Content in Context

Hi. There’s been a lot of buzz lately about a new practice within the field of web design and development called content strategy.

Credit: Matt P. (sitterd)

What is content strategy?

In brief, content strategy is the professional practice of planning for the creation, design, delivery, and governance of high-quality digital content.

Among other benefits, content strategy prevents errors in context and communication like the one in the photo above. (Metaphorically speaking.)

Web content strategists are distinct from web editors and content managers in that they specialize in the strategic planning process; they have a core set of tools and methodologies and provide specific services to their clients and employers. They work closely with user experience designers — information architects and interaction designers — and contribute to web projects throughout the life cycle of design and development.

Content strategy has a community of practitioners, each of whom is engaged in contributing to the broader definition. As communication specialists, we like to talk about it. A lot.

This website constitutes one entry point into that conversation. You can start by reading my thoughts, visiting some of my colleagues’ sites (linked in the right-hand sidebar), or exploring other content strategy resources.

Content strategy ensures high quality web content. Please keep reading to learn more about it.