Making Sense Of Content Strategy

     Content creation requires careful planning in order to achieve the desired effect. Unfortunately, the concept is shrouded in great complexity, making it difficult for regular people to formulate their own content strategy. It is important, therefore, to discuss this topic at the very basic label to make it accessible to the common folk. Many technical articles have been already written by industry experts and these do help the more advanced readers but they tend to leave the beginners confused instead of enlightened.

 

     As such, this piece will address the basic premises to aid inexperienced site owners find their way around content strategy. We will provide the most basic definitions and expound on the fundamental concepts in a straightforward manner in the hopes of giving readers a solid foundation. The succeeding articles on this blog will then build on the information presented here for a logical progression. Let’s start by finding out the meaning of these big words which are being thrown around.

 

Content Strategy

 

     This industry term covers a broad range of methods being used to make a site or a specific page more attractive to readers and better suited for search engines. A thorough analysis of traffic data is required in order to devise the right plan to improve a site’s content. The number of page views, the time spent by visitors on the site, the operating system being used by these visitors, their geographic locations, as well as the top referrers all matter when forming a plan. For instance, the rise in mobile Internet surfing may necessitate the creation of a mobile version to optimize the site for small screen viewing. At its heart, though, the term is a combination of two loaded words, each of them deserving their own spotlight.

 

Content

 

     This is simply the information that we see online. Whenever we go to a website, we are treated with images, sounds, and video clips supported by an abundance of text. These combined form the “content” and there are endless ways in which they can be created and presented to the public. Each type of content will also have its own characteristics — that is, blog posts will look different from press releases and product reviews will have a flow which will not be similar to scientific studies. Owners must be aware of the expectations for each type and build the site accordingly.

 

Strategy

 

      The word is most often associated with wars and other military endeavors but it has become embedded in business language over the years. This is fitting in a way as market competition can be as fierce as the action on a battlefield. Business strategies are by no means fixed. They are very fluid, frequently changing in response to what is happening on the ground. They go through constant evaluation and modification in order to maintain their relevance. This is especially true in the world of technology. The Internet and the consumer electronics industry are evolving at lightning speed. Stakeholders have to move at a rapid pace to keep up or fade into obsolescence.

 

Mix Them Together and…

 

     Add strategy to content and you have a formidable means of staying ahead. The combination of these terms indicates a rise in the sophistication of content creation, presentation and distribution. It is no longer acceptable to simply write something about a topic, tack on a picture or two, and just wait for the visitors to come flooding in. People will not tolerate mediocre content when there are thousands of excellent sites they can go to. Success on the Web now hinges on providing a high level of value through information and entertainment, and things will only get tougher from here on out.

 

     Site owners must have a clearly defined goal before venturing into an online business. Ideally, this should be written down on a piece of paper for utmost clarity. It should be displayed prominently and consulted from time to time just to ensure that the business does not stray from the narrow path. The purpose of the content strategy is to achieve this goal, whatever it may be, exactly at the prescribed time. Attainment of this goal will determine the success or failure of the strategy, the lessons learned serving as guide for further improvements.