Content Categorization & Migration: Organizing & Preserving Your Message in a Website Redesign

eduWEB 2011: Web Content Categorization & Migration | Slide 1

Content Categorization & Migration: Organizing & Preserving Your Message in Website Redesign

eduWEB 2011 Information Architecture TrackeduWEB 2011 Information Architecture TrackPresented by: Amanda Vande Brake, EMG & Dave Diehl, Hood College

08.01.2011


Introducing . . .

• Hood College, est. 1893

• Private, liberal arts university • 50-acre campus in historic Frederick, MD• 1,486 undergraduates & 962 students seeking

master’s degrees, certificates or certifications • 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio• A “Great School at a Great Price” in U.S. News

& World Report’s "America’s Best Colleges in the Universities-Master’s category“

• One of the “Best Northeastern Colleges” & “America’s Best Values” in the Princeton Review


Introducing . . .

• Earthbound Media Group

• Established in 1999• Privately held company• 50+ higher education clients, past & present• 40 full-time employees• Los Angeles Office – Headquarters • Orange County, CA & Austin, TX Offices


Who we are

We are a strategic marketing agency rooted in storytelling and digital technology

Introducing EMG


Core Divisions

Strategy MediaPlans brand stories and experiences that engage consumers in relevant,

meaningful ways

Plans propagation of brand stories and experiences

through owned, paid, earned and shared media

Translates brand stories and experiences to visual

identity and concepts

Discovers new methods of consumer engagement

utilizing technology

Creative Technology


Core Competencies & Service Lines

Strategy MediaPlans brand stories and experiences that engage consumers in relevant,

meaningful ways

Plans propagation of brand stories and experiences

through owned, paid, earned and shared media

Translates brand stories and experiences to visual

identity and concepts

Discovers new methods of consumer engagement

utilizing technology

Creative Technology

Experience & Storytelling

Performance & Intelligence

RelationshipBuilding

Custom Development

Strategic Consulting& Planning


Project Overview


Hood College: Website Redesign & CMS Implementation

Approach & Solutions•Audit of website and all marketing materials•Conducted stakeholder and student focus groups•Designed information architecture and creative for new site•Developed and implemented a content migration plan •Integrated Content Management System solution (Ektron) with custom components•Conducted staff training for new Content Management System



What We Knew Going In . . .

•Centralized content management resourceLittle enterprise-wide content ownership / responsibilityNeed for content owners to be identified and on-boarded

•Not all pages tagged by analytics Need for manual content indexing

•Lack of structured content databaseNeed for manual content migration



What Was Discovered Along the Way . . .

•High volume of ROT pages / content • Redundant• Outdated• Trivial

•Hood migration resource needs • EMG set pace, Hood completed• Manual process requires QA still

•Content optimization = content owner•Content migration = content manager


Content Migration: To Dos & How Tos


Step 1: Take Inventory Create a comprehensive page-level inventory of ALL site content • Listing of each individual page details:

– Place within the hierarchy– Current (new URL added in migration plan)– Primary, secondary audiences, etc.

• Level of effort is high if no analytics, minimal if every page is tagged• Completed by content strategist and / or information architect


Step 2: ID Owners Identify an individual owner for each page of content • Owners responsible for final content, might not write it directly • Should be included in website discovery and planning processes• Should be included in administrative and content training • Opportunity to become your strongest advocates!


Step 3: ID ROT

Review all inventoried content, identifying all content ROT:• Redundant: About Us info, fast facts, program / class info• Outdated: events, schedules, fast facts, program / class info• Trivial: “insider” info better included on intranet, etc.

• Evaluation owned by content strategist• Level of effort is very high and dependant on total # of pages


Step 4: Present Page-level Recommendations

Develop page-level recommendations within the site map and content migration plan, resolving any ROT and other content challenges by recommending the following for the owner to address:• Pages to delete• Pages to add• Pages to combine or edit significantly • Pages to edit / update minimally

• Recommendations made by content strategist• Level of effort is moderate and dependant on engagement of owners


Step 5: Owners Revise Content

After finalizing page-level direction with content strategist, contentowners oversee or directly execute delivery of final site content.• Communicate expectations and timelines clearly and often• Provide training and support for less confident owners• Provide a standardized Word or document template• Level of effort is moderate and dependant on engagement of owners

• NOTE: Content development continues throughout design phase and even after launch toward optimization, so stress the “living” nature of your site content to lower the stakes for your owners and keep the process moving!


Step 6: Begin Migration

After finalizing page-level site map and content migration plan withowners, page-to-page migration can begin! • Content migration plan is your color-by-number, page-level plan• With a plan, migration can be completed by students / interns w/ oversight • Level of migration and QA effort is high and dependant on # of pages in site • NOTE: Beginning migration is dependant on the CMS being fully tested and

functional within its production environment.


Step 7: Quality Check Migrated Content

Conduct various levels of quality control and testing to confirm viability of

migrated content throughout process and at completion.• Visual check: Is spacing and formatting correct?, etc.• Link check: Are all the links directing visitors appropriately upon click?, etc.• Check content migration resources’ work throughout process to identify and

address any bugs, issues and needs in an agile way• Level of effort is high and can be accomplished via automated and manual

processes


Step 8: Go Live & Repeat!

Content goes live, owners evaluate performance and optimize.• Level of effort is moderate


Project Outcomes & Takeaways


• EMG’s approach was that of a marketing & a web development consultant

• Before design and development of the site began, EMG gained a true understanding of:• The College• Its marketing strategies• Its culture

• EMG included all constituencies in focus groups and discovery interviews• Faculty, staff & students• Generated buy-in and commitment• Campus community felt heard and involved

Added Value


• Don’t underestimate the resources and time it takes to migrate content

• Sweat the little stuff

• Involve faculty in the development

• If you are not IT, involve them!

Lessons Learned


• An attractive, robust and highly functional institutional website

• A great, adaptable marketing tool

• A community that loves its website!

Ultimate Outcomes


Q & A


Thank you for your time!

Dave Diehl, MBAExecutive Director,Marketing & Communications [email protected]

Amanda Vande Brake, MAVice President, Client [email protected]