{
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    "title" : "Crafting quality content throughout its lifecycle |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Crafting quality content throughout its lifecycle",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2024/11/12/crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Crafting quality content throughout its lifecycle","deck" : "Tips for content maintenance and governance","summary" : "Learn about the life cycle of content, how content comes across to the user, and how to develop a content management strategy.","date" : "2024-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"frances-carden" : "Frances Carden"},"topics" : {
        
            "communication" : "Communication",
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "governance" : "Governance",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",
            "social-media" : "Social media"
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      "filename" :"2024-11-12-crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2024/11/2024-11-12-crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-12-crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-12-crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle.md","slug" : "crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2024/11/12/crafting-quality-content-throughout-its-lifecycle/","weight" : "1","content" :"\u003cp\u003eDigital content is like a puppy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou must care for it, feed it, and meet its needs at various points in its life. If you think publishing content is the end, think again. You’ve only just gotten the puppy. Now you need to support it and give it a good life.\nBest practices for excellent content include establishing processes to maintain quality and accuracy, setting up a governance structure, and standing up a content team.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"content-maintenance\"\u003eContent maintenance\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first step is to look through your legacy content. Just because something was published online does not mean that it must stay there forever. Strategies to keep your content fresh include:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-to-analytics/\"\u003eWeb analytics\u003c/a\u003e: Use analytics tools to track the views that a page gets. If a page is receiving little to no views, it might be ready to retire.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/09/12/a-conversation-about-content-audits/\"\u003eContent audits\u003c/a\u003e: Complete a thorough audit of the content on your site to help decide when to retire, consolidate, or update content that is accessed frequently.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnmanaged content is a liability. Content standards ensure that your digital presence remains relevant and reliable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBe sure to carefully examine all content eligible for publishing. Sometimes, less is more. Ask yourself:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDo you really need this content online?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow long will it stay relevant?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat kind of maintenance will it need?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow difficult will it be to make your content \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/accessibility/\"\u003eaccessible\u003c/a\u003e?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDo the answers to these questions justify the effort?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContinually assess your digital presence and make sure your content is the right size for your audience’s needs. This is also a good time to update the accessibility of your older, still relevant content, in accordance with \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/delivering-digital-first-public-experience/\"\u003ethe requirements for delivering a digital-first public experience\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvaluate the media platforms used by your agency. Ask questions like:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhere does your content currently reside?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAre people getting the content they expect, where they expect to see it? For example, are you making your videos available where people expect to see videos?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow do people prefer to receive their content?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlign your content’s tone, style, and writing with the expectations your users bring to a certain platform. For example, your social media posts may be more casual than the information on your official website. Additionally, consider your audience’s knowledge of a subject and design your digital content with empathy. Creating \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/12/08/making-gsa-public-art-collection-more-accessible/#80415bae6d45e8a24d65a44c07509734\"\u003euser types\u003c/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/05/19/personas-learn-how-to-discover-your-audience-understand-them-and-pivot-to-address-their-needs/\"\u003epersonas\u003c/a\u003e is an excellent strategy for better understanding how your audience might approach or first encounter your digital content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"content-governance\"\u003eContent governance\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you go through the lifecycle of creating, maintaining, updating, and removing content, a \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-to-digital-governance/\"\u003egovernance strategy\u003c/a\u003e is key to success. Governance strategies will help you determine the right metrics to evaluate your digital content’s impact on your audience, and help you maintain content by assigning ownership. Effective governance strategies allow content managers to:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHandle sensitive content that needs legal or accessibility review\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVerify content with subject matter experts (SMEs) across your agency\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnderstand when and how to seek formal approvals and from whom\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntegrating governance into your content management processes builds overall organizational investment in creating and maintaining quality digital content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContent governance may look different at your agency depending on how digital teams and functions are organized. \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2023/02/23/digital-governance-at-gsa/\"\u003eGSA\u0026rsquo;s digital governance framework\u003c/a\u003e provides an example of how to manage and improve digital services in government.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"creating-small-and-scrappy-teams\"\u003eCreating small and scrappy teams\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGovernance strategies are particularly empowering for small teams, especially for organizations that don’t have formal content management structures in place. Adopting a \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-to-digital-governance/\"\u003egovernance strategy\u003c/a\u003e can empower small teams to use their limited resources efficiently by setting up formal roles and responsibilities. Small teams can establish an agile publishing process to focus on smaller segments of content, such as releasing a minimum viable product (MVP) first, and gradually including enhancements and updates over time. Success could even look like decommissioning old content and focusing on slowly and measurably adding new content that meets a high standard.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout this process, believe in and leverage your employees, and empower their \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/professional-development/\"\u003ecareer trajectories\u003c/a\u003e. This inspires creativity and alignment with the agency’s mission and goals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-can-i-do-next\"\u003eWhat can I do next?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuality content depends on continuously assessing your site content and digital presence process, and establishing a governance structure that keeps your team on track to achieve its goals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExplore an \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/an-introduction-to-structured-content/\"\u003eintroduction to structured content\u003c/a\u003e to learn more about how to treat your content like data and transform how your users find, understand, share, use, and reuse government information.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can also join the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/web-content-managers/\"\u003eDigital.gov web managers community of practice\u003c/a\u003e to learn more about how other government web practitioners implement governance strategies to manage content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note \"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/uswds/img/sprite.svg#notifications\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      Note\n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThis blog post was inspired by the third session of the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/event/2024/03/13/spring-2024-community-summit/\"\u003eSpring 2024 Digital.gov Community Summit: Delivering a digital-first public experience\u003c/a\u003e, which focused on crafting and maintaining quality content. These topics included content governance, establishing clear ownership roles, definitions of success, and creating efficient, small and scrappy teams.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis session’s panelists included\u003c/strong\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSession moderator, \u003cstrong\u003eRyan Johnson\u003c/strong\u003e – content strategist at the General Services Administration (GSA)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRosamund Lannin\u003c/strong\u003e – content designer at the General Services Administration (GSA)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJoe Galbo\u003c/strong\u003e – social media specialist at the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSally Harris\u003c/strong\u003e – managing director of Digital Media and Creative Services at the Department of Education (ED)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n"}
  ]
}