Overcoming Content Challenges

A comprehensive guide to overcoming your content challenges and growing your business online.

Overcoming Content Challenges

Learn effective strategies to overcome common content-related challenges and take your business to the next level …

Content ChallengesContent is a vital tool and a critical strategy for driving growth, building brand authority, and engaging with customers.

If you are experiencing challenges or have concerns about using content to grow your business, this comprehensive guide will help you address these effectively.

From cost and time constraints to fears of negative feedback and doubts about ROI, you will find actionable insights and practical solutions here.

info

To address and resolve challenges with existing content, see our Content Troubleshooting Guide.

Are Content-Related Concerns Preventing Your Business From Growing?

Using content to grow a business can be challenging and prevent you from fully embracing and investing in content-driven strategies that could benefit your business in areas like:

  • Visibility and Reach: Content allows you to reach a wider audience. Through strategic content creation and distribution, you can increase your visibility online and attract potential customers who may not have otherwise discovered you.
  • Establishing Authority: Quality content positions you as an authority in your industry or niche. By sharing valuable insights, knowledge, and expertise through content such as blog posts, articles, and videos, you can build trust with your audience and establish yourself as a credible source of information.
  • Engagement and Connection: Content provides opportunities to engage with your audience at a deeper level. Creating content that resonates with your target audience’s interests, challenges, and aspirations creates meaningful connections and allows you to build relationships that can lead to greater customer loyalty and advocacy.
  • Driving Conversions: Effective content has the power to drive conversions. Whether through compelling product descriptions, informative buying guides, or persuasive case studies, well-crafted content can influence purchasing decisions and ultimately lead to increased sales and revenue.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Content plays a crucial role in SEO. By regularly publishing high-quality, relevant content optimized for relevant keywords, you can improve your search engine rankings and attract organic traffic to your website, enhancing your online visibility and accessibility.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to traditional forms of advertising, content marketing is a cost-effective strategy that can be used to help businesses of all sizes. With the right content strategy, your business can generate significant results without allocating large budgets to advertising campaigns.
  • Long-Term Benefits: Unlike temporary advertising campaigns, content has long-term benefits. Once published, evergreen content can continue to attract traffic, generate leads, and drive conversions over a long period, providing ongoing value to your business.

Common Content Challenges

The following sections provide practical solutions and strategies that will help you address and resolve these common content-related challenges and concerns:

  • Cost Concerns – Cost concerns are a significant barrier for many businesses. Budget constraints shouldn’t hinder your content activities. We will explore budget-friendly strategies and tips for maximizing ROI even with limited financial resources.
  • Time Constraints – Time constraints can make working with content seem overwhelming. We’ll look at practical and effective time management strategies and techniques for time allocation, delegation, and automation to streamline content processes.
  • Resource Constraints – Limited resources can be challenging, but they don’t have to be a roadblock.  We’ll look at ways to make the most of limited resources, optimize existing resources, find innovative solutions for resource management, and leverage external resources and technology to enhance your content activities.
  • Lack of Knowledge – A lack of knowledge about content processes can be a significant barrier. We’ll look at educational resources and training opportunities to help your business build its content-related knowledge base.
  • Lack of Expertise – Building expertise is essential for successful content activities. We will explore ways to develop in-house expertise and the benefits of partnering with external experts and agencies.
  • Uncertain ROI – Uncertainty about ROI can deter businesses from investing in content-related activities. We will look at how to measure and demonstrate ROI, providing strategies for long-term success.
  • Previous Bad Experiences – Past failures shouldn’t prevent future success. We’ll look at ways of helping your business analyze previous bad experiences to develop new strategies and ensure positive outcomes.
  • Content Not A Priority – Making content marketing a priority is crucial for long-term growth. We will discuss ways to integrate content into your overall strategy and its long-term benefits.
  • Not Seeing Immediate Results – While content is a long-term strategy, there are ways to achieve immediate results. We will provide tips on setting realistic expectations and tracking progress.
  • Concerns About Content Quality – High-quality content is essential for success. We will look at strategies for creating and maintaining consistent, high-quality content that will resonate with your audience.
  • Doubts About Effectiveness – Demonstrating the effectiveness of content marketing is crucial for justifying investment. We’ll explore data-driven approaches to show success and continuous improvement.
  • Content Saturation – In a saturated market, standing out is challenging. We will explore differentiation strategies and the importance of niche content and unique value propositions.
  • Fear of Negative Feedback – Negative feedback can be intimidating but also valuable. We will discuss managing and responding to feedback to turn criticism into growth opportunities.
  • Unclear Objectives – Clear objectives are crucial for content success. We will explore how your business can define and align its goals, ensuring measurable success.
  • Fear of Change – Change is essential for growth. We will address how to overcome resistance to new strategies and highlight the benefits of adaptation and innovation.
  • Content Complexity – Content activities can seem complex. We will break down the process into manageable steps, offering streamlined strategies for success.
  • Business Disruption – Integrating content activities with your business processes should not disrupt your operations. We’ll discuss seamless integration and balancing traditional and modern methods.
  • Preference for Traditional Marketing – Combining traditional and content marketing can enhance overall strategy. We’ll explore the synergy between the two and how it can lead to successful integration.

