Web Content Strategy (MCS 8)

Web Content Strategy: Effective Pairing Multimedia, Social Media and Text
Romana Amato, Web Strategist for Saint Xavier University

Romana summed up her content strategy goal as working to create a distinct user experience. While simply said, there are many steps to achieving that outcome. First, the action of finding useful and usable content to lure users to your site. Then, once published listen to how the audience reacts and learn from that engagement.

How to select appropriate content? Follow the journalists and answer the 5W’s and 1H.

• Who is the target?
• What is the relevance of your content to them.
• When is the content fresh or can it be reused?
• Where should that content be placed to maximize its effect?
• Why do we place it online?
• Edit ruthlessly to answer these questions and then look at How the content can be layered to build upon other pieces.

Romana said that you can really benefit when you “re-purpose content across channels. Tell them, tell them again and increase the awareness across your sites.”

She used food references to help explain her layering concept, “Think about cake layers or lasagna. Pasta and sauce are individually great but brought together it’s better.”

Some suggested take-aways:

• Keep videos short (less than 3 minutes)
• Work with others who can use content such as local TV
• Bring conversations to webpages, pull Twitter RSS to department pages
• Let staff talk, planning to interview faculty and admissions counselors
• Track content (uses spreadsheets)
• Find weak areas and seek content to beef it up, photos etc.
• Engage students as the eyes and ears you need to tell the story

Her final thought was to remember that your message must be clear and focused and that will help the different audiences sift to find their answers.