From our Future of Content Strategy: Accessible, Personalised and SEO Friendly webinar on February 11th 2021. Discover the Cyber-Duck way for establishing a future-proof content strategy that works at scale.

1. Future of Content Strategy:
Accessible, Personalised, and SEO-Friendly
Presented by
#ContentDuck
February 2021

2. #ContentDuck
House rules
Meet the experts / intro to Cyber-Duck
Presentation 1: Performing a Content, Audience and UX Audit
Presentation 2: SEO 101 and the Value of Content
Presentation 3: Keeping Accessibility in Mind
Presentation 4: A Future-Proof Method to Structuring Content
Presentation 5: Your Publishing Strategy
Summary
Q&A
Agenda

3. #ContentDuck
• The webinar will run for 1 hour.
• The webinar will be streamed on Zoom and YouTube.
• There will be time at the end for Q&A session.
House Rules

4. #ContentDuck
House Rules
To submit a questions:
Zoom - Open the chat window by clicking the Q&A button located
at the bottom of your screen
YouTube - Please use the chat box on the right of your screen
You can also post questions on Twitter after the webinar using the
hashtag #ContentDuck

5. Paul Crichton
Head of Accessibility
and Digital Inclusion
Camilla West
Digital Content
Strategist
Laura Devonald
Head of Client
Services
#ContentDuck
Meet the experts
Tod Khanian
UX Designer

6. #ContentDuck
Together, we transform digital
For over 15 years, clients have trusted us to transform complex websites, content and applications.
Our ISO certified UX and Web & Mobile Development methodology includes user research and
change management. We also undertake data and technology auditing and strategy. Established in
the UK, our remote-first team gives us unlimited scale, breadth and depth.

7. #ContentDuck

8. #ContentDuck

9. #ContentDuck
Demystifying Content Strategy

10. Simply put...
Your content strategy is what connects
your business's content efforts with your
goals and user needs.
#ContentDuck
What is a content strategy?

11. • It's a process.
• It's a framework.
• It's the rules you follow in order to
achieve what you want to achieve.
#ContentDuck
What is a content strategy?

12. What goes into a content strategy?
#ContentDuck
• Demystify: Who you are, and where you are.
• Define: Who you are trying to reach and why.
• Design and Develop: How will you achieve this.
What is a content strategy?
Your brand
Risks and opportunities
Technological advancements
Market forces
Competitors
DEMYSTIFY
Implement
Management
Ongoing analyses
DEVELOP
Strategy
Structure
Governance
DESIGN
Personas and filmographics
Data, goals and KPIs
DEFINE
Auditing
(accessibility, content,
heuristics and SEO)

13. • Adapting: To changes in technology, legislation and society.
• Adopting: New practices, tools and frameworks.
• Planning: Establishing a forward-looking approach.
The best content strategies AREN'T static.
#ContentDuck
What is the Future of Content Strategy?

14. Performing a Content,
Audience and UX Audit
SEO 101 and the Value of
Content
Keeping Accessibility in
Mind
A Future-Proof Method to
Structuring Content
Your Publishing Strategy
DEFINE DESIGN + DEVELOP
#ContentDuck
What you'll learn today

15. Tod Khanian (Cyber-Duck)
Performing a Content,
Audience and UX Audit
#ContentDuck

16. #ContentDuck
Can your users find
what they’re looking for?

17. #ContentDuck
DELIGHTFUL
Make your content

18. You need to audit your current content
But before you can audit your content you need to:
1. Define you audience
2. Define your goals
How?
1. Talk to the stakeholders
2. Carry out user research
#ContentDuck
Your Audit

19. Personas vs Firmographics
vs
#ContentDuck

20. Now the content audit.
For every page on your website:
• Importance
• Analytics
• Content theme / type
• Quality of content
• User stories
• Persona groups
• Content potential – keep / delete / merge
#ContentDuck
Your Audit

