All posts about
Content strategy

Content strategy is the practice of planning for content creation, delivery, and governance. (source: Wikipedia)

The Importance of Strategic Micro Copy: An iTunes Case Study

Added on 28 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“Poorly devised, unhelpful content is wasteful. It potentially wastes the time of users and can also have financial implications for the company responsible for it, in this case Apple. Because they were not more thoughtful about their micro copy, they’ve had to correspond with me multiple times, costing them and me money and time. They’ve also left me feeling frustrated and, if at all possible, I will probably look to spend my money elsewhere. Lucky for them, they are one of the only providers of digital MP3 and video content online in my region of the world. Unless you’re Apple, can you afford to alienate customers because of careless copy?” (Amy Thibodeau ~ Contentini)

Introducing Content Talks

Added on 18 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“When Dan Benjamin asked if I’d be interested in doing a podcast for 5by5, I said Absolutely not! I hate talking about content strategy!” OK, no, that’s not what I said. I accepted on the spot and immediately put together a long, exciting list of smart, interesting people I hoped to interview in the months to come.” (Kristina Halvorson ~ Brain Traffic)

Why Curation Is Just as Important as Creation

Added on 18 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“The personal web publishing boom has led to an information explosion. It’s a data free-for-all, and it’s just beginning. Andrew Blau is a researcher and the co-president of Global Business Network in San Fransisco. Blau has foretold the changes in media distribution and content creation. Now he’s watching this new, historic emergence of first-person publishing.” (Steve Rosenbaum ~ Mashable)

The European content strategy industry is on the rise

Added on 11 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“From the accomplishments of the past two years and the unrelenting momentum of content strategy discourse, it’s safe to say local communities will grow and international events will continue. We’ll probably even learn of one or two more books in the works by the end of 2011. These events will increasingly draw content-minded people of varying kind, who will, in turn, roll ideas back into the businesses they represent. Opportunities will start opening up for CS consultants and agencies alike. Even positions inside larger companies will form as a more cost-effective way to retain and grow internal content strategy processes.” (Destry Wion ~ CS Forum 2011)

App Madness & The Open Web

Added on 9 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“Web content is publishing: we’ve been saying it for awhile now, and it’s starting to sink in. And if everyone is a publisher, then we—content strategists and other people who specialize in content work—should be able to advise our clients on their publishing plans, or at least those that cross into the online world. We’ve done so before, in the long push to demonstrate that the web isn’t the same as print, and that dumping print content into a web page serves neither user nor publisher. But in the last two years, the online publishing landscape has undergone a major change, both in perception and reality.” (Clinton Forry ~ Confab 2011 blog)

A Checklist for Content Work

Added on 8 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“There’s really only one central principle of good content: it should be appropriate for your business, for your users, and for its context. Appropriate in its method of delivery, in its style and structure, and above all in its substance. As Erin Kissane explains, content strategy is the practice of determining what each of those things means for your project – and how to get there from where you are now.” (A List Apart)

Content Centred Design: A methodology (Part 2)

Added on 8 March 2011 Peter Bogaards
“I recognize that all web projects are unique is some way and any approach has to be tailored, so in this post I’m going to provide a fairly high level methodology, a methodology however that gives users and content the same emphasis. It has now become the norm that the needs and wants of users are considered at every stage of a project. I want content to have the same recognition.” (Patrick Walsh ~ manIA)

STC: Content Strategy SIG

Added on 23 February 2011 Peter Bogaards
“The Content Strategy SIG is to be the STC home for members who are practitioners in this new space. The SIG is the forum in which to establish and develop the practice area of content strategy, particularly as it pertains to technical communication, to provide resources that prepare STC members wanting to transition to this as a career option, and to allow SIG members to support one another as practitioners as the field develops. Additionally, artifacts may be developed that allows practitioners to build a body of knowledge specifically pertaining to content strategy. The Content Strategy SIG was inaugurated in September 2009. As a new SIG, we are actively seeking members.” (Society for Technical Communication) ~ dead-on-arrival

About Content Strategy

Added on 24 January 2011 Peter Bogaards
“One of the things that stands out for me in any consideration of ‘content strategy’ is that it is centered upon the business goals of the organization. It sounds almost painfully obvious but grim reality shows us that it is not as obvious as it sounds. A content strategy should bring to the fore the idea that the content must be expressly designed and developed so as to address specific business objectives. This content must also, it follows, be designed to work with and leverage the tools that are being used, such as the search technology that a customer or prospect is most likely to call upon when looking for an answer. (…) the content strategist must take on board a raft of considerations and then chart an efficient and effective path of content investment.” (Joe Gollner ~ The Fractal Enterprise)

What is Intelligent Content?

Added on 18 January 2011 Peter Bogaards
“(…) is content which is not limited to one purpose, technology or output. It’s content that is structurally rich and semantically aware, and is therefore discoverable, reusable, reconfigurable and adaptable. It’s content that helps you and your customers get the job done. It’s content that works for you and it’s limited only by your imagination.” (Ann Rockley ~ The Content Wrangler)