April 2004

Cleaning Out the Closet

Before companies can create a cohesive, cost-efficient content strategy, they need to assess what they already have.

By Chris Zender

"Who knows what we have on that site?"

We've been hearing that phrase more and more over the last few years. When companies come to us to develop custom content and communication programs, one of the first questions we ask is, "What do you already have?" We're hearing over and over that as companies divert resources to other so-called "mission-critical" applications, content on corporate websites is left to languish and grow stale.

We think that's a shame. You've heard us say it before: In today's Internet-driven age, your company's website is its calling card. And a card that has the wrong address or the wrong company name is worse than no card at all.

There's no excuse for not knowing what's on your corporate website. Still, incorrect, inaccurate site content isn't confined to large, multinational corporations with a distributed workforce. It happens to companies of all sizes in all industries. And the ramifications are the same: dissatisfied customers, lost opportunities to convert prospects, disenchanted employees, and wasted resources.

This is why Tendo recommends a comprehensive content audit before launching a major site update or redesign. Following are the top 5 reasons to conduct a content audit:

1. Strengthen your brand. This is the No. 1 reason for a content audit. Alert customers and prospects visiting your site notice everything, and when they read content that features outdated product information or executives who no longer work for your company, you send the signal that your company doesn't pay attention to details.
2. Standardize customer expectations. Often, new content is developed through a catch-as-catch-can process as companies race to create material based on internal deadlines for product and service launches. However, over time, this random development process leads to an uneven user experience. Customers and prospects may see a type of information that sells them on product A but doesn't exist for products B, C, or D. This inconsistency results in missed opportunities to turn prospects into customers and create deeper relationships with existing customers.
3. Increase cross-promotion. Often companies don't take advantage of the relationships that exist among pieces of content on their site. Until you perform an audit to assess and identify how content is related, you miss out on an opportunity to drive customers deeper into your site so they can fully appreciate how your products and services can benefit them.
4. Pinpoint gaps. How do you know what to create if you don't know what you've already got? In order to create a new content strategy you must accurately assess what you already have. At the same time, this helps contribute to a consistent customer experience.
5. Solidify a merger or acquisition. Before investing in new content creation, companies that have undergone a merger or acquisition or sold a product line should look first to their existing content. Evaluating this content for viability before embarking on a new content creation strategy positions your company for success.

Comprehensive, accurate audits take time, and, yes, they take money. But the yield from these audits—consistent customer and prospect experience, accurate identification of content gaps, enfranchised personnel, an informed content strategy, and an overall better site—are more than worth the effort.




About the author:

Chris Zender is Tendo's editorial director. You can purchase the leftovers from her personal content audit on eBay.