Download - Content Audit | Contensis User Group 2015
content auditingZach Beauvais
definitions
• Content is a bit… meh. But it’s all we’ve got, for now.
• Content carries meaning.• You have an intent, a goal, a thing to get
done – content is the meaning-stuff that makes that happen.
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/y6E8es
τέλος
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/ykXEBA
Thus, to give an explanation of something is to determine what about it is good. Its goodness is its actual cause - its purpose, telos or "reason for which" (Timaeus 27d8-29a). [Wikipedia:
Teleology]
purpose
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/y6F9S3
• Every piece of content exists for a purpose.• Sometimes, those purposes aren’t very
good.• To best understand our content, we work
backward.• Start at the end – the purpose – and ask
questions
kinds of purpose
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/xrfJpY
• Messages• Audiences• Tasks• Tone
messages• Messages – discrete, meaningful concepts
which your website conveys.• We want you to know what we do. • We have something for you.• We exist in the real world – here is where
you can find us.
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/xrfJpY
audiences• Audiences – the people you're looking to
engage with.• We are part of your community.• We support people like you in specific
ways.• We want to engage you in conversation.
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/xrfJpY
tasks• Tasks – things your audiences want to get
done.• I want to find an answer to my specific
question.• I want to buy something – or complete a
task like registering to vote.• I want to tell you something.
photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/xrfJpY
tone• Tone – the impressions beyond meaning that
your message imparts.• We want you to feel like we know what
we're doing.• We want you to feel like we are not
remote, snobbish, or boring.• We want you to feel like we care about
your own purposes.photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/xrfJpY
research questions• How much content have we got?• Where does the content live? (IA)• Who is the content for?• Who put it there?• Is this content up-to-date?• Is this content well-written (clear,
meaningful, useful)?photo by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/dVgSLx
audit mechanics• Identify the scope
• Do you need a full audit?• Are you after a section?
• Get you some export• Reports• Search (with great filters)
• Add columns to the spreadsheetphoto by Zach Beauvais, CC BY-SA: flic.kr/p/8Z7UKu