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Web content management predictions for 2004
By Gerry McGovern
This is the year when web content comes of age.
Organizations will slowly stop viewing content as some cost that
needs to be managed. Instead, they will begin to see content as
an asset that can drive profits and productivity. A new role will
emerge within many organizations: the publisher/editor.
Finally, content gets taken seriously in 2004.
Management will start thinking about content in a whole new way.
Content will emerge as a strategic asset. Better organizations
will begin to identify processes that will ensure the creation
of high quality content, and reduce the creation of poor quality
content.
Driven by the emergence of the view of content as an asset, the
process of organizational restructuring will gather pace. The
role of the chief information officer will come under pressure,
as such people tend to have a technology-centric view of information.
The battle between IT and communications/marketing
over who should be in charge of the website will continue. Communications
will ultimately win. But IT will fight hard as it has a lot of
budget to lose, and will have to downsize if it loses responsibility
for the Web.
The average communications department will be in for a big shake-up.
Many organizations communicate with staff and customers not because
they see any major benefit in it, but simply to be seen to be
doing it. With content now being viewed as a potential asset,
that will require a very different type of communications department;
one with a much sharper profit and productivity focus.
The practice of delegating content creation to
the most junior resource will decline. Those who can create quality
content will start getting recognized and rewarded more. Content
creation will be added to the job specification of many more people.
Writing for the Web will emerge as an important new skill. There
will be a particular focus on getting people to create content
that drives actions. Writers will begin to think more about how
their target audience search, and write content accordingly.
Metadata will be recognized as a crucial web writing skill. Keywords,
in particular, will be researched before a piece of content is
written. Then, these keywords will be included in the content.
The common practice today is to add keywords into a keyword metatag
after the content is written. This is not a good idea.
Information architecture will be recognized as
a publishing discipline, not some technical thing. Too many people
talk about information architecture in some weird language meant
for techies. Information architecture is about metadata, navigation,
search and layout. It is the responsibility of the editor.
Organizations who have multiple intranets or
public websites will see them for what they are: a significant
waste of time and money. Standard publishing processes and designs
will drive website consolidation as return on investment becomes
more of an issue.
Finally, someone will be put in charge of the
website. This person will be given real authority to say what
does and doesn’t get published. I know that this is a revolutionary
concept but it has been found to be effective in other areas of
management.
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