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If Content is King, Why Is
Governance Needed?
Hilary Marsh, Content Company Dave Pantzer, People’s Law Library of Maryland
Stephanie Villinski, Illinois Legal Aid Online
What is content strategy?
Goal of content strategy
Get the right content to the right person for the right action
Effective content • Is focused on the reader • Has a goal • Helps the reader do a task • Is relevant, timely, useful
Reader-Focused Content Before Social security taxes must be paid monthly • Who must pay taxes? • Passive voice
After Employers must pay social security taxes monthly • Clearly states who must pay • Active voice
Effective content
• Uses subheads and bullets • Is not in PDF format • Uses fewer words but includes the terms readers
are looking for • Is written at an appropriate level for the site’s
audience
Content goals • NO - We want to increase the views of our page
• YES - We want people to do something: Sign up for the event, download the white paper, subscribe to the publication
Examples from the legal services world?
Help the reader do something • Who am I talking to? (Have a conversation) • What do they want to achieve? • What brings those people to my site? What are
their top tasks? Top questions?
“Users don’t care about your org chart.”
--Lou Rosenfeld Author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
How people read online
http://www.useit.com/eyetracking/
How people read online
People scan, they don’t read • They are pressed for time • They’ve become “Twitter-ized” • Screens are reflective and cause eye fatigue
Make text scannable • “Chunk” content into sections • Break up long passages with subheads • Present information in short bullet points • Use reader-focused keywords
Writing shorter is not easier
“I have made this [letter] longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”
-- Blaise Pascal, 1657
Governance
--Content Strategy, Inc.
Content roles • Subject-matter expert • Content creator (writer, videographer, etc.) • Translator • Reviewer • Website poster • User tester
How many of these roles do
you play?
Workflow
http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/anniversary/how.things.work/index2.html
Dra$ Review Finaledits Publish
7 Governance Guideposts Making sure your organization creates and sustains effective content
33
1. Know who your organization is
About the organization
• Values • Mission • Business goals • Products & programs • Future plans
h6ps://www.flickr.com/photos/xoques/3758640007
Strategy Statement
To reduce customer service center costs, we will provide user-facing, task-based support content that makes our professional customers feel confident when configuring products for their clients.
We will develop and maintain content that helps people practice and enjoy the arts.
NAMI.org will advance the NAMI movement by recruiting and motivating supporters and ambassadors to:
• educate themselves and others about mental illness and recovery
• find and access support • contribute by donating, walking, engaging, joining • take action by advocating, participating, volunteering, and sharing their stories
Illinois Legal Aid Online offers easy to understand, reliable content that educates and connects people with limited resources to local solutions by making them feel informed, confident and supported, and empowering them to solve their legal matters.
Illinois Legal Aid Online offers easy to understand, reliable content that educates and connects people with limited resources to local solutions by making them feel informed, confident and supported, and empowering them to solve their legal matters.
What kind of content
Illinois Legal Aid Online offers easy to understand, reliable content that educates and connects people with limited resources to local solutions by making them feel informed, confident and supported, and empowering them to solve their legal matters.
Audience
Illinois Legal Aid Online offers easy to understand, reliable content that educates and connects people with limited resources to local solutions by making them feel informed, confident and supported, and empowering them to solve their legal matters.
Business goals
Illinois Legal Aid Online offers easy to understand, reliable content that educates and connects people with limited resources to local solutions by making them feel informed, confident and supported, and empowering them to solve their legal matters.
User needs
Content strategy statement
<Organizat ion> of fers _______ , _______ content that he lps them _____________ and_____________ by making ________ fee l _______ , _______ , and _______ , and conv inc ing them to _____________ and _____________ .
adjec&ve adjec&ve
accomplish goal
accomplish goal audience
adjec&ve adjec&ve adjec&ve
take desired ac&on
take desired ac&on
Your turn: Create a strategy statement
Content strategy statement
<Organizat ion> of fers _______ , _______ content that he lps them _____________ and_____________ by making ________ fee l _______ , _______ , and _______ , and conv inc ing them to _____________ and _____________ .
adjec&ve adjec&ve
accomplish goal
accomplish goal audience
adjec&ve adjec&ve adjec&ve
take desired ac&on
take desired ac&on
49 [bt]Ç
2. Know what your audience needs/wants
h6p://www.tagheuer.com/int-en/company/ceo-speech
• Shared focus on the audience
• Shared understanding of the audience
h6p://www.slideshare.net/est3ban/empathybased-personas-gaining-a-deeper-understanding-of-your-audience-presen
h6p://www.slideshare.net/est3ban/empathybased-personas-gaining-a-deeper-understanding-of-your-audience-presen
3. Have sound policies in place
56
Policies
• Voice and tone • Editorial style • Content lifecycle • Review process • Format • Information sharing
4. Know when and why to say no
h6ps://www.flickr.com/photos/planetlight/4811213969/
5. Experiment to learn what works
6. Use data to get buy-in and enforce decisions
7. Do what you can, given organizational will and
ability
Where to go from here? How to start when you’re back in the office
Resources • Letting Go of the Words, Ginny Redish • Nicely Said, Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee • Don’t Make Me Think, Steve Krug • Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, Avinash Kaushik • Hemingway App: www.hemingwayapp.com
• ILAO style guide: http://bit.ly/ILAOstyleguide • PLL writing guide: https://www.peoples-law.org/writing-guide
• Content Company blog: http://contentcompany.biz/blog/ • Content Company newsletter: http://contentcompany.biz/newsletter/
Thank you!
Hilary Marsh [email protected] Dave Pantzer [email protected] Stephanie Villinski [email protected]
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