CHAPTER 10 The Two Faces of Content Strategy: Balancing the Needs of Users and Editors
eDuCaTing anD iTeRaTing
“Education?” you might ask. “Yes,” I’ll answer. Education.
Not just CMS training. Not a course on Web writing. I mean the un-
derstanding that we as content strategists — and Web creators as a whole
— have a duty to keep up with the industry in order to pass it’s benefits to
those who use the websites we make.
Governance is the point when creators and editors merge, when trial
and error testing and constant use unearth the issues we couldn’t have
planned for at the beginning of a project. It also marks the point in the
project when we hand over expertise to the editors. It’s their website now.
It’s their content, their domain knowledge. As they become more familiar
with the website, and as we get less familiar with their process, as it organi-
cally changes throughout the life of the now live project, we lose the ability
to help.
We mustn’t lose that ability. We can’t be strangers. We have to check in.
This comes with a cost, both in time and money. And yes, this means
extra work once the website has launched. Our involvement has to move
beyond “get it up and get it out.”
The solution is to think beyond launch. Be it an internal project esti-
mated on time, or a client contract estimated in overall cost, every project
contract should include a few hours of monthly check-up. Go through the
discovery meeting script again, asking questions about the current work-
flow, what’s working, what’s not. What can we do to alleviate the problems?
What extra training do you need now that you’ve jumped in and have
gotten use to how things run?
Don’t skimp on that portion of the contract. Explain the benefits clear-
ly, and don’t allow it to be removed. It’s that important.
Changes will need to be made. If not, you’re apparently the perfect
content strategist. And last I checked, no one’s perfect.