Content StrategySeries

Content Audits and InventoriesA Handbook: SampleCopyright © 2014 Paula Ladenburg Land

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Table of Contents

Introduction to Sample PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiiI. Laying the Groundwork ...................................................... 1

1. Building the Business Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32. Planning an Inventory and Audit Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. Assembling the Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174. Creating a Content Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235. Preparing for a Content Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316. Ready, Set, Audit! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

II. Building and Delivering the Audit ...................................... 437. The Multichannel Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458. Using Personas and Customer Journeys in Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499. Auditing for Content Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5710. Auditing for Content Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6711. Auditing Competitor Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7312. Auditing for Global Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7913. Auditing for Legal or Regulatory Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8514. Presenting Audit Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8915. The Ongoing Audit Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9316. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

III. Inventory and Audit Resources ........................................ 99A. Content Inventory Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101B. Stakeholder Interview Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103C. Content Audit Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107D. Sample Persona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109E. Customer Journey Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111F. Sample Gap Analysis Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113G. Content Audit Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Introduction to Sample PDFThank you for downloading this sample of Paula Land's book, ContentAudits and Inventories: A Handbook. This book shows you how to beginwith an inventory, scope and plan an audit, evaluate content againstbusiness and user goals, and move forward with a set of useful, actionableinsights.

The sample chapter discusses the importance of governance to a success-ful content strategy. Learn how the ongoing inventory and audit supportsthe maintenance of accurate, useful, discoverable content and improvedlifecycle management processes.

This sample contains the Table of Contents, Foreword, Preface,Chapter 15, The Ongoing Audit Process, Glossary and Index.

Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook is available through retailersworldwide in both print and ebook formats.

About the Content Wrangler Content Strategy Book Series

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About XML Press

XML Press (xmlpress.net) was founded in 2008 to publish content thathelps technical communicators be more effective. Our publicationssupport managers, social media practitioners, technical communicators,and content strategists and the engineers who support their efforts.

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Richard HamiltonPublisher, XML Press12 November 2014

ForewordThe dreaded content inventory and audit…

To many of us, they are unnerving – a bit like a visit to the dentist. Weknow regular check-ups are important, but fear the outcome. Maybe wewill have to face painful treatment, return trips and high costs to putthings right. Then, before we know it, the next check-up is due and thestressful cycle starts again.

But just as looking after your teeth and consulting a dentist pay off, sodo the content inventory and audit. They provide a systematic meansto a valuable end and are a vital part of a core content strategy. Doneregularly, they lessen the stress, allowing us to catch problems while theyare easier to fix.

The rapidly-evolving, multi-disciplinary world of digital communicationurgently needs to learn about content auditing to sort itself out. As or-ganizations of all shapes and sizes struggle to work out their publishingguidelines, a massive array of content is being let loose across multiplechannels and devices, for widely different purposes and audiences.Keeping track of it, let alone diplomatically evaluating, governing andplanning it, is a major challenge.

How can we be sure that we are setting the right standards for our contentteams to comply with? It’s easy to say that content should meet our or-ganization’s business strategy and our audiences’ needs – but often thetwo are hard to synchronize. The role of the content strategist is to bridgethe gap and lead the way ahead.

Just as a single, unified content strategy has many integrated layers,working out a content audit is a highly collaborative task. We need inputfrom a range of stakeholders to shortlist what to check for in differentcontexts. An audit that addresses all aspects not only results in a bettercustomer experience but commits everyone to maintaining high qualitycontent.

Often people ask: which comes first, the content strategy or contentaudit? Usually they work hand in hand. Before you start a content invent-ory or audit, you must know where you want to head strategically. Aninitial content audit will verify or uncover issues to address in thestrategy. Once the strategy is in place, you can design follow-up auditsto monitor performance and influence further tactics.

A few years ago, many of us working in the developing discipline ofcontent strategy were anxiously trying to learn from one another howbest to go about content inventories and audits. What their full scopewas. What worked well. What went wrong. The analytical skills weneeded to master. And the lions and tigers we encountered on the way.

Then along came Paula Land – a calm, cool, highly experienced voiceof reason – who methodically drew all the complex strands together,introduced a time-saving toolkit of techniques, and spoke us throughthem clearly.

Whether you are new to the field, highly experienced, or somewhere inbetween, you are lucky to have immediate access to Paula’s wisdomthrough this excellent book. She explains the “why” as well as the “what”and “how” of both a content inventory and an audit – and gives meticu-lous, step-by-step guidance to keep you, your organization or clients ona practical analytical track for continuous improvement throughoutyour content projects.

