Who creates content and where should it come from?

Right back in 1996-97, when I first worked on major corporate web projects, most of the site content was selected based on the fact that brochureware etc already existed for X topic. My role as copywriter required me to do little more than chop it up and shorten a few bits. In my view, this was at the root of why so many sites 'in the early days' were distinctly sub-par: they were little more than push-button versions of a company's existing brochures.

I am surprised that this approach is still apparently quite widespread. I thought companies had largely recognised this was fraught with danger. But I think it might explain why there continue to be fundamental problems with so many sites' content.

When companies or individuals create something like a brochure, video etc, they are creating a piece of content that will be 'consumed' by the reader, user, attendee or viewer in a particular way depending on the specific medium of that piece of content and its means of delivery. Thus a brochure tends to be 'consumed' in one sitting, read from front to back, delivered on a piece of paper. It also tends to be of a fairly promotional, 'glossy' tone, rather than down-to-business nitty-gritty and basics.

When you come to use that material as the base for content online, in more cases than not, it fails to achieve what it should do.

Editorially, web copy needs to be sharper, punchier, more colloquial than in print. It also tends to be more 'down-to-business' and used less to create a sexy, shiny showcase for broader corporate values, ambitions, etc.

Structurally, web content needs to take a number of things into account such as information architecture and user interface design: can such & such information type be created using clever database architecture so that you can serve it more flexibly, update it more easily and so on. If you compare that to, say, a brochure, where the principal structural consideration is 'will it fit in the space on page 6', it's clearly a far more complex issue.

Graphically, too, there are huge differences: a sexy photo or video in a brochure or conference presentation probably won't fit down most people's connection pipe.

Of course the other side to this argument is that there is huge value in utilising existing materials - after all, a lot of the subject research work will have been done. There is also a large quantity of existing knowledge inside the staff that work for company X re their firm's activities, personality, etc. All this is clearly of great value, but ONLY if it is steered and shaped in a way that maximises that value in a web (or iTV/wireless) environment.

So what I'm saying is (a) 'content creation' is a massive beast - way beyond simply getting a few words onto a web site - and (b) that it thus represents a huge opportunity for a number of different parties.

My hunch is that too few companies out there, whether agency or client, do really 'get' the content game. Rather than seeing it in its broader, more strategic context, they view it as not much more than information gathering and creation.

This is a great misjudgement.

The planning, creation and updating of a site's content offering has tentacles out to every other part of that business' activity. Commercial: does the content make us money per se; does it successfully point users towards purchasing what we're trying to sell them on the site; does our content have a value to 3rd parties that we can exploit? Technological: does our site content sit on a decent technological base that enables it to be served quickly, flexibly, easily; can we use personalisation technology to focus content at a specific user; should we be developing additional content types for new access platforms like iTV or wireless? The list could go on.

The value of getting content right is clearly paramount to the success of the overall business. For a 'dotcom', your content IS your business. Just as companies got it wrong in the last 2-3 years by trying to accumulate as much content as possible (spending huge sums without thinking what content they REALLY needed), they are now getting it wrong a second time by cutting back on content spend - still without thinking through what content they REALLY need. There's too much kneejerk reaction going on out there (not only with content); a little more considered thought and planning is what's needed.

This leads onto point (b) re opportunity. There's a clear opportunity for agencies to up the ante on the content front and bridge the gap I've outlined above.

If I was in an agency's shoes, I would ensure I possess a content offering along the following lines.

1. Content strategy and planning

Agency Y can make money from clients by including additional content planning services into the development stages of any project. Spending time outlining to clients at an early stage that simple repurposing of existing brochure (& other) content just doesn't cut it is entirely justifiable. Time and consideration is needed to plan the best strategy for identifying content sources - and that equals more fee revenue.

Likewise, agency Y should be working with clients to identify the content types they should create that generates the best ROI. Especially in these tighter days, firms are more conscious about avoiding the creation of content for content's own sake. So analyse what type of content will have the most potential for encouraging revenue, whether direct or indirect. Think about whether info type X would provide an attractive section to a potential sponsor or encourage a greater number of page views and hence ad revenue. Is subscription a possibility - for all or parts of the site? Which other firms could derive some value from your content on their own sites (or Intranets)?

Many agencies and clients also need to formulate content creation guidelines. All individuals creating content should be following them, ensuring you get consistency between different people (esp after staff have moved on). Should it be 'web site' or 'website'? How many words should that homepage feature be? Are we using UK or US English? What are the key 'values' of our online personality? Those guidelines need to be formulated and created as a document/Intranet page.

2. Content creation and copywriting

Beyond the initial planning, agency Y can make more money by pro-actively offering ongoing content creation and copywriting services to clients. If your offering's good enough, why let a client's own copywriter or PR agency collect the fees for activities that you could sell them? Even if it's sub-contracted out by the agency, there's still the agency cut and the ability to appear even more broadly skilled to your clients. Also, by bringing these activities under your umbrella, you can project manage them better into the overall undertaking.

Teach clients how to create a decent e-mail newsletter or improve their community content offering. Keep them updated on new techniques and case studies that are relevant to their own content offering. Propose the development of additional content elements for use in new channels or business sectors. The list really is endless.

For all of the above, there's always going to be a fine line to tread as an agency between proposing too much upfront ("You need this element of consultancy, plus that - not forgetting the other...") and missing out on potential revenues. Obviously, the trick is to present a watertight case for it. But I think there is a watertight case for what I'm talking about here. Too many companies are just failing to get it right - and it's costing them dearly, sometimes even their very existence.

The other fine line for an agency to tread is to make the client feel sufficiently 'empowered' (eg thro' letting them update content themselves and derive cost savings), while ensuring you still retain an ongoing revenue stream from them. But that's largely down to you, the agency, keeping sufficiently aware of developments in the industry (ie one step ahead of the client) and being able to present pro-actively a case for them to the client.

So am I right? Have we still failed to learn that a web site is so much more than an electronic brochure page? If you're a client, does your agency provide you with these types of content services? If you work agency-side, are you already providing similar services to clients? Are they effective?

NOTE: For more insight into the 'content game', download e-consultancy's Interactive White Paper entitled 'Content that works' at:
http://www.e-consultancy.com/book/publications.asp