Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Beyond ROT: Creating useful and meaningful content audits


I've been thinking about content audits a lot lately because, well, that's the stage I'm at in my current project. There's been quite a few discussions and write-ups about audits but I've found that, for the most part, they have a pretty limited perspective. The fact is that a content audit can provide a huge amount of insight into content strengths and weaknesses in the early stages of a project, and help to inform all content strategy and information architecture activities moving forward.

A content audit is simply a snapshot of the current state of content, on a page-by-page basis, before a web redesign or content migration takes place. Perhaps the most discussed way of auditing a website's content is to determine the page count and the ROT: content that is redundant, out-dated, or trivial. While this is essential information, there is so much more information you can gather. And since you're looking at every page anyway, you might as well capture the information that will really help to bring value to your client and the project.

Here are some other content characteristics that you may want to capture, and why they're useful.

Page layout

This shows how the content is laid out on a page. Simply capture a screenshot for each page that uses a distinct layout and give it a name of some sort. I typically use a combination of acronyms and numbers. For example, two different landing page layouts might be LP-1 and LP-2. The purpose of this is to help clients see the inconsistencies in how similar types of information are being presented. It's also extremely helpful when you're doing a content migration where you need to understand how the content works within existing templates and the implications that has on the migration. Finally, it can raise big red flags for content processes if you find that content developers are creating multiple layouts on the fly from a single template.

Content type

Here, you make note of the basic type of content, leaving topic or departmental focus aside. For example, some types of content include forms, contact info, product details, articles, landing pages, FAQs, document archives, profiles, events, etc. You'll develop your list based on your specific project requirements. Together with page layout, this really helps to highlight inconsistencies in how information is being presented. It also helps to raise awareness of pages that are trying to do too many things at once. When you complete your initial audit and sort it by content type, you can quickly scan through your URLs to identify even more redundancy and get a better understanding of the opportunities for content re-use.

Audience

Make a note of who the content speaks to on each page. If it's not obvious after a quick scan of the page content, simply put "unknown". This is a good way to find out if the target audience will be able to immediately identify that this content is relevant to them. If your client has developed customer personas you can use these as a starting place, but remember that the purpose of an audit is to create a snapshot of the current state of content, which may or may not fit well with tools that have been built to guide future changes.

Quality

This is your subjective expert opinion as to the quality of the content on the page. I'll typically use ratings such as excellent, good, satisfactory, or poor, and associate them with qualifying best-practice statements as shown below. If you prefer, you could use grade-scores and use any qualifying statements that make sense to your project. Here's some that are pretty typical for me:

  • Excellent = Content and writing style reinforces brand and provides a surprisingly good customer experience. 
  • Good = Content is reasonably on-brand and supports users in understanding and acting on content. 
  • Satisfactory = Users can get the answers they're looking for, though it may take some effort and the content may not reflect the brand. 
  • Poor = Content does not meet user or business needs. 

Quality Characteristics

This is where you list out the specific weaknesses in the page content. It's important to work with a limited set of characteristics, and to define them precisely. You'll develop your best-practice characteristics based on your project needs and area of expertise, and then indicate where these best-practices are not being met. Some that I frequently use include:
  • User-focused
  • Brand voice
  • Consistency 
  • Context
  • Focused message
  • Out of date
  • Plain language
  • Business relevance
  • Substance
  • Typography, or information design
  • Volume appropriate
  • Writing mechanics
This is an important tool to highlight writing and process weaknesses and can really help your client to begin to understand the skills and resources required to create high-quality writing. It also helps to focus writer's workshops or training on areas that are particularly relevant or high priority.

These are only a few of the things you can look for in an audit. Some other common factors to consider include SEO criteria, content format (video, audio, html, pdf, etc), metadata used, or topics and subtopics. The trick is to find the right combination of criteria for your project, resources, and timeline.

Once you've captured the data, be sure to leave some time to analyse it. It's usually very interesting to determine which areas of the site, or which content types, have higher or lower quality content. Or how many different layouts are being used for similar content types? Which sections of the site are the most out of date, and which  are the most user focused? Which formats are being used for which topics? This really begins to surface inconsistencies and problem areas. These findings give you a strong understanding of the current state of the content and provide key insights when creating the gap analysis that will be the foundation for further content strategy work.

While I'm not going to talk about how to create an audit spreadsheet here, I definitely want to mention one tool that I discovered recently (thanks to Jason Armstrong at the +autonomous agency!) that has really helped to speed things up. If you use Google Chrome, you can go to the Chrome Web Store and download "Pasty". It's a free multi-URL opener that allows you to copy rows of URLs from your spread sheet, click the "Pasty" button, and open new tabs for each URL. You can easily open 50-100 pages with one click, and get through them pretty quickly.

What other content audit criteria or tips have you found to be very valuable? Please share them in the comments below!

48 comments:

  1. If the page has social buttons - Like, Tweet, Share -- it's interesting to note how often these have been used. it's also interesting to note if the page seems to be an orphan page, one that's just left floating outside the site's official navigation structure.

    Finally, if you can, it's great to be able to map this info with page views and last review/modified dates. It's more work, though....

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is really a very important to go for content audit after completing the content of a website or any other publication to avoid possible mistakes and maintain a standard as it is related to you brand and you can not take any risk in this matter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Every successful person must have a failure. Do not be afraid to fail because failure is a part of success.
    Signature:
    Jugar juego de frozen en línea gratis, los nuevos de princesa de Disney juegos frozen - la princesa encantadora y linda. Divertirse frozen!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would like more information about this, because it is very nice., Thanks for sharing.
    Signature:
    facebook iniciar sesion gratis - Sitio Oficial iniciado sesión en Facebook lengua española. facebook inicio sesion entrar rápido, facebook iniciar sesion en tu cuenta de entrar facebook

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting! Thanks you.
    Signature:
    download baixar facebook movel, Facebook movel, baixar facebook. Facebook chat, baixar whatsapp, fazer o download baixar whatsapp gratis para Android, iPhone. Últimas Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am happy to find this post very useful for me
    Signature:
    The place to play all unblocked games at school online. Here you can find every blocked games such as: unblockedgames , unblocked games happy , unblocked games 77 ,

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a great article. It gave me a lot of useful information. thank you very much.
    ----
    i like play game click jogos online free and apply baixar facebook movel online free and apply mobogenie baixar online free

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great. This makes my blog less cluttered.
    Thank you for sharing your ideas!
    Signature: Happy Wheels Full | pacman 256

    ReplyDelete
  9. Really an interesting and amazing post. Thanks for sharing this wonderful informative article here.
    Signature: juegosjuegos.com | juegos de frozen | jogos do pou

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very informative article you have shared here. It is really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing this blog.
    affordable custom web design

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great Stuff! This acquaintance stuff is very useful for professional who uses Content Development Strategy to enhance an organization’s strategic goals. Apart from creating a website, next step that is mandatory is that you also need to optimize the content of website.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cool Runnings Found your site from a friends Facebook link, Heavy Weights | Rookie of the Year it seems that you have growing fanbase and I now understand why Super informative article, thanks a million. Best Action Movies

    ReplyDelete
  13. The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lot of great information which can be helpful in some or the other way. Keep updating the blog, looking forward for more contents...website development nagpur.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for visiting our site. Sure you will feel is amazing. Since we have been very selective as many games and you can play online for free
    al3ab-banat01
    العاب طبخ على al3ab-banat01

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am very glad to read this. Really good one. scorehero.net

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is also a very good post which I really enjoyed reading. It is not everyday that I have the possibility to see something

    dark souls poster

    ReplyDelete
  17. It is a great article. You will surely like this also because it is a great stufff
    potaca

    ReplyDelete
  18. UFC Fight Night where fans can get the latest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) news, watch live streaming video, learn about upcoming events, view fighter profiles, and more.

    UFC Fight Night
    UFC Fight Pass
    Watch UFC Fight Night
    UFC Fight Night Live
    UFC Fight Night Live Stream

    The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavs compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division.

    Cavs Game
    Watch Cavs Game
    Cavs Game Live
    Cavs Game Live Stream
    Cavs Game Online

    The National Basketball Association is a men's professional basketball league in North America; composed of 30 teams. It is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.

    NBA Games Today
    NBA Games Reddit
    NBA Games Tonight
    NBA Games Online
    NBA Games Live
    NBA Games Live Stream

    ReplyDelete
  19. Good work…unique site and interesting too… keep it up…looking forward for more updates.Good luck to all of you and thanks so much for your hard-work.
    Transcription Services in Bangalore, Closed Captioning Services in Bangalore,Localization And Translation Services

    ReplyDelete
  20. http://www.ownedbyahusky.ca/p/pawz-n-clawz-jewelry-n-things_22.html
    http://workingwithmckinsey.blogspot.com/2014/02/SMART-Problem-Statements.html
    http://www.quandofuoripiove.com/2016/05/la-sfida-dei-colori.html
    http://www.astrowatch.net/2017/05/the-mysteries-of-deedee-one-of-solar.html
    http://www.digifotostarter.nl/content/fotograferen-met-een-glazen-bol
    http://casopis.mensa.cz/index.php?page=disc&disc=982
    http://www.everytattoo.com/tattooforum/viewtopic.php?t=25538
    http://www.housingforseniors.com/Questions/Is-there-a-day-that-honors-senior-citizens-1527.html
    http://e3contentstrategy.blogspot.com/2012/03/beyond-rot-creating-useful-and.html
    http://illgottengames.blogspot.com/2015/05/we-have-new-website.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am very happy when read this blog post because blog post written in good manner and write on
    good topic. Thanks for sharing valuable information.