This is a handbook that removes the dread and leads you confidentlyahead, with obvious returns on all your efforts. Keep it close beside you.I’m sure you will continue to refer to it for many years to come.

Diana Railton, DRCC1

Bath, UK

1 http://www.drcc.co.uk/diana-railton

Forewordviii

PrefaceIf people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to reada screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-dateinformation that they can explore at will.

—Bill Gates, “Content is King”

Bill Gates is neither a content strategist nor a content marketer, but thisstatement from his 1996 blog post evokes definitions of what we nowcall content strategy: the analysis and planning related to delivering theright content to the right audience at the right time. “Deep.” “Up-to-date.” Those terms imply evaluation against some set of standards toassess depth, currency, relevance, and quality. To determine what isgood, we need to know what bad looks like.

Advocating for Quality ContentAs web content professionals, we have the opportunity and obligationto advocate for quality content. The tactics and strategies we use to create,publish, and govern quality content include the content inventory andaudit, which, together, form the subject of this book.

A comprehensive content strategy is built on a foundation of thoroughunderstanding and analysis of existing content, assessed against businessgoals, user goals, standards, and best practices. The first step in develop-ing that analysis is the content inventory, a dive into existing content tounderstand the quantity, type, and structure. The second step, the contentaudit, builds on the inventory. When you audit content, you evaluate itagainst goals and standards, and you analyze it for quality and effective-ness, revealing information that can be used to improve existing contentand plan for the future state.

Together, the content inventory and audit combine technology’s abilityto quickly gather and process data with the human brain’s ability to usethat data to analyze and strategize.

It’s a Big Web Out ThereAccording to a web-server survey1 published by Netcraft, in March of2012 (the last date for which information was available as this book wasgoing to press), live websites numbered nearly 650 million. By the timeyou read this book, of course, that number will have increased. That’s alot of content. Somewhere out there, 650 million or so people are looking

1 http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2012/03/05/march-2012-web-server-survey.html

at their sites wondering how to get a handle on their content – how toknow what they have, how to know whether it’s any good, and how toknow what good even means.

Do you ask yourself those questions? If so, I have a proposal. Start byanalyzing what you have. Start with a content inventory and an audit.

This Book’s AudienceThis book is intended for anyone doing any kind of digital project thatinvolves an existing body of content. If you are a student of contentstrategy or a new-to-somewhat-experienced content strategist, sitemanager, or content owner charged with improving a website, this bookis for you. If you’re an experienced content strategist, you may find tipsthat you can add to your auditing toolbox. If you own a business website,this book may convince you of the value of monitoring your contentand incorporating content strategy and governance into your organiza-tional processes.

This Book’s PurposeThis handbook introduces the concepts of inventory and audit in abusiness context, giving practical tips for putting data and analysis to-gether to form insights that can drive a content project forward.

In my experience as a content strategy consultant, the inventory andaudit are the necessary first steps to planning and implementing a contentimprovement project. Because these tasks can seem overwhelming, andbecause time and resources are always limited, it is important to takethe time to plan, scope, and focus efforts for maximum value and reducewasted effort. The strategies and tactics discussed in this book can helpyou make the most of your time and get the most valuable insights pos-sible from your efforts.

As the web continues to grow, issues of content governance becomeeven more critical. If we are going to develop and maintain high-qualitywebsites, we need to pay attention to the full content lifecycle – not justdevelopment, but ongoing improvement and weeding. That’s where thisbook comes in. The inventory and audit are valuable tools we can useto ensure that our websites are current, accurate, and effective. Addingthe inventory and audit to your toolkit enables you to develop effectivecontent strategies.

Prefacex

A Note About the Content Analysis ToolIn addition to working as a content strategy consultant, I am thecofounder of a software company called Content Insight. Content Insightdeveloped and released a tool called the Content Analysis Tool (CAT),which automates the creation of content inventories. I developed thistool because I saw, over and over, my clients’ need to alleviate the time-consuming drudgery of compiling their site data and their need to speedup their analysis.

While I discuss the Content Analysis Tool in Chapter 4, this book is notintended to serve as an advertisement or user guide for the tool. Theinformation that I suggest gathering as part of a content inventory andaudit can be gathered in other ways, either manually or by using othertools that provide some of the same functions and data sets.

For more on the Content Analysis Tool, see www.content-insight.com.

AcknowledgmentsWithout the community of content professionals who have defined andpromoted the discipline of content strategy, this book would not exist.I owe a debt of gratitude to all who have shared their experience andwisdom and from whom I’ve learned so much.

Big thanks are also due the people who have provided thoughtful inputand feedback on the book and encouraged its progress: Misty Weaver,Beth Bader, Kevin Nichols, Marcia Riefer Johnston, the late EmmaHamer, and of course, publisher Richard Hamilton and series editorScott Abel. Thanks, too, to Diana Railton for graciously agreeing to writethe foreword.

Special thanks to my husband Steve for his loving support and endlesspatience.

xiPreface

CHAPTER 15The Ongoing Audit ProcessIn this ChapterThe content inventory and audit play an important role in the ongoinggovernance of a website’s content governance process. Instituting thepractice of ongoing inventories and audits can help content teams ensurea consistent level of quality. This chapter presents a brief overview ofwhat governance is and how to use inventories and audits to supportgovernance initiatives.

The Role of Content Inventory and Audit inGovernanceWebsite governance covers a broad range of policies, standards, andstructures for creating and maintaining data, content, and applications.In this book, I don’t cover all the complexities of site governance (forresources on governance, see Additional Reading), but I would like tobriefly address content governance and some ways that an inventoryand audit can play a part.

Content governance is often expressed as lifecycle management – therules and processes that underpin everything from content planning tocreation to publication to ongoing optimization. The roles and tasksthat accompany those steps include identifying who is responsible forcreating and maintaining content, developing standards for contentquality, and incorporating metrics and feedback into a process of con-tinual improvement.

When governance policies are not in place or are not followed, websitecontent can become disorganized, stale, and ineffective at meetingbusiness and user needs. These problems can trigger a content strategyinitiative when the business realizes that the site is failing. A time-con-suming, expensive project gets kicked off, an inventory and audit arecompleted, and a strategy is developed. To avoid costly one-time im-provement efforts like this, you need to create a “virtuous circle” – afeedback loop that enables your company to learn and improve overtime. You need to update your style guides, your glossary, and yourgovernance policies, and then feed all that back to your content creatorsso that new content is created to updated standards and you’re constantlyimproving rather than doing major overhauls.

The Rolling Inventory and AuditHow do you create that virtuous circle? Institute a rolling (ongoing,periodic) inventory and audit. A rolling inventory and audit allows youto assess content mix, quality, and effectiveness against ever-changingaudience needs and business goals.

The inventory, done at regular intervals or after major content publishinginitiatives, enables you to monitor the quantity and types of content onyour site. As discussed in Chapter 4, the data you gather in an inventory,particularly if you are using an automated tool, can help you quicklyidentify trouble spots, such as missing metadata, unwieldy site structure,and problematic metrics. The inventory also gives you the structure totrack information, such as the content owner and the age of the content,that helps when you audit.

Content planning, often the first step in a content lifecycle, can benefitfrom the inventory too, as you track what content exists, what’s effective,and what’s not, helping you plan to fill gaps or strengthen weak areas.

At the other end of the cycle, the data supports ongoing optimizationof content as you analyze your metrics to see what should be pruned orrevised.

The content audit can also be done on an ongoing basis. You probablydon’t have the resources – nor is there a need – to audit every piece ofcontent frequently. Instead, identify the content areas that are most likelyto stray from your quality standards, either by becoming outdated or byno longer adhering to your brand guidelines.

For example, seasonal content must be reviewed at the end of each sea-son. But there is no need to regularly revisit published press releasesother than to consider archiving them after a certain number of monthsor years. Content that changes frequently should also be reviewed fre-quently – for example, content about products and services. Contentthat tends to be overlooked because it is considered static or not directlyrelated to sales or other conversion metrics, such as company informationand staff pages, should also be reviewed regularly.

Keeping track of your content’s age and setting a reminder to reviewany content older than, for example, a year is one way to trigger an auditexercise. You can also plan audits around your editorial calendar.

A rolling audit is also a great way to draw upon the larger content team.Just as you assembled a team to do the initial audit, dividing up respons-

The Ongoing Audit Process94

ibilities, you can assign team members ongoing audit duties, breakingup the audit by content area, for example. This not only distributes theworkload but also helps ensure ongoing involvement with contentquality and buy-in to the process across the organization.

