For most organizations, the go-to method of content analysis is web analytics. People love numbers: 2,000 inquiries, 500 sign-ups — oh, baby! Unfortunately, these numbers don't tell the whole story, and if we base our content strategy on quantitative data alone, we're missing a big piece of the content measurement puzzle. Web analytics is great at answering "What?" … [Read more...] about Web Focus Groups: Know Your Users, Know Your Content
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Conducting a Competitive Analysis
In order to make informed decisions about your website, you need an understanding of what content you have and if it’s any good. Hello, content audit! But how do you know if your findings are appropriate, if your recommendations can work, and if your content will put you ahead of the competition? Hello, competitive analysis! A competitive analysis of web content is an … [Read more...] about Conducting a Competitive Analysis
Planning for Homepage Content
If there’s one thing that the infamous XKCD university homepage comic reminded us, it’s that we need to strike a better balance between tasks and messaging on our homepages. And if there’s one thing that the commentary stemming from that comic reminded us, it’s that our homepage is one of the most political entities we will ever manage, and the solutions don’t come easy. But … [Read more...] about Planning for Homepage Content
Case in Point: Building Community at UW-Madison
How can we use content to develop a true sense of community—both online and off—among our audiences? Whether it’s through a revamped newsletter or new ways of using social channels, University of Wisconsin-Madison social media and internal communications manager John Lucas has made it work. Through his work on innovative projects like #UWRightNow, a 24-hour crowdsourced … [Read more...] about Case in Point: Building Community at UW-Madison
Happy Days for Content at HighEdWeb 2012
Another HighEdWeb conference is in the books. This year’s event, hosted in beautiful Milwaukee, Wisc., featured cheese curds, beer, the Bronze Fonz, bratwursts—and of course, tons of incredible insights into making our university’s online experiences awesome. As for content, there were two compelling themes that ran through the various sessions, and I’m going to get to my … [Read more...] about Happy Days for Content at HighEdWeb 2012