Introduction

Content is, without argument, the single most important part of the entire equation when it comes to building a successful online presence. All the shiny technology in the world, all the latest social media tools, all the advertising, all the budget – none of it means anything at all unless you have good, solid content which your users want to see.

What is ‘good' content? As ever, it depends….

For one person, ‘good content' might simply be an up-to-date listing of what is on at your cultural heritage institution over the coming weekend. For another, an in-depth academic paper on some aspect of your museum collection might be what they're looking for.

Determining how your institution can serve the best possible content to the audience you are looking to attract is a complex task. To do it effectively, you have to be in a position where you understand, among other things:

We'll spend the rest of this chapter looking at how content is created, how it flows around your organization, how you keep it up to date and some of the processes and systems that you can use to help you with these tasks.

Managing content

Managing content is a complex activity and entire industries have grown up around so-called ‘Enterprise Content' and the way in which content moves around organizations. In this section we'll have a look at some of the issues which typically surround the management of this content.