SummaryWebsites are living entities, constantly changing and adapting to newbusiness strategies and new audiences. Organizational energy is oftenfocused more on the creation of new content than on the governanceand ongoing maintenance of existing content. The result can be sitesthat are overgrown and no longer effective at meeting goals. Rather thanlet your site get to the point where a major content repair project is re-quired, adopt the rolling inventory and audit to keep the site in a stateof constant review and improvement.

95The Ongoing Audit Process

Glossaryanalytics

Website traffic and usage statistics, typically capturing data such ashow many users have viewed a page, how long users stay on pages,the pages through which users enter or exit a site, and the pathsthrough which users traverse the site.

competitive auditA content audit conducted for the purpose of comparing similarsites, done by selecting a set of common content types or function-ality and ranking sites against one another.

content auditThe process and result of conducting a quantitative study of a con-tent inventory.

content inventoryThe process and result of creating an organized listing of contentassets (text, files, audio, video, images) for a body of content. Aninventory includes as much information about each piece of contentas possible.

content lifecycleThe process that defines the series of changes in the life of any pieceof content, including reproduction, from creation onward.

content management systemA software application that supports information capture, editorial,governance, and publishing processes with tools such as workflow,access control, versioning, search, and collaboration.

content matrixAn expansion of the content inventory to track the progress of eachpiece of content through the stages of a project or content lifecycle.

content migrationThe one-time movement of content from one repository to another.

content strategyThe analysis and planning to develop a repeatable system that gov-erns the management of content throughout the entire content life-cycle.

conversionA measure of a desired user action, such as making a purchase orregistering for an account

customer journey mapA representation of a user’s step-by-step content interactions duringtask completion, both online and offline. The map documents thecontent and experiences at each point and describes the user’s stateof mind and information needs at each step.

DAMDigital asset management. The process and technology used to storeand manage digital assets such as images.

gap analysisThe process of comparing current state, usually as assessed in acontent inventory and audit project, with a future state, and analyz-ing the differences and the activities and resources needed to createthe future state.

globalizationThe analysis of, and planning for, the development, delivery, andconsumption of global content; in essence, it is the analysis whichforms a global content strategy.

governanceThe systems, policies, and processes used to manage and control acontent set to ensure consistency, efficiency, and compliance withstandards.

heuristicsMeasures by which content can be evaluated, generally based onexperiential factors.

interaction modelA representation of how an application or content set is used, typic-ally expressed as a flow chart or other type of diagram.

key performance indicatorA metric selected by an organization to evaluate success and trackprogress toward goals. Examples include sales quotas, customersatisfaction ratings, social media engagement levels.

localizationAdaptation of content to make it more meaningful, appropriate,and effective for a particular culture, locale, or market.

Glossary122

multichannelA multichannel content strategy addresses the various publicationor distribution points at which content will be accessed by usersand ensures that the experience is relevant in each context.

multideviceContent that is designed to appear appropriately formatted for dif-ferent devices. May also mean that content is curated to be relevantto the context in which the device is used.

personaA fictional representation of a user type, based on user research andcustomer data, that is used as a proxy against which content andfeatures can be tested. Personas usually include a photograph,demographic information, and a description of the person’s contentneeds and behaviors.

qualitative auditA content audit that focuses on editorial quality of content, includingaspects such as consistency, currency, relevance, tone, and voice.

RACIA method of assigning roles and responsibilities to the people in-volved in a project. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable,Consulted, Informed.

RAITES methodAn audit rubric designed by Rahel Bailie for evaluating if contentis Relevant, Accurate, Informative, Timely, Engaging, and Standards-Based1

redirectA technical function that switches the resulting web address fromthe one that was clicked or input by the user to another web location.Generally used to address URL changes and avoid broken links.

return on investmentA calculation of whether the end result of an action or project suffi-ciently pays off the investment in time and resources to achieve theresult.

ROTA set of qualities (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial) against whichcontent can be assessed. Coined by Lou Rosenfeld.

1 http://intentionaldesign.ca/2011/09/28/content-that-raites/

123Glossary

site mapA visual representation of the structure of a site.

taxonomyA hierarchical classification scheme made up of categories andsubcategories of information plus a controlled vocabulary of terms,usually used to describe a specific area of knowledge.

user flowsThe paths through which a user might traverse the content andfunctionality of a website or content set. Often represented in flowcharts.

Glossary124

About the AuthorPaula Land is a content strategy consultant and technology entrepreneur.As founder and principal consultant at Strategic Content, she developscontent strategies and implementation plans for private clients rangingfrom nonprofits to large e-commerce sites. As cofounder of ContentInsight,1 she is the impetus behind the development of CAT, the ContentAnalysis Tool, which creates automated content inventories.

Before founding her own businesses, Paula was a user experience andcontent strategy lead for Razorfish, a leading digital agency, where sheled the content strategy on the development of enterprise-level websites,redesigns, and CMS implementations.

Paula has worked for over twenty-five years in content-related roles,spanning all aspects of the content lifecycle, with a focus on deliveringlarge-scale, complex websites.

Paula is a frequent speaker at conferences and presents workshops andwebinars on the topic of content inventories, audits, and analyses. Shecontributed the essay on content inventory to the book The Languageof Content Strategy.

1 http://www.content-insight.com/

Index

Aaccuracy

as quality indicator, 58effects on audit intervals, xviiin jargon, 66

action callsdefining with personas, 52for the audience during audit findingpresentations, 90

Alexa.com, 73analysts (SEO), roles of in content audits,19analytics data

including in content inventories, 19using in content inventories, 25

analytics, measuring content effectivenesswith, 68analyze, in DMAIC framework, 3, 8–9appropriateness

audience-appropriate content, asquality indicator, 59in content presentation, 61–62in links, auditing for, 87

architects (information), roles of in con-tent audits, 18assessments

in audit documents, 91–92quantitative, xiii–xiv

audience, content finding presentations,90audience-appropriate content, as qualityindicator, 59audio transcripts, localizing, 83audio, gathering data about, 26audit teams, defining roles and responsib-ilities of, 17–21auditing content

across channels, 45–48assembling teams for, 17–21building business cases for, 3–11

checklist for, 107–108competitors’ websites, 73–77customer journey maps, 49–55, 111described, xivfor effectiveness, 67–71for global issues, 79–84for legal and regulatory issues, 85–87for quality, 57–66frequency of, xvi–xviigetting started, 41learning by doing, 98planning for, 13–15presenting findings of, 89–92qualitative audits, 41, 57questions to ask stakeholders, 103–105role of governance in, 93–95rolling audits, 94–95setting tactics and knowing goals for,97–98setting the scope of, 32–36template for conducting, 115–116turning inventories into, 31understanding business context of,35–38using personas in, 49–55, 109what to audit, xvii, 31–32when to conduct, xv–xvi

automated inventories, xvi

BBailie, Rahel

on developing content strategies thathelp with team or project leadership,17on not doing inventories, 23

Beckley, Sarah, defines content matrix, 29Beyond Borders, 82brand guidelines

assessing content against, 62gaining understanding of, 37

breadth

as quality indicator, 60–61measuring content for, 76

buried content, 25business cases, building for content invent-ories and audits, 3–11business context, content audits, 35–38Byte Level Research, Web GlobalizationScorecard, 79

Ccalls to action

defining with personas, 52in audit finding presentations, 90

campaigns, opting in and out of, 86CAT (Content Analysis Tool), 26Center for Plain Language, on contentreadability, 65channels, auditing content across, 45–48checklist for content audits, 107–108clarity of URLs, 24CMS (content management system)

effects of audit findings on design andproduction features in, 18evaluating for migrations, xvnew, migrating websites to, 35

collaboration, developing personasthrough, 50–51colloquialisms, effects on localization, 81colors, cultural significance of, 82communication

effects of language on, 82importance and frequency of, 14with personas, 51

completeness, measuring content for, 76consistency

as quality indicator, 59in jargon, 66measuring content for, 76optimizing for localization, 80

