A recent publication on content strategy for the web, discusses a number of points and important things to consider in relation to content development and content strategy. Taking a few minutes to read the following summary of some of these points, and keeping them in mind throughout the predevelopment stage and life of the website, can significantly improve the efficiency and impact of both the content gathering and planning processes and how much you get out of your online investment in the long-term.

Content isn’t easy. Most web project schedules postpone content development until the eleventh hour. As a result, content quality is often seriously compromised. When we practice content strategy, we ensure that our web content is treated as a valuable business asset, not an afterthought.
There are no shortcuts. Creating useful, useable content requires user research, strategic planning, meaningful metadata, writing skills, and editorial oversight. It requires people with experience, insights, judgment, planning, input, time, and resources. For web content to be successful, it needs to meet users’ needs and support key business objectives.
Figure out what you have and where it’s coming from.
Start with a content audit. A content audit calls for an accounting of all currently existing content, often recorded in an Excel spreadsheet that details specific attributes of the content. If you don’t know what content you have now, you can’t make smart decisions about what needs to happen next. Before you ever begin to brainstorm about which content you need, you must understand exactly what you have [whether it is on your existing website, print material, Excel spreadsheets, or handwritten notes]. By creating clear goals for the website in advance, you can tailor the kind of information you catalog and where you direct your content development efforts to best meet your needs.
Less is more.
Online, when it comes to informational, marketing, or promotional content, more is almost never more. By publishing less content, you will have less content to keep track of over time. We seem to think that our content will somehow continue to maintain itself, without care and feeding. Outdated product descriptions. Broken links. Irrelevant search engine results. The countless ways in which our web content dies on the vine are painful, and sometimes dangerous. It’s one thing to ignore our web content. It’s another to neglect content that may expose us to legal action [or lost business] by a customer or competitor.
Put someone in charge of content and all content related decisions.
Your organization needs to have an empowered, informed individual who is The Person in Charge of All Things Web Content. This person will be charged with the same duties as an editor-in-chief (or executive editor) is for print publication. This person should be responsible for maintaining a very close eye on your content—what needs to be developed, how it will be published online, and keeping it up-to-date once it’s live, and tasked with the day-to-day oversight of content standards and processes.
Ask “Why?”
The process of developing a content strategy will force your organization to examine its reasons for delivering content online. Always ask yourself, “Why is this necessary?” “Why am I publishing this?” “What/who is this information for?” Generally speaking, your web content is useless unless it supports a key business objective and/or supports a user (or customer) in completing a task.

Eli Pariser laid it all out in this eye-opening TED talk, and received a standing ovation for his trouble. His book on the topic, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You, is available on Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.