Content Strategy: Why Now? Content Strategy Deliverable: The Content Review (aka Heuristic or Expert Review) This article is part of Rahel Bailie's series on content strategy deliverables. To read all articles in the series, visit Rahel's content strategy deliverables blog list at Intentional Design Inc. You can also follow Rahel on twitter @Rahelab. Content Review sample report One of the best ways to get an initial picture of content strengths and weaknesses is through an expert review. Also known as a heuristic review, or a content scorecard, the expert review shows how well your current content stands up to industry standards and best practices. Benefits of expert reviews Expert reviews are great for demonstrating content strengths and weaknesses to a client. Limitations of expert reviews An expert review is subjective. It’s important to note that an expert review is a diagnostic tool, and content validation should always include testing with real customers.
Determining the heuristics It can be a challenge to find the right set of heuristics, or criteria, to include in your evaluation. Content Strategy in Higher Ed: How Page Tables helped the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. With Kristina Halvorson’s Master Class coming up soon, I’ve been looking for interesting examples of content strategy at work in higher education. When I saw that the University at Buffalo was looking for a Content Strategist, I had to learn more about their plans and initiatives. According to David Anderson, Director of Strategic Digital Communications at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, the Web Content Initiative at UB took advantage of the desire to get a CMS to dramatically improve website practices. Three university departments (IT, UC, and the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) partnered on this project. So, while this wasn’t a pure Content Redesign, it definitely fits the bill of putting a major focus on content.
The School of Medicine’s four pilot sites were the first to make it all the way through the project: David was kind enough to answer a few of my questions so we can all learn more from his experience. Great Content Starts with Great Questions: Tips for Asking the Right Ones. Creating Great Content: 7 Steps to Keep Your Team on Track. Going Global: The Realities & Constraints of an International Content Strategy.
Hello. My name is Amy and I am a travel-holic. In the past nine months I’ve visited nine countries on four different continents, I’ve taken roughly 13 flights, one three-day drive across Western Canada (Vancouver to Saskatchewan and back), one sleeper train, one night on a junk ship on the Pacific Ocean, a handful of nauseating bus rides and one harrowing mini-van ride through the mountains of northern Laos. I’m writing this from a cafe in Hoi An, Vietnam, where I’ve managed to find a place to work that has internet that is even remotely quick enough to be considered usable. International travel has taught me a number of things about myself, the world and importantly about my career as a content strategist.
As content strategists we often work with clients who are consumed with the ‘coulds’, as in: we could have an amazing flash landing page! International Content Strategy: Some Things to Consider How do social media platforms factor into your website design, content and user experience? The Kill Zone: Content Strategy and Executing Dead Content. No one starts a project hoping that it will fail. In fact, many of us seem to have boundless optimism and in spite of statistics that warn us of the huge potential for failure in almost everything we set out to do, we race along, excited and hopeful that we’re the exception. I’m the same way: I get excited about an idea, a writing or photography project, a new website or application and I get caught up in the possibility, the endless potential for what could be.
Yes, I plan, I strategize, I set goals and consider metrics – but sometimes even the most lovingly executed ideas do not turn into something viable. This post is not about what you need to do to give your project the greatest chance for success. It’s also not about being realistic about your expectations, setting realistic benchmarks or learning from your failures. Nope, this is about mercilessly killing off your creations with cold-hearted cunning. Content Strategists as Executioners Five Signs It’s Time to Let Go.