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Other tabs in the inventory workbook can be created to track related information, such as meta keywords, new Web pages to develop, website tools and resources, or content inventories for sub-areas of the main website. Creating a single, shared location for information related to a website can be
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For an existing website, the information cataloged in a content inventory and content audit will be a resource to help manage all of the information assets on the website. The information gathered in the inventory can also be used to plan a website re-design or site migration to a
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A content inventory and a content audit are performed to understand what is on a website and why it is there. The inventory sheet, once completed and revised as the site is updated with new content and information assets, can also become a resource for help in maintaining
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Other descriptors may need to be captured on the inventory sheet. Content management experts advise capturing information that might be useful for both short- and long-term purposes. Other information could include:
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of information assets on a website. It is the assessment of that content and its place in relationship to surrounding Web pages and information assets. The content audit will answer the question: “Is it any good?”
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of a website. It simply logs what is on a website. The content inventory will answer the question: “What is there?” and can be the start of a website review. A related (and sometimes confused term) is a
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88:) is the preferred tool for keeping a content inventory; the data can be easily configured and manipulated. Typical categories in a content inventory include the following:
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rank of the page on the website – is it a top 50 pages? a bottom 50 page? Initial efforts might be more focused on those pages that visitors use the most and least.
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Populating the spreadsheet is a painstaking task, but some up-front work can be automated with software, and other tools and resources can assist the audit work.
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and
Microsoft Excel to link a data attribute with a structural attribute to create “a tool that can be used throughout the lifetime of a website.”
52:(e.g., keywords, description, page title), images, audio and video files, and document files (e.g., .pdf, .doc, .ppt). A content inventory is a
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page status – keep, delete, revise, in revision process, planned, being written, being edited, in review, ready for posting, or posted
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Over the years, techniques for creating and managing a content inventory have been developed and refined in the field of website
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when the page was created, the date of the last revision, and when the next page review is due
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516:"Doing a Content Inventory (Or, A Mind-Numbingly Detailed Odyssey Through Your Web Site)"
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A content inventory typically includes all information assets on a website, such as
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368:"Content Inventory: Sometimes referred to as Web Content Inventory or Web Audit"
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566:. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 26 May 2009. Archived from
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helpful for all website content managers, writers, editors, and publishers.
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and to track new pages, page revision dates, content owners, and so on.
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Meta page title — Page title as it appears in the meta <title> tag
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are closely related concepts, and they are often conducted in tandem.
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is the process and the result of cataloging the entire contents of a
464:"The Content Inventory: Roadmap to a Successful CMS Implementation"
194:. When planning a new website, a content inventory can be a useful
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is a practical guide to conducting content inventories and audits.
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264:"Content Strategy for the Web: Why You Must Do a Content Audit"
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Content owner — Person responsible for maintaining page content
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543:"Automatically Index a Content Inventory with GetUXIndex()"
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Kevin P Nichols' Content
Inventory and Audit Template
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Colleen Jones writes from a UX design perspective in
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Audit
Comments (or Notes) — Audit findings and notes
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the overall topic or area to which the page belongs
150:a short description of the information on the page
135:Date page last updated — Date of last page update
120:Meta keywords — Keywords as they appear in the
126:Meta description — Text as it appears in the
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594:A Map-Based Approach to a Content Inventory
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618:Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook
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390:"Content Analysis: A Practical Approach"
32:that content. A content inventory and a
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612:Content Analysis: A Practical Approach
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434:"Doing a content audit or inventory"
289:"Doing a content audit or inventory"
128:meta name="description" tag element
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122:meta name="keywords" tag element
432:Baldwin, Scott (January 2010).
344:Spencer, Donna (January 2006).
287:Baldwin, Scott (January 2010).
491:. October 2011. Archived from
462:Krozser, Kassia (April 2005).
388:Jones, Colleen (August 2009).
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605:The Rolling Content Inventory
412:"Content Analysis Heuristics"
217:Web content management system
192:web content management system
346:"Taking a content inventory"
317:Marsh, Hilary (March 2012).
159:pages that link to this page
541:Bruns, Don (January 2021).
514:Veen, Jeffrey (June 2002).
366:Doss, Glen (January 2007).
319:"How to do a content audit"
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676:Content management systems
410:Leise, Fred (March 2007).
227:Information architecture
200:information architecture
198:tool: as a guide to map
156:pages this page links to
99:Format — For example, .
24:. An allied practice—a
54:quantitative analysis
641:Similar Page Checker
63:qualitative analysis
564:"Content Inventory"
325:on 1 September 2013
260:Halvorson, Kristina
80:application (e.g.,
28:—is the process of
671:Website management
646:Link Checker Tools
631:Xenu's Link Sleuth
495:on 2 November 2011
237:Website governance
196:project management
184:website governance
71:content management
522:on 31 August 2015
18:content inventory
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92:Link — The
78:spreadsheet
40:Description
660:Categories
243:References
232:Web design
30:evaluating
548:3 January
499:8 October
46:web pages
526:27 April
469:27 April
444:27 April
417:27 April
395:27 April
373:27 April
351:27 April
299:29 April
206:See also
48:(HTML),
22:website
574:4 May
329:2 May
269:6 May
177:Value
576:2010
550:2021
528:2010
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113:.ppt
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105:.pdf
101:HTML
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