Content Analysis Tool (CAT), 26content audits

assembling teams for, 17–21auditing for quality, 57–66building business cases for, 3–11checking for legal and regulatory is-sues, 85–87checklist for, 107–108competitors’ websites, 73–77customer journey maps, 49–55, 111described, xivfor global issues, 79–84

frequency of, xvi–xviilearning by doing, 98measuring content for effectiveness,67–71multichannel, 45–48planning for, 13–15presenting findings of, 89–92questions to ask stakeholders during,103–105role of governance in, 93–95rolling, 94–95setting tactics and knowing goals for,97–98setting the scope of, 32–36template for conducting, 115–116turning inventories into, 31understanding business context of,35–38using personas in, 49–55, 109what to audit, xvii, 31–32when to conduct, xv–xvi

content creators, roles of in contentaudits, 18content inventories

automated, xvibasic elements of, 24–26building business cases for, 3–11creating, 23–29described, xiii–xiv, 23learning by doing, 98planning for, 13–15refreshing, 28role of governance in, 93–95rolling, 36, 94–95setting tactics and knowing goals for,97–98tool-supported, 26–28turning into audits, 31turning into site maps or contentmatrices, 28when to conduct, xv–xvi

content length, optimizing for localiza-tion, 80–81content lifecycle, website maintenanceand, xvicontent management system (CMS)

effects of audit findings on design andproduction features in, 18evaluating for migrations, xvnew, migrating websites to, 35

Index128

content managers, roles of in contentaudits, 18–19content marketers, roles of in contentaudits, 18content matrix, turning inventories into,29content migrations

conducting inventories and audits be-fore, 18–19to new CMS, scope of, 35when to audit content for, xv–xvi

content requirements, assessing contentagainst, 64content scorecards

creating, 74–75Web Globalization, 79

content strategists, roles of in contentaudits, 18content strategy

adding to personas, 51–52developing strategy for, 89goals of, xiii

content strategy initiatives, assessingquality in, 34content types

defining with personas, 53identifying site structure and contentwith, 24

control, in DMAIC framework, 4, 9–11copyrights, auditing content of, 85–86Covey, Stephen R., on where to start, 13creators of content, roles of in contentaudits, 18cultural references, effects on localization,81Culturally Customized Website: Custom-izing Websites for the Global Marketplace,The, 82cultures, low- vs. high-context, 82currency

as quality indicator, 58effects on audit intervals, xviimeasuring content for, 76

custom data, using in content inventories,26customer journey maps

combining with personas, 38, 60mapping user tasks into, 60sample of, 111taking vertical approaches to, 33using in audits, 49–55

customer research and dataevaluating content effectiveness from,70learning about users and user require-ments from, 37–38

customers, roles of in content audits, 19

DDAMs (digital asset management systems,85data

analytics, including in content invent-ories, 19analyzing and using in content invent-ories, 25finding meaning in, 68–69from customer research, 37–38, 70gathering for images, media, and doc-uments, 26good, 7persona, adding to audits, 52visualization of, 91

define, in DMAIC framework, 3–6depth

as quality indicator, 60–61measuring content for, 76

designers (user experience), roles of incontent audits, 18designs

evaluating for global issues, 82–83navigation systems, creating withoutunderstanding existing content, 18

digital asset management systems(DAMs), 85DMAIC framework, 3–11documents

audit, preparing for presenting find-ings, 91–92gathering data about, 26

Ee-mail campaigns, opting in and out of,86editorial guides, assessing content against,63–64effectiveness

evaluating for, 67–71managing content quality and perform-ance, 5

engaging content, as quality indicator, 58

129Index

evergreen content, xviiexit criteria, setting in project plans, 15expert vs. novice content, 65–66expressions (idiomatic), effects on localiz-ation, 81

FFasso, Tosca, on data visualization, 91file sizes, 25findability, measuring content for, 76findings from content audits

effects on design and productionwithin CMSes, 18presenting, 89–92

flows (user), design of, 18formats of content, identifying site struc-ture and content with, 24frequency

content audits, xvi–xviimeasuring content for, 76

Ggap analysis, 54, 122

sample map, 113globalization

auditing content for issues in, 79–84estimating project scope and costswith word counts, 25items to target during audits, 35

goalsdocumenting in project plans, 13knowledge of, 97–98of audit finding presentations, 90personas, measuring heuristicsagainst, 52stakeholder, gleaning from interviewsof, 6

