Thursday, May 19, 2011

Even the Content Has the Strategy

I read Janus Boye's blog regularly (BTW he is a very good writer)  and I have recently come across an interesting article "10 European content strategists to watch" which made me interested in "Content Strategy" and I have decided to read a recommended book there "Content Strategy for the Web".

After reading this book, I don't feel like an expert on "Content Strategy" but I will try to introduce this concept for you in short sentences.

Thus, the best way to start a clever explanation of the subject is to use Wikipedia-based sentences.
So, Wiki says: .... Content Strategy is "the practice of planning the content creation, delivery, and governance" and "a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content development process for a website development project."

It would be clever enough to stop here, after a few words "... content creation, delivery and governance" ;) but if you are still interested in this topic and don't have time to study the whole book, you could only read a short article called "The Discipline of Content Strategy" written by the same author.



Still hungry for getting to know the Content Strategy?
OK, you could go and read the whole book, it is really worth reading. The language is simple and yet the author has this cosy humour. The only minor disadvantage which I have found there is missing chapter numbers (I like mapping logical structure and it is easier to do it with logical numbers).

During the journey into the knowledge world of content strategy, please note the main steps for the Content Strategy process:

  • Audit (What content do we have?; Is it useful?), 
  • Analysis (Objectives, assumptions, risks, success factors)
  • Strategy (
    • What content do we need to create? Why? 
    • How will the content be structured?
    • How will users find the content?
    • How will we get from here to launch?
    • What's next once the content is "out there"?).

Disclaimer: I did not get paid to review this book, and I do not stand to gain anything if you buy the book. I have no relationship with the publisher or the author.