21. Text
Bullet point
Bullet point
GA Users
GA New
Users
GA Sessions
GA % New
Sessions
GA Bounce
Rate
https://www.sportengland.org/ 165040 125371 195687 64.07 0.54 home OK
As a user I want to have an overview of
Sport England
No All keep
https://www.sportengland.org/
about-us/
22148 5563 9089 61.21 0.4 about us N/A
As a user I want to have an overview of
who SportEngland is
No All merge
This page does not have any
content, it's only links
https://www.sportengland.org/
activelives/
1453 302 840 35.95 0.24 research N/A
As a user I want to have an overview of
Active Lives Surveys
No PG3 merge
This page is a news page, would
be good to surface this content
elsewhere too (maybe on https://
www.sportengland.org/active-
nation/)
https://www.sportengland.org/
activenation/
1769 790 1520 51.97 0.13
news &
features
OK
As a user I want to know what is SE
strategy to keep tha nation active
No PG1 merge
Analytics Content
theme
Persona
group
Action Recommendation
User story Statutory
obligation
Quality of
content
URL
#ContentDuck

22. Where it started...
SEO for search engines
• Keyword stuffing
• The use & reuse of keyword
variations
• Keywords on every HTML tag
• Keyword use in domain name
Simpler algorithms
Black hat SEO / Hidden keywords
Where it was...
Offsite SEO becomes more relevant
• Keyword in important places -
MetaData, URLs, H1 Tags,
distributed within content etc.
• Exact match still matters
• Links matter more - internal and
external
Authoritative backlinks driving better
ranking on search engines
Google fights back against black hat
SEO practices and link farms
Where it is...
The user matters more than ever
• Tagging keywords remains important
• Greater emphasis on solving the user
searches
• Semantic matching is more relevant
(related keywords)
• Keywords, phrases and concepts
'commonly associated' provide
support
• Backlinks more accurately measured
• More emphasis on UX and site
metrics
SEO becomes a powerful tool in your
content and business strategy
#ContentDuck
The Future of Search is the User

23. 1. Define your audience first
2. Define the goals of your organisation
3. Content audit
4. User experience
#ContentDuck
In Conclusion

24. Laura Devonald (Zest Digital)
SEO 101 and the Value of Content
#ContentDuck

25. #ContentDuck
Technical:
Structure, speed, friendliness cross-device
On page:
Content, markup, meta
Off page:
Links, mentions
SEO 101

26. #ContentDuck
Keyword Research

27. #ContentDuck
Keyword Research

28. • Brand Awareness:
Mentions, content views, referrals or back links and website sessions / new visitors.
• Engagement:
Time on site, page views, bounce rate and social engagement.
• Generating leads / revenue:
Data captured, form completions, downloads and conversion rates.
• Customer retention:
Content consumed by existing customers and website sessions / returning visitors.
What do Content Marketing KPIs look like?
#ContentDuck
KPIs

29. • Average sessions per month
• Average leads per month
• Website to lead conversion rate
• Sales
• Lead to sale conversion rate
• AOV/LTV
#ContentDuck
Key Metrics

30. • Average sessions per month: 10,000
• Average leads per month: 200
• (Website to lead conversion rate: 2%)
• Sales: 25
• (Lead to sale conversion rate: 12.5%)
• Revenue: £25,000
• AOV: £1,000
#ContentDuck
Key Metrics

31. "I want to increase my revenue by 50%!",
"I want to increase my engagement by 50%"....
#ContentDuck
Goals
• Average sessions per month: 10,000
• Average leads per month: 200
• (Website to lead conversion rate: 2%)
• Sales: 25
• (Lead to sale conversion rate: 12.5%)
• Revenue: £25,000
• AOV: £1,000

32. #ContentDuck

33. ROI: Revenue / investment
£12,500 / £5,000 = 2.5
£12,500 / £1,000 = 12.5
#ContentDuck
ROI

34. Identify
A set of relevant KPIs to
track for measuring the
success of your
content.
A dashboard /
scorecard for measuring
and displaying KPI
results.
Create
Evaluate
How well your content
is reaching the goals
and KPIs set.
Change
Strategies, tactics and
processes need to
improve the
performance and
generate ROI.
How well have your
changes helped you to
reach your goals / KPIs?
Re-evaluate
#ContentDuck
Building a process to measure
KPI success over time

