Presented at PSEWEB 2012

1. Content Strategy &
the PSE Sector
Laura D’Amelio, Senior Content Developer,
York University
ldamelio@yorku.ca

2. source: www.t4g.com

3. What is it?
“the practice of planning for the creation, delivery and
governance of useful, usable content.”
- Halvorson (2009)

4. What does it do?
“Content Strategy is not a
‘thing to do’; it’s the
purpose and the process
behind the things we do.”
- Georgy Cohen,
Tufts University
source: andyet.net

5. source: Richard Ingram
richardingram.co.uk

6. Content Strategy can help you
Understand and meet your audiences’ needs
Support actions you want to promote
Stop wasting resources on content nobody wants
Eliminate guesswork about what to publish, how and where
Get more done
source: Brain Traffic

7. In the PSE Sector
“It’s Complicated”
Faculties/service areas
Administration
IT departments
Marketing
Multiple audiences
Multiple outlets
Multiple modes of measurement (or none)

8. source: Brain Traffic

9. In the PSE Sector
political
messy
costly
time consuming
the few examples in PSE are on specific projects, redesigns or
CMS implementations, not day-to-day processes

10. PSE Sector Examples
University of Buffalo Web Content Initiative
www.buffalo.edu/ub2020/transforming_operations
North Carolina State University
www.meetcontent.com/blog/case-in-point-content-strategy-at-n-c-state
Denver University
www.du.edu/marcomm/highedweb

11. Need Content Strategy?
New CMS?
Website redesign?
University rebranding?

12. The Principals of
Content Strategy

13. Analysis
Linked with your strategic plan or communications plan
Identify and understand your users
How are people using the website now?
What is the web ecosystem - current processes, politics,
competitors, brand
Audit - what do you have?

15. Planning
Governance
Get buy in
Rethink roles

16. Centralized editorial control
Top Level Pages Branded design
Managed by Comm office
Decentralized editorial
Academic / Admin
Flexible design options
Faculties Offices Managed by individual units
Blogs Program Student Social Decentralized editorial
Managed by individual units
sites orgs media
Hosted externally
Centralized training
source: J. Todd Bennett

17. Architecture
More than a site map
Structured metadata
Content reuse/repurpose/repackaging

18. Content Design
Editorial
Building your brand and message - a framework for your
content
Editorial calendars/Conversation calendars
Content templates

20. Evaluation
Surveys / focus groups
Data mining
Web analytics
Usability testing

21. Apply that PSE

22. How it can be done
New launch / redesign
Working with clients
Day-to-day

23. New Launch
Go through the Content Strategy elements
Get buy in / show the linkages with strategic planning
Cost and time savings

24. Working with clients
One site at a time / one template at a time
Simple audience research
Help them develop their own strategies that align with the
institutional strategies
Teach the role of measurement and simple ways to do it
Provide ongoing professional development

25. Day-to-day
Your content / processes already exist
Write them down - you’ll create part of your content strategy
or identify gaps

26. Messaging Calendar

27. Analytics flow

28. It means slight changes
Prioritize your work
Get information - use tools like Yammer or GatherContent
Make staff content design experts
Keep your reference guide nearby

29. You are already doing it
Write it down
Share
Ask staff to assess what the process is
Use content changes as moments to establish templates

30. Content Strategy all over?
Where else can we use content strategy?
Handbooks, postcards, bookmarks
Emails - how many do your students get?

31. handed out in country
country brochure
translated/bilingual
includes country links to York, general info/research/student
handed out in country and domestically
handbook includes pathways to York
includes general info and adm. requirements
provides program descriptions
website expand info on money matters
links to housing, clubs, sports, etc.
Faculty books and international book
flippable handbooks provides Faculty/program info
CRM link
translated
parent factsheets includes tuition fees and deadlines
on parent’s page/international pages
review of scholarship, residence, location info
conversion book conversion info including clubs, campus, career
day-in-the -life

32. Where to go from here

33. Overcoming challenges
political
messy
costly
time-consuming

34. Resources
du.edu/ucomm/highedweb.html
uxbooth.com/blog/complete-beginners-guide-to-content-
strategy
meetcontent.com/blog/margot-bloomstein-and-colleen-jones-
on-higher-ed-content-strategy

35. Resources

36. Content Strategy &
the PSE Sector
Laura D’Amelio, Senior Content Developer,
York University
ldamelio@yorku.ca