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Content First, or Content Forever?

By Georgy Cohen on July 12, 2011

A few weeks ago, Rick and I appeared on Higher Ed Live to talk about A ‘Content-First’ Approach to Higher Ed Web. It sounds great, doesn’t it? While we addressed the need for a content-first mindset, Sara Wachter-Boettcher elaborates to clarify the need for content-process mindset. How do we achieve this? By better thinking through the structures that support our content.

Wachter-Boettcher cites higher ed websites as exemplary for a “beyond content first” approach, by virtue of their heavy volume of content and spotty editorial oversight. She breaks down content into the following categories: user interface copy, page-level content, or database-driven content. In doing so, says Wachter-Boettcher, she can better grasp what each piece of content needs in order to truly endure.

I do think it’s critical we stop thinking about content as one undifferentiated thing, and start being more analytical (and anatomical, in a sense) about its structure and function.

Source: Content First? Semantics, Structure and Why We Should Care by Sara Wachter-Boettcher, Endlessly Content, June 30, 2011

Filed Under: Archive, On topic Tagged With: content strategy

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About Georgy Cohen

Georgy Cohen is associate creative director, content strategy, at OHO Interactive in Cambridge, Mass.. Prior to OHO, she worked with a range of higher ed institutions, including stints at Tufts University and Suffolk University and as an independent consultant, on content strategy and digital communication initiatives.

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