35. 1. Contents value can be measured -
the question is what are you measuring?
2. Every business is responsible to know
their metrics (and use them!)
3. Keyword ranking requires time
and patience
#ContentDuck
In Conclusion

36. #ContentDuck
Paul Crichton (Test Partners)
Keeping Accessibility in Mind

37. 1. Business reasons
2. Legal reasons
3. Moral and ethical reasons
4 Principles:
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust.
#ContentDuck
What does “Accessibility” mean...
And why you need to consider it?

38. Accessibility needs to be ingrained into the DNA of your
business and content strategy.
#ContentDuck
Accessibility is not just a trend
• WHO has identified over 2 billion disabled people – 20% of whom
live with functional difficulties that greatly impact day to day lives.
• 1.3 billion people are affected by some form of blindness and
visual impairment.
• 466 million people have a disabling deafness and hearing loss.
• The number of individuals with dyslexia in the UK is around 10%
of the population.

39. 1. Find or hire some expertise
2. Make accessibility a core part of your business
3. Reuse other people’s solutions
#ContentDuck
How to…

40. #ContentDuck
Manage accessibility over the lifecycle
1. Shift left
2. Test template pages, components and integration
3. Use automation tools, when the pages are ready for it
4. Repeat

41. 1. Navigate/interact with a page
using only your keyboard
#ContentDuck
Takeaway: 5 simple accessibility tests for everyone

42. 2. Check pages for unique titles
#ContentDuck
Takeaway: 5 simple accessibility tests for everyone

43. #ContentDuck
Takeaway: 5 simple accessibility tests for everyone
3. Check for helpful error messages

44. #ContentDuck
4. Check for captioned videos
Takeaway: 5 simple accessibility tests for everyone

45. #ContentDuck
Takeaway: 5 simple accessibility tests for everyone
5. Check links are obvious and sensible

46. Government Digital Service (GDS) WCAG 2.1 Primer
https://alphagov.github.io/wcag-primer/all.html
W3C WCAG 2.1
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
GDS Design patterns
https://design-system.service.gov.uk/patterns/
Easy Checks – A First Review of Web Accessibility
https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/preliminary/
Test Partners - accessibility
https://www.testpartners.co.uk/accessibility_testing.htm
#ContentDuck
Tools

47. Tod Khanian (Cyber-Duck)
A Future-Proof Method
to Structuring Content
#ContentDuck

48. • Needs to be intuitive
• Needs to be tailored to your users
• Keep it simple
• Think about the copy
• Iterative process
• Testing
#ContentDuck
Information Architecture

49. • Sitemap sections
• Content pages
• Content title
• User story
• Needs writing?
#ContentDuck
Content Mapping

50. FUNDING
SE funds
As a user I want to find out about the funds available so that I can decided if I can
apply for them
New content required
As a user I want to the learn more about the funding process so that I can make an
informed decision if it can help me with me/my project/organisation
As a user I want to know which funding is applicable to me so that I can make an
informed decision
As a user I want to find out if I can apply for funding from SE so that I can use it for
me/my project/organisation
As a user I want to have an overview of the funding process so that I can decide if its
right for me/my project/organisation
Links to subpages
Community Asset Funds
Community Asset Funds As a user I want to know what asset fund are available for local communities New content required
https://www.sportengland.org/funding/
community-asset-fund/
The page needs link to the
Community Asset application page
As a user I want an overview of the Asset Fund so that I can decide if its suitable for
me/my project/organisation
As a user I want guidance on how to apply for the Asset Fund so that I can find out if
its right for me/my project/organisation
As a user I want guidance on how to apply for the Asset Fund so that I can be
successful in my application
Small Grants
Small Grants
As a user I want to know what funding programs are available to charities, volunteers
and local communities so that I can decide if its suitable for me/my project/
organisation
New content required
https://www.sportengland.org/funding/
small-grants/
As a user I want an overview of the Small Grants funding programme so that I can
decide if its suitable for me/my project/organisation
As a user I want guidance on how to apply for the Small Grants Fund so that I can
find out if its right for me/my project/organisation
Page Content title User story Seed content Notes
Needs
writing?
#ContentDuck

