Everyone's a Publisher on the Internet

by Barry Bealer

Jan 2001

From PhillyTech, January 2001

In the past, most of us were infrequent publishers. Maybe our organizations printed catalogs twice a year. Maybe our marketing departments designed and updated brochures.

Now manufacturing companies want to complement their e-commerce initiatives with interesting, relevant content. HMOs want to build brand identity through trustworthy, online health-care information.

We are all publishers, and we can all learn from the publishing industry's experience in developing and managing quality content to support the bottom line. The key is a three-tiered plan for content strategy, acquisition and architecture, and management.

Content Strategy

Many of us have been through the strategic business planning process, but how many of us have taken the next step by mapping our strategic business goals to our Web-site content assets? Do you know how the content on your site will help you hit your revenue commitments?

If not, consider a site audit to identify your assets and how they are, or are not, supporting your business goals. You might be missing exactly the content your visitors most want. You might discover that you have the right content, but that it isn't useful to your audience because of how it's published. Understanding what content your target market views and how they use it is fundamental to meeting your strategic objectives.

Acquisition

After you create a content strategy, begin to implement it through content acquisition and architecture. License or develop content to fill the holes you identified. Improve the return on investment of your current content through better data design or improved licensing agreements. Find ways to better leverage internal content assets.

From improved plans for logically "slicing" content for different demographics, to choosing new content partners for better overall value, content acquisition and architecture should ultimately allow you to mold your site into a better product and possibly create new revenue streams.

Management

Finally, if content is part of your strategy, ensure your success with the right content management system. Don't risk your investment by doing the minimum needed to maintain your site. Take the time to fully investigate your options. Get help, and don't forget that Web development companies often know as little about content management as you do.

Current tools offer a broad range of functionality, much of which you won't need but might end up paying for. In addition, current trends suggest a consolidation of content management product companies over the next 12 to 18 months, making a thorough evaluation especially critical.

Be prepared for sticker shock: An average system can range from $50,000 to more than $1 million. Generally, you can predict the total expense to purchase and fully integrate a new content management system by doubling the cost of the product itself.

Whatever your business, if you're on the Web, you are also a publisher. Your success will be affected by your ability to develop and manage content-based products. You can learn from publishers by creating and implementing a content strategy that will help you meet your revenue commitments.