What is an integrated content strategy?
A content strategy is a plan for creating and maintaining content on a website. Content can include copy, images, videos, audio files, and store products. It is the process of regularly asking:
- What content do we need for our website?
- Who is the audience for that content?
- Who is going to create the content, and who is going to maintain it?
What is included in a content strategy?
The first step is to determine—and clearly state—what success looks like when it comes to the website. This is often clearly outlined in your web marketing strategy. The goals that emerge from this process are called the "key performance indicators" that will drive every aspect of the web production process, including the content strategy.
The next step is to audit and analyze existing content, both online and offline resources. Depending on the goals of your organization, a content strategy may include developing a process for creating:
- A content creation schedule to drive when content will be created and updated
- A workflow process to define how content is created, approved and published
- Content templates to keep content uniform
Is the effort worth it?
People come to your website for its content. It needs to look professional but at the end of the day, "content is king". Your content is one of your organization’s most important assets. Developing a strategy to manage the creation and maintenance of that asset is critical as part of enhancing your web presence.
How does a content strategy drive results?
A solid content strategy drives results in several ways:
- First, an effective online strategy makes it easy for your visitors to find information and complete tasks. The easier it is to find things and get things done on your website, the happier your visitors will be, and the more likely they will return.
- Second, most of us seriously underestimate the time that content creation takes. Five Q sees web projects start out with a bang, but then languish in the content creation black hole. A content strategy gives you the tools you need to complete a website on time and on budget.
- Finally, a strong content strategy ensures that your website and your brand do not become stale. With the constant flow of information, the more up-to-date your content is, the more likely you will be indexed by Google, and the easier you will be to find on the web.
