A quick presentation highlighting the steps in a content inventory and audit

1. CS 101
Inventory and Audit

2. Business Need
Re-design
New Brand
New Products/New Initiatives
New Laws/Regulations
Globalization/Localization
Usability issues

3. Define Review Standards
Align against brand guidelines and messaging architecture
-ORBenchmark against accepted best practices

4. Define Review Standards
Relevant. To the point. No blah blah about best in market, world-class, robust. Tell the readers what they want to know, right away.
Accurate. Be right, of course. Also Be sure that this particular piece of information is what the user expects to see in this particular
place.
Informative. Tell readers as much as they need to know to fulfill their need. Not too much, but not too little, either.
Timely. Publish the content at the appropriate time; that means giving readers enough time to act on it. Then put the content on a
review timetable to be checked periodically.
Engaging. Make readers care. Give readers a call to action. Avoid boring.
Standards-based. The content has to be structured and shaped in a way that it is able to integrate, converge, syndicate, meet
accessibility standards, and be mobile-optimized.
http://intentionaldesign.ca/2011/09/28/content-that-raites/

5. Provide Estimates
How long is this going to take?
? Number of Pages
? Depth of Review
? Business Need

6. Select Inventory Software and Parameters
What tool shall I use?
 SEO Tools (Google Analytics, Omniture, Screaming Frog)
 Free Software (Integrity for Mac; Xenu for PC)
 Manual
 Get a print out from the development team

7. Inventory site
 Sorting
 Formatting
 Organizing

8. Define Review Parameters
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•
•
•
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Unique ID per page reviewed
Page title or topic
URL
Meta description
Page format (e.g., ASPX, HTML,
PDF)
• Page Type (product description)
Optional categories:
• Notable functionality/Issues
• Page owner
• Last updated
• Page Rank
• Visitor stats
• Current template type

9. Conduct Audit

10. Synthesize
Bubble up patterns, problems, pain points, and perceptions
Shelly Bowen has called this the Magic Layer

11. Visualize
Turn your insights into charts, info-graphics, visualizations like the one below
THERE IS NOT A VISUALIZATION HERE –
PLEASE WAKE UP

12. Summary and Recommendations
Highlight the key takeaways in a presentation, preferably in storytelling fashion