You’re struggling to keep up with content governance. How can you make it more manageable?

1 Audit your content

The first step to improve your content governance is to audit your existing content and evaluate its quality, performance, and compliance. A content audit can help you identify issues, gaps, opportunities, and risks in your content portfolio. You can use tools like Screaming Frog, ContentWRX, or Google Analytics to crawl, analyze, and report on your content metrics. A content audit can also help you create a content inventory, which is a spreadsheet or database that lists all your content assets and their attributes, such as title, URL, format, owner, status, and so on. A content inventory can help you track and manage your content lifecycle and dependencies.

2 Define your content strategy

The next step to improve your content governance is to define your content strategy and document it in a content plan. A content strategy is a roadmap that outlines your content goals, audience, tone, style, topics, channels, and measurement methods. A content plan is a detailed document that specifies your content actions, tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities. A content strategy and plan can help you align your content with your business objectives and user needs. They can also help you communicate your content vision and expectations to your team and stakeholders. You can use tools like CoSchedule, Airtable, or Trello to create and manage your content plan.

3 Establish your content roles

The third step to improve your content governance is to establish your content roles and assign them to your team members. Content roles are the functions and responsibilities that each person has in the content creation and maintenance process. For example, some common content roles are content strategist, content writer, content editor, content reviewer, content publisher, and content manager. By defining your content roles, you can clarify who does what, when, and how in your content workflow. You can also avoid duplication, confusion, or conflict among your team members. You can use tools like Contentful, WordPress, or Drupal to assign and manage your content roles and permissions.

4 Implement your content guidelines

The fourth step to improve your content governance is to implement your content guidelines and enforce them across your content ecosystem. Content guidelines are the rules and standards that govern your content quality, consistency, and compliance. They include aspects such as content format, structure, tone, voice, grammar, spelling, accessibility, SEO, and branding. By following your content guidelines, you can ensure that your content meets your users' expectations and your organization's requirements. You can also reduce errors, revisions, and rework in your content production and maintenance. You can use tools like Hemingway, Grammarly, or Yoast to check and improve your content guidelines.

5 Monitor your content performance

The fifth step to improve your content governance is to monitor your content performance and evaluate its impact. Content performance is the measurement of how well your content achieves your goals and satisfies your users. It involves collecting and analyzing data on your content metrics, such as traffic, engagement, conversion, retention, and satisfaction. By monitoring your content performance, you can assess the effectiveness and efficiency of your content strategy and plan. You can also identify areas for improvement, optimization, or innovation in your content portfolio. You can use tools like Google Search Console, Google Data Studio, or Hotjar to monitor and report on your content performance.

6 Update your content regularly

The sixth and final step to improve your content governance is to update your content regularly and keep it fresh and relevant. Content update is the process of reviewing, revising, or removing your content assets based on their performance, feedback, or changes in your goals, audience, or environment. By updating your content regularly, you can maintain your content quality, accuracy, and usefulness. You can also enhance your content value, authority, and trustworthiness. You can use tools like Google Alerts, Feedly, or BuzzSumo to stay updated on your content topics and trends.