let’s talk about how
to stay motivated
and not lose your
mind.

137. this is overwhelming!
get started with
some quick wins

138. tweak some microcopy

139. create a basic style guide
❏ never underline
❏ never use ALL CAPS
❏ use “we” instead of “The Library”
❏ use “you” instead of “patrons”
❏ lowercase “interlibrary loan”
❏ other little things that bug you

140. focus on stuff with
the biggest impact
primary tasks, primary audience

141. prioritize,
compromise,
and practice
patient
persistence
pick your battles

142. celebrate small wins