    Web Design Company Bangalore,
    Digital Marketing Company

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great post! I wish you would provide a spreadsheet template or a visual. I’m having trouble wrapping my head around how to capture everything in one spot that’s easy to navigate.

    ReplyDelete
  23. UFC 225
    UFC 225 Live
    UFC 225 Live Stream
    UFC 225
    UFC 225 Live
    UFC 225 Live Stream
    UFC 225
    UFC 225 Live
    UFC 225 Live Stream

    https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc225lives/
    https://225ufc.blogspot.com/
    https://225ufc.blogspot.com/2018/06/ufc-225-live-stream-online.html
    https://www.facebook.com/ufc225lives

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi,

    Thanks for sharing a very interesting article about Beyond ROT: Creating useful and meaningful content audits. This is very useful information for online blog review readers. Keep it up such a nice posting like this.

    Regards,
    WondersMind,
    Web Design Company Bangalore

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks for sharing this post!
    Didn't know just how important an audit was

    social media marketing

    ReplyDelete
  26. March Madness live stream free online. How to watch March Madness NCAA college basketball games live stream & Find TV channel, schedule, news update online. #marchmadness #MarchMadness2019

    March Madness live
    NCAA March Madness
    March Madness 2019

    ReplyDelete
  27. Simply wish to say the frankness in your article is surprising.Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Khoai Deo Hải Ninh là Đặc Sản Quảng Bình nổi tiếng được trồng trên những cát trắng của Xã Hải Ninh, Huyện Quảng Ninh, tỉnh Quảng Bình. Được xem là Khoai Deo Quảng Bình thượng hạng, khoai deo Hải Ninh nổi tiếng khắp ba miền bởi hương vị thơm ngon hảo hạng mà hiếm có loại khoai deo nào sánh bằng. Nguồn gốc khoai nguyên liệu tạo nên hương vị của khoai deo. Có lẽ chính cái nắng, cái gió từ tự nhiên đã tạo nên hương vị đặc biệt: bùi bùi, vị ngọt lắng sâu trong làm mê mẩn thực khách. Khoai Deo Hải Ninh, Quảng Bình là món quà tinh tế gửi tặng bạn hiền, tri kỷ, gửi gắm biết bao tình cảm chân thành của mảnh đất và con người miền nắng và gió Quảng Bình. Là một người con của vùng đất Hải Ninh, Quảng Ninh, Quảng Bình, Chúng tôi mong muốn được góp một phần nhỏ bé của mình vào việc quảng bá đặc sản quê hương đến mọi miền tổ quốc. Chúng tôi chuyên cung cấp sản phẩm Khoai Deo Hải Ninh với chất lượng vượt trội, được thu mua tận nơi sản xuất. Đảm bảo không sử dụng các chất có khả năng gây nguy hiểm cho sức khỏe con người.Chúng tôi mong muốn được phục vụ quý khách hàng trên toàn quốc một các tốt nhất. Nếu quý khách có nhu cầu mua sản phẩm giá sỉ, vui lòng liên hệ với Hotline để đươc tư vấn
    Thông tin liên hệ Khoai deo Hải Ninh, Quảng Bình
    Địa chỉ: Tiểu Khu 5, thị trấn Quán Hàu, Quảng Ninh, Quảng Bình
    Hotline: 0979.453.416 (Ms Trúc)
    Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/khoaideongonquangbinh

    ReplyDelete
  29. Rugby World Cup matches live stream free online. How to watch Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan live stream & Find RWC 2019 schedule, TV channel, news update.

    Rugby World Cup

    ReplyDelete
  30. Rugby World Cup matches live stream free online. How to watch Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan live stream & Find RWC 2019 schedule, TV channel, news update.

    rugby world cup matches

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thanks for sharing this blog. Fahim Moledina helps us to make content strategy for create new business.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I have been using this app: Golf Battle Mod Apk and often download and gamble.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Prethodne utakmice između Dinama i Škupije prenosio je HTV, ali ovaj put dogodila se uzbudljiva promjena. Sport Klub je s ponosom objavio preuzimanje prava prijenosa utakmica u Razgradu i Zagrebu, što znači da sutrašnju utakmicu možete pratiti na njihovom trećem kanalu. Visit Here: 24sata.pro

    ReplyDelete
  34. Determining the best SMM panel depends on specific needs, goals, and user preferences. The ideal panel should offer a user-friendly interface, a wide range of services, and customer support. It should prioritize authenticity and engagement over sheer numbers.

    ReplyDelete