Content Strategy with Karen McGrane

[vamysteryfan]

My notes from an interesting seminar on content strategy for websites



What is Content Strategy?
* 500 years experience in print and how publishing works
* 20 years experience with Web
* Web is shared globally, is free, and there is no central control
* flexible and fluid approach is needed now

How to use Content Management System to do CS?
* CMS are designed to make web pages
* weblogging platforms can be blessing and curse
* separation of content from form
* important to remember reader is in control
* CMS can make it hard to use content across multiple platforms
* "decoupled systems"
* different levels of flexibility in management systems

Is a CMS a printing press or is it a workflow tool?
* does it manage content creation or content approval?
* we must gt the robots to serve our needs

Turning systems like Drupal into decoupled systems

Collision of technical documentation world with web world
* catalog sellers are in forefront
* legacy print workflow should not drive web workflow

Forty-four percent of Fortune 100 companies do not have mobile

websites
* smaller companies are more nimble

Sometimes you need different content (for desktop vs mobile websites)

for valid business reasons
* global content vs local targets

Did Google create a platform it can't search with Google Plus?
* Google is so attached to the page concept

Content strategy is necessary because things are becoming less findable

Organizations move slowly
"Digital Change management" fast pace of change

Many organizations have a longtime "print guy" who has the Rolodex full

of names but what happens when the print guy retires?

Need to work with coworkers
* How does what I'm doing work for you?"
* coworkers and audience
* how does digital play in the workplace

My job can't be trying to convince you to let me do my job