Second Edition Released
I’m excited to announce the publication of the second edition of my book Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook for Content Analysis. This edition features a number of additions and updates since the first edition was released in 2014. Although it would seem to be a minor tweak, it was important to me that we add the words “for Content Analysis” to the title for this edition. I wanted to emphasize right up front that running content inventories and setting up content audits are not the end result—it’s the analysis that they enable that allows content owners to make good, informed decisions. Decisions that support business objectives and meet user needs.
This edition covers some of the same ground as the original—guidance about how to run an inventory, scope, and conduct an audit. But over the past 7 years of doing even more inventories and audits, it’s become clear to me that the work that precedes an audit project can make or break the effort. That work involves all the groundwork-laying—not just the selection and configuration of tools and spreadsheets, but the upfront organizational readiness assessment, getting buy-in for the project, planning it, working with a team, and carefully scoping and focusing the effort for optimal results.
When the audit work is complete, that, too, is more than just a matter of handing over a spreadsheet or presenting a slide deck to clients or stakeholders. If the results of the audit aren’t feeding back into governance policies, processes, documentation, staff training, and tools, you risk being in the same position down the road when content again becomes stale or incorrect and business processes don’t support active content management.
New in this edition
In addition to the increased focus on the “softer” aspects of content audit projects, updates to chapters on qualitative, competitive, brand, and multi-channel audits, this edition includes new chapters on auditing for content structure, accessibility, social media channels, and auditing apps and single-page sites. I’m also happy to have been able to include case studies from content strategy professionals sharing their own experiences with auditing.
As content strategy evolves, so does the practice of analyzing content, but the overarching need remains the same—businesses need to know that their content is working for them and customers need to find what they need, where they need it, and when they need it. A professionally-planned and conducted content audit is a key method for ensuring that.