Content strategy

Content strategy has been growing as a practice within the industry of web development since the late 1990s. It is recognized as a field in user experience design but has also drawn interest from practitioners in adjacent communities such as content management, business analysis and technical communication.

Definitions

Content strategy has been described as "the practice of planning for content creation, delivery, and governance" and "a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content development process for a website development project."

In her 2007 article, "Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data," Rachel Lovinger described the goal of content strategy as using "words and data to create unambiguous content that supports meaningful, interactive experiences."

Practitioners

An individual who practices content strategy as a discipline is referred to as a content strategist.

But the perspectives content strategists bring to content depend strongly on their professional training and education.

For instance, some specialize in content analysis, which roughly describes work with metadata, taxonomy, search engine optimization, and the ways in which the sound application of these concepts supports content.

Others outline web editorial strategies, guidelines, and tools, which may extend to organizational change management. This form of content strategy may be concerned with developing new forms of content, such as multimedia, or various “presence management” technologies like microblogging.[6]

There is yet another stream of content strategy advancing information architecture goals. In this case, content strategy may only involve writing site copy for new website pages and adapting the content on existing ones. All content strategists are familiar with a wide range of applications and tools, and frequently are responsible for implementing and training individuals to best use them.

History

In August 2009, A List Apart published an article on making the case for content strategy for designers, information architects, and search engine marketers, by Margot Bloomstein.

In March 2009, the Content Strategy Consortium was held during one of the pre-conference days of the IA Summit, in Memphis, TN.

In December 2008, the influential trade journal A List Apart published an issue on the emergence of content strategy, featuring articles by Kristina Halvorson and Jeffrey MacIntyre.

In March 2007, noted practitioner Rachel Lovinger published an account of the field in the design periodical Boxes and Arrows.

Resources

• Content Strategy - topic page on Business Exchange, a BusinessWeek.com website
• Scatter/Gather - a Razorfish blog about Content Strategy
• Google Knol - an extended entry on content strategy
• Facebook group - community discussion and a NY-based meetup series
• LinkedIn group - includes job postings and other information
• Ning group - hosted by The Content Wrangler
• Google group - a discussion forum succeeding the ASIS&T listserv
• Notes on Content - a linkblog on content strategy by Predicate, LLC
• Content process template - high-level content strategy explanation/process
• Content Strategy: A Reading Guide - overview of key people and ideas in content strategy by HowWhyWeb.com