WHAT'S CONTENT ANALYSIS? 9 QUESTIONS TO GET STARTED.
^^ I wanted an excuse to put a few dog gifs, okay!! ^^
It might be hard to find an exact content analysis definition, but this quick overview should help you understand what a content analysis example should look like. Even better, it'll give you a better idea of where to start.
WHAT IS CONTENT ANALYSIS?
To get started, let's do a quick overview of what a content marketing analysis is. At the most simple form, a content analysis definition is a research method for evaluating all of the content you have. By doing a content analysis for your site, brand, etc., you put numbers to the content. You're able to quantify what your content is doing for you and how you can adjust and change what you have, add new content pieces, and get even closer to your goals.
The point or purpose of doing a content analysis is to figure out your overall content strategy. A few goals could be figuring out data points and how you are defining them, establishing relevancy and context, and defining what you want/should be measuring.
9 QUESTIONS TO GET STARTED
1. How much content do we have on our current site/channels?
Simply going through and logging what content you have on your site will do wonders. You'll be able to see how much you have, what gaps there are, and will have a list of what you have.
Pro tip: use an SEO crawler to grab all of your landing pages/URLs so you don't have to go through your entire sitemap.
2. Do you know what quality our content is?
Dig into how your content is performing. Look back to the original goals and see how it's stacking up. Are you getting the conversions you wanted? Is the content providing brand awareness via engagement or site visits? etc. Whether you have a custom analytics software or are looking at google analytics, you can start to get a high-level idea of what is working.
Pro tip: create an excel/sheets file that lists out your content. Include a column for goal reporting so you can track, at a quick glance, which content pieces are the best.
3. Do we know the owners are for our current content?
This should be self-explanatory. Knowing who owns the content allows you to understand and track it a lot better.
Pro tip: in the excel/sheets file you create (see above) add a column for who owns it, published it, etc. so you can keep track of which channel it belongs to, who had the original vision/goals for it, etc.
4. Do you expect to archive old & poor quality content for the new site?
Once you have a full understanding of what content is on your site, go through and prioritize what you want to rework, repost, and archive. If it's not performing well, archive it. If it's old, outdated, or poor quality, archive it. If your users aren't reacting well to it, archive it.
Pro tip: create a list of old URLs and list out the new URLs or 301s (redirects). You'll have a list that outlines which pages will be archived and which will be redirected if they have traffic.
5. Do you know who is going to write—or rewrite—all the content for the new site?
Like #4, know what content is worth creating or rewriting. Establish a list of the content you want to create and rewrite and list. Also list out who will be responsible for actually writing it.
Pro tip: with any project—new or old—write out what needs you have from the team. Do you need copy, design, and dev? Do you just need copy? Are you a small scrappy team and you'll have to do all of it? Write it down so you can track it—this will help you know who to give credit to, as well.
6. Does someone have overall responsibility for content quality during the project & beyond?
If your team has a content strategist, they should be responsible for content quality during the project and beyond. If not, establish who is. Most importantly, hold that person accountable.
Pro tip: like the tip above, keep track of who owns the performance of the content. Bullet #2 says to track out the goal so you can know who should be checking it.
7. Do you know how many hours per week will be dedicated to maintaining content on the new site? How many are currently dedicated to it?
It's important to understand the velocity of your team. How much can each contributor handle in a given week or month? Once you establish that, you'll understand how much time you'll want to dedicate to maintaining the content.
Pro tip: create a document that tracks how many hours each person spends on each project. You'll start to see trends and will know where you can fill in content maintenence.
8. Do you know if any content is living in other spaces?
Link-building, outreach, digital PR, etc. are all paramount in today's digital marketing landscape. As you build more and more relationships, you'll start to create content that lives in other spaces AND you'll get content in
Pro tip: create an ongoing list that outlines any outside contributors, websites, articles, etc. that has branded content living somewhere else. You'll be able to see
9. Do you have a content style guide?
It's critical to have an idea of what success looks like for your content. It's equally critical to have an established style guide so you have consistency across content. By doing so, you'll create a cohesive user experience (UX) and build trust.
Pro tip: create a folder completely designated to your content style guide & resources. Put successful project docs, give examples of great copy, and any other items that will help establish what success looks like.
Now that you have a definition for what a content analysis is and now have a handful of questions to start your content analysis, you can dive in and see if this strategy works for you. If you've got some suggestions or best practices that you've tried out, send them my way.
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