Gollner, Joe, on good data, 7good data, 7governance

effects on audit intervals, xviiroles of in content inventories andaudits, 93–95

graphicsembedding text in, 83evaluating for global issues, 82–83gathering data about, 26

guidelinesassessing against, 62–64gaining understanding of, 37

HH1 tags, 26H1 text, including in content inventories,19Halvorson, Kristina, on importance ofbusiness assets, 3heuristics

evaluating competitors’ sites with, 74–76personas, measuring against goals, 52

high-context cultures, 82

Iicons, cultural significance of, 82idiomatic expressions, effects on localiza-tion, 81images

embedding text in, 83evaluating for global issues, 82–83gathering data about, 26

improve, in DMAIC framework, 3, 9in links, 26Include Your Clients in the Persona Re-search Process with Affinity Mapping, 51information architects, roles of in contentaudits, 18interviews

gleaning stakeholder goals from, 6template for conducting, 103–105

inventoriesautomated, xvibasic elements of, 24–26building business cases for, 3–11creating, 23–29described, xiii–xiv, 23learning by doing, 98planning for, 13–15refreshing, 28role of governance in, 93–95rolling, 36, 94–95setting tactics and knowing goals for,97–98tool-supported, 26–28turning into audits, 31turning into site maps or contentmatrices, 28when to conduct, xv–xvi

inventory teams, defining roles and re-sponsibilities of, 13–14

Index130

Jjargon

consistency and accuracy in, 66effects on localization, 81

justifying content inventories and audits,3–11

Kkey performance indicator (KPI), 68keywords

effects on SEO, 25evaluating for global issues, 83finding content with, 70

KPI (key performance indicator), 68

Llanding pages, evaluating personas for, 53language

communication style and, 82plain, 65sentence length, 80

layering, benefits of, 23legal issues, auditing content for, 85–87length

sentences, optimizing for localization,80–81URLs, 24

lifecycle of content, website maintenanceand, xvilinks

auditing for appropriateness, 87in and out, 26

Lionbridge, on length of translated sen-tences, 80localization

auditing content for issues in, 79–84estimating project scope and costswith word counts, 25items to target during audits, 35

logs, search, 19low-context cultures, 82

Mmachine translations, effects on meaning,81maintenance of websites, as ongoing pro-cess, xvi

managers (content and site), roles of incontent audits, 18–19maps (customer journey)

combining with personas, 38, 60mapping user tasks into, 60sample of, 111taking vertical approaches to, 33using in audits, 49–55

maps (gap analysis), 113maps (site), turning inventories into, 28marketers (content), roles of in contentaudits, 18matrix

content, turning inventories into, 29RACI, sample of, 20

Mausser, Kris, on the importance of per-sonas, 50measure, in DMAIC framework, 3, 6–7messaging, as quality indicator, 60metadata

importance of, 25including in content inventories, 19

migrationsconducting inventories and audits be-fore, 18–19to new CMS, scope of, 35when to audit content for, xv–xvi

milestones, setting in project plans, 15models, navigation, 5multichannel audits, 45–48

Nnavigation models, 5navigation systems, design of, 18navigational structure, content inventoriesas, 24newsletters, opting in and out of, 86nonprofits, regulatory issues for, 87novice vs. expert content, 65–66

Ooptimization

for localization, 80–81search engine (SEO), 83

opting in and out, ease of, 86orphaned content, 25out links, 26

131Index

Ppages

importance of titles for, 25landing, evaluating personas for, 53word counts for, 25

perception, language and, 82Pereira, Arun, on language and percep-tion, 82performance

effective, evaluating content for, 67–71managing content quality and, 5

performance data, websites, 37personas

combining with customer journeymaps, 38, 60sample of, 109using in audits, 49–55

persuasion, in audit finding presentations,91photos

embedding text in, 83evaluating for global issues, 82–83gathering data about, 26

plain language, 65planning content inventories and audits,13–15presentations

content audit findings, 89–92content, evaluating for quality, 61–62

privacy policies, auditing content of, 86project plans, tasks for, 13–15project teams, defining roles and respons-ibilities of, 13–14, 17–21project timeframes, 36publication frequency, effects on auditintervals, xvii

Qqualitative audits, 41, 57, 123quality

assessing in content strategy initiat-ives, 34auditing content for, 57–66importance of, xvii–xviiimanaging, 5

quantitative assessments, content invent-ories as, xiii–xivquestions for stakeholder interviews, 103–105

