Chapter 5: AuditBy Julio Garcia & Samantha Zullo

After this chapter you’ll understand..

Why audits are importantWhat kinds of audits are most

commonHow to record your audit findingsHow much content you need to

evaluateHow to share your results

Don’t skip an audit!

Help you scope & budget for a content project

Clear understanding of what you have & where it lives

Serve as a reference of source during content development

Don’t Take the Easy Way Out

Although there are “audit tools” that can help with the auditing process, “people power” is the best way to get a deep understanding of your content.

1. Quantitative Inventory

It’s just the facts List of all your

content Used at the

beginning Must have=

title/topics

2. Qualitative Assessment: Best Practice Assessment

Analyzes quality & effectiveness Robot free zone 3rd party involvement

3. Qualitative Assessments:Strategic Assessment

How your content measures up to your business goals

Identifies gaps

Which Audit type do I choose?

The kind of audit you choose depends on what you want to learn.

Set Clear goals for your audit: What do you want to learn? Why do you want to learn that? What do you need to prove? To whom do you have to prove it to? How long do you have to get the audit

done?

How to record the findings

Basic spreadsheet Spreadsheet 2.0 Indexed inventory

How much content to evaluate

Content sampling Rolling audits

Am I Doing all this Auditing Alone?

1,500 vs 10,000

Test criteria before dividing the work Make examples of each criteria Check in with co-workers and spot

check each others work Make sure auditors have a notes field

in spreadsheet to jot down important, beneficial info

How to share your results: The Audit Report

1. Overview of the process2. A path to access the raw data3. The findings report

3 Types of reports:

Formal detailed Casual summary Presentation style

What’s Next..?

ACTIVITY!!!

With a classmate, Audit the website displayed on the projector. What content do you see on the page? (classmate 1

and 2) What do you as the user like to see? (classmate 1) What do you want to see as a client or owner?

(classmate 2)

What you put in each zone is up to you and can be as general or specific as you need, from broad categories such as FAQs to specific items such as a “funny picture of the CEO and his dog.”