51. • Page hierarchy
• Page titles
• Heading and sub-headings
• Accessibility
• SEO
#ContentDuck
Wireframing

52. Content
mapping
Information
architecture
Content
creation
Wireframing
Content audit
Testing
SEO
Accessibility
Content migration
#ContentDuck

53. • You need the right CMS
• Migration
• Personalisation
• Automation
#ContentDuck
What CMS are you using?

54. Make your content:
1. Intuitive
2. Tailored
3. Accessible
4. Delightful
#ContentDuck
In Conclusion

55. #ContentDuck
Camilla West (Scroll)
Your Publishing Strategy

56. Not all content is created equal
#ContentDuck

57. Different types of content serve different purposes -
and are ‘delightful’ and ‘engaging’ in different ways.
Who (and what) is the content for?
• Personas
• User journeys and user needs
• Business KPIs
Editorial vs publishing
• Website migrations
• Content ownership
• Permanent content
• Campaign content
#ContentDuck
Not all content is created equal

58. #ContentDuck
Anyone can write, yeah?

59. • User research
• User stories and needs
• Content design patterns
• If in doubt, test it out
Content is part of UX, so give its design the same effort
Tone of voice is important but not at the expense of user need
Readability is part of accessibility
#ContentDuck
Anyone can write, yeah?

60. #ContentDuck
So how does a content strategy help?

61. • Be an essential part of delivering KPIs
• Help your people understand user-centered design
• Improve your organisation’s risk profile
• Knowledge management when you need it (or when crises happen)
• Giving your users confidence
• If you professionalise content, it gives your internal stakeholders confidence
So how does a content strategy help?
#ContentDuck

62. The future’s bright, the future’s ...
#ContentDuck

63. • What to publish, what not to and
what should go
• Rules and guidelines
• Content types
• Workflows internally and with
stakeholders
• Governance models and practice
• Asset management
• Reporting
Content operations - the backbone of your strategy
Doing this well gives efficiency and frees up your subject
matter experts’ time (and more importantly your own)
#ContentDuck
The future’s bright, the future’s doing the dull things well

64. #ContentDuck
Useful Links
Government
• How to write user needs
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/user-needs
• Writing well for users, including specialists
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/writing-for-gov-uk
• Making your writing accessible
https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/making-analytical-publications-accessible/
Readability
• Hemingway readability checker
http://www.hemingwayapp.com/
• Checker from the writer
http://www.thewriter.com/what-we-think/readability-checker/
Looking for help with a content strategy or content training?
Get in touch with us at scroll.co.uk

65. #ContentDuck
To Conclude

66. 1. Don't underestimate the importance of audience research
and content auditing.
2. Create KPIs that allow you to measure the true value of
content.
3. Put in the extra effort to create universally accessible content.
4. Content structure is just as important as the copy itself.
5. Doing the 'dull' things well, frees up time for the more
exciting activity.
#ContentDuck
Key Takeaways

67. COMPOSING &
COLLABORATION
SEO
WEB ANALYTICS
BLOGGING & CMS
AUTOMATION &
PERSONALISATION
PROMOTION
#ContentDuck
Finding the right tools for your business

68. Tod and our team are available to chat about your
specific content and UX challenges. We’d love to
discuss them over a virtual coffee ☕.
You can reach us at...
Email: hello@cyber-duck.co.uk
Twitter: @cyberduck_uk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cyber-duck
#ContentDuck
What is your content challenge?

69. Email: hello@cyber-duck.co.uk
Twitter: @cyberduck_uk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cyber-duck
#ContentDuck
Q&A Session
Let’s answer your questions from Zoom and YouTube

70. #DevOpsDuck
Thank you