RRACI matrix, sample of, 20readability

using plain language to improve, 65readability, as quality indicator, 59recommendations, in audit documents,92Redundant, Outdated, Trivial (ROT)

auditing content for, 69–70finding webpages suffering from, 25reducing, xvi

regulatory issues, auditing content for,85–87relevance, as quality indicator, 58responsibilities, defining in project plans,13–14results from content audits

effects on design and productionwithin CMSes, 18presenting, 89–92

return on investment (ROI)justifying effects of content on, 9–11

Rockley, Ann, on website maintenance,xviROI (return on investment)

justifying effects of content on, 9–11roles, defining in project plans, 13–14rolling inventories, 94–95rolling inventory, 36ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial

reducing, xviROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial)

auditing content for, 69–70finding webpages suffering from, 25

Rowley, Norris A.A. Jr., 51

Sscorecards

creating, 74–75Web Globalization, 79

search engine optimization (SEO)effects of keywords on, 25effects of URL construction on, 24evaluating for global issues, 83

search engine optimization (SEO) ana-lysts, roles of in content audits, 19search logs, 19sentence length, optimizing for localiza-tion, 80–81SEO (search engine optimization)

Index132

effects of keywords on, 25effects of URL construction on, 24evaluating for global issues, 83

SEO (search engine optimization) ana-lysts, roles of in content audits, 19Singh, Nitish, on language and perception,82site managers, roles of in content audits,18–19site maps, turning inventories into, 28site migrations

conducting inventories and audits be-fore, 18–19to new CMS, scope of, 35when to audit content for, xv–xvi

site redesignsroles in, 18

sitescompetitors’, auditing, 73–77construction of URLs for, 24expert vs. novice content in, 65importance of quality in, xvii–xviiimaintenance of, as ongoing process,xviperformance data for, 37quality of, 57structure of, 5when to audit content for, xv–xviword counts for, 25

sites redesignsgoals of audits in, 34

Six Sigma, 3sizes of files, 25social media, auditing, 47–48specifications (technical), consistency andaccuracy in, 66Spencer, Donna, advice on conductingcontent audits from, 33spreadsheets, sharing, 90–91stakeholder interviews

gleaning goals from, 6template for, 103–105

stories, presenting audit findings as, 89–91strategies (content)

adding to personas, 51–52developing strategy for, 89goals of, xiii

strategists (content), roles of in contentaudits, 18style guidelines

assessing content against, 63–64gaining understanding of, 37

success of content, measuring, 67

Ttactics, selection of, 97–98tags, H1, 26target audience, content finding presenta-tions, 90tasks (user), support for, 60taxonomies, design of, 18teams, defining roles and responsibilitiesof, 13–14, 17–21technical specifications, consistency andaccuracy in, 66templates

content audit checklist, 107–108content audits, 115–116customer journey map, 111for conducting stakeholder interviews,6persona sample, 109stakeholder interview questions, 103–105

terminologyeffects on localization, 81in technical specifications, consistencyand accuracy in, 66

terms of use, auditing content of, 86text

embedding in images and videos, 83H1, including in content inventories,19

time, limitations in, 33–34timeframes, projects, 36titles of webpages, importance of, 25tone guidelines, assessing content against,62–63tool-supported inventories, 26–28tools, selecting for inventories and audits,14trademarks, auditing content of, 86transcripts, localizing, 83translation

auditing content for issues in, 79–84by machine, effects on meaning, 81estimating project scope and costswith word counts, 25items to target during audits, 35

types of contentdefining with personas, 53

133Index

identifying site structure and contentwith, 24

UUrbina, Noz, on developing contentstrategies that help with team or projectleadership, 17URLs, construction of, 24Usability.gov, definition of persona, 49usage terms, auditing content of, 86user experience (UX) designers, roles ofin content audits, 18user flows, design of, 18user tasks, support for, 60user-generated content, auditing for legalor regulatory issues, 86UX (user experience) designers, roles ofin content audits, 18

Vvideo transcripts, localizing, 83videos

embedding text in, 83gathering data about, 26

vision, documenting in project plans, 13visualization, data, 91voice guidelines, assessing content against,62–63

WWachter-Boettcher, Sara, on understand-ing content, xiiiWeb Globalization Scorecard, 79webpages

importance of titles for, 25landing, evaluating personas for, 53sampling cross-sections of, 33word counts for, 25

website migrationsconducting inventories and audits be-fore, 18–19to new CMS, scope of, 35when to audit content for, xv–xvi

website redesignsgoals of audits in, 34roles in, 18

websitescompetitors’, auditing, 73–77construction of URLs for, 24

expert vs. novice content in, 65importance of quality in, xvii–xviiimaintenance of, as ongoing process,xviperformance data for, 37quality of, 57structure of, 5when to audit content for, xv–xviword counts for, 25

word count, estimating project scope andcosts with, 25

YYunker, John, 82

Index134

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