What is Metadata?
Metadata is a term that many Content Strategists, Editors, and Designers will come across when creating deliverables including the content inventory and content audit. It's also commonly used in Content Management Software and when migrating old content to a new website.
This term Metadata just details the attributes of content to either structure, define, and target content.
Metadata is useful in structuring content using XML, which helps shape content across multiple devices and platforms. Metadata also defines what types of content it is when doing the content audit and inventory another term would be to tag content. Even helping Publishers, Editors, and anyone who works with content find previous content in a Content Management Software where it was stored using tags.
There are many more ways to structure, define, and target content but these are the basics for how Metadata can contribute in a simple content strategy deliverable.
The only goal of Metadata is to extend the capability of content in data driven processes. Which basically means there's data about data and that's what Metadata is all about.
It's important that it can describe the content itself and other constraints that can occur. For example, a headline for a platform may have a constraint of 64 characters so Meta-data would define a container that only allows 64 characters for a headline. Letting a person who is dealing with content know that there's a container for a headline that only allows 64 characters for that platform. There are many complex ways of breaking down content within containers and constraints, but this is a basic example.
This helps both editors and designers to plan for content and create special containers in which content will be distributed.
Most of the time Metadata usually includes dates, times, subject topics, content types (PDF, Audio, Word Doc) and constraints. If you don't know how to start Metadata for a project this information is a good start for tagging or writing the details about your content.
Metadata is commonly used within the work environment to help employees understand what type of content they are dealing with. But it is also starting to be revealed to users within search engines. I'm also noticing social media platforms introducing search engines as a part of the user experience.
Which can have a tremendous effect on google analytics and measuring page performance. Most organizations have a way of measuring pages, but very few have ways of measuring actual content performance on a page.
If your measuring page performance then Metadata in search engine results will definitely deter users from clicking on your website. This isn't all that bad. For example, a small business owner selling basic print services might find growth in sales, not through the website, but within the actual location of the business. Although there are fewer clicks than normal and that could be due to the fact that customers just wanted to know the time the store closed and google provided that detail in the simple Meta-data they provided within the search results.
As technology and platforms become more sophisticated Metadata will have to evolve with new advances and I'm sure Metadata will become more important than ever before, but for now it's basically needed only to define, structure, and target content.