Even small web projects need a content strategy
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This document discusses the need for even small websites to have a content strategy. It describes how the National Council on Family Relations website launched a Flash animation banner without a clear content strategy, resulting in unanticipated technical and maintenance issues. A basic content strategy could have helped by articulating objectives, assigning roles, and planning for resources and updates.
Even small web projects need a content strategy
- 1. Even small web projects need a content strategyJason Samuels, NCFR Technology ManagerJuly 20, 2010
- 2. National Council on Family RelationsFounded in 1938Premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of familiesNCFR WebsiteLaunched in 2006Organization re-branded in 2008Branding bolted on to website in 2009Website redesign in progress (early-2011)2
- 3. NCFR Website Banner (old)3Original website design included a banner graphic
- 4. NCFR Website Banner (new)4After applying new graphic standards, this space was empty
- 5. A Flash animation to fill the gap!5
- 6. Good idea, but…No idea how much work it would takeUnprepared for affirmative response from members we asked (82 of 85 said yes!)No plan for long-term maintenanceIn short .. no content strategy6
- 7. A crash course in Flash animationOriginal idea was to have pictures fading in and out, replacing each other until the final fade out to “We are NCFR”Used 50 high resolution photosIt was slick, beautiful, and a 12MB fileStart over from scratch, resize the pictures first, use only enough to fill the space7
- 8. An inclusive solution8Ten different versions – each contains 16 photos.A scheduled task on the server rotates the banner file every 15 minutes.(Each file = 60-70KB)
- 9. Maintenance issuesThe week it launched, two members requested we use a different pictureNo mechanism in place to ensure featured members are current on their duesFlash animation is labor intensive – changing one picture requires multiple edits in the animation path. If that affects the picture next to it, workload snowballs9
- 10. How content strategy could have helpedArticulate a purpose for the animation and how it furthers the NCFR brandPlan for the resources needed to create and maintainSet guidelines for what members are featured and how often it gets updated10
- 11. It goes to show that content strategy isn’t just for large projects, and doesn’t need to be complicated11
- 12. Four simple considerationsKey ObjectivesContent OwnerTechnology/Publishing ImplicationsMaintenance Implications12
- 13. A baseline content strategyKey ObjectivesMake NCFR homepage more attractive, foster engagement of organization members by featuring themContent ownerMarketing & Public Affairs Depts. determine who is featuredTechnology Dept. does the technical work to make it happenTechnology/Publishing ImplicationsAnimation file size must be small enough to not affect homepage performanceMaintenance ImplicationsNeed a mechanism to verify member status4 hours of work every 3-6 months to update13