Let’s go through each of these challenges and look at practical solutions to help you overcome them.

Content Challenge: Cost Concern

Businesses often worry about the financial investment required to create high-quality content. They may fear that the costs will outweigh the benefits, leading to a reluctance to allocate a budget towards areas like developing a content strategy, content planning, content production, content marketing, content promotion, and content management.

Additionally, small businesses or those with limited budgets may feel they cannot afford the initial investment in content-related areas, and budget limitations can make businesses hesitant to allocate funds, especially if they are uncertain about the returns.

Investing in content areas can seem daunting due to perceived high costs, but it’s crucial to consider the long-term benefits.

Content marketing, for example, is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate leads, enhance brand visibility, and establish authority in your industry, and is adaptable to any budget.

Create a budget-friendly plan to start small with key pieces of content that provide the most value to your audience and prioritize high-impact, low-cost strategies such as blogging, social media, and email marketing to get started.

Over time, as you begin to see returns, you can gradually expand your content efforts. Many successful campaigns start with a modest budget and scale as they begin to see results.

By starting with a clear strategy and leveraging existing resources, you can manage costs effectively while maximizing impact, and set your business on a path to sustainable growth.

Here are some strategies and methods you can consider to manage content-related costs:

Cost-Effective Content Creation Strategies

Content Repurposing

Transform your existing content into different formats (e.g., blog posts into videos, podcasts into articles) and reuse it across multiple formats and platforms.

What you can do:

  • Turn blog posts into infographics, videos, or social media posts.
  • Combine several blog posts into an eBook or whitepaper.
  • Extract quotes and snippets from long-form content for social media updates.

User-Generated Content

Encourage customers and followers to create content related to your brand and leverage content created by your audience to reduce creation costs.

What you can do:

  • Encourage customers to share their experiences, post reviews, and tag your brand on social media.
  • Run social media contests and giveaways that require user submissions, and use the submissions as content.
  • Feature customer reviews, testimonials, and stories on your website and social channels.
  • Encourage customers to share their experiences and tag your brand on social media.

Content Curation

Curate relevant content from reputable sources in your industry and share and comment on relevant third-party content to engage your audience without creating new content from scratch.

What you can do:

  • Aggregate industry news and insights in a weekly newsletter.
  • Share and comment on relevant articles, videos, and infographics on social media or compile it into newsletters or blog posts, adding your insights and commentary.
  • Create curated lists or roundups on your blog.

Guest Blogging

Collaborate with other bloggers and businesses to share audiences and content.

What you can do:

  • Reach out to influencers and thought leaders in your niche, offering them a platform to share their expertise while providing your audience with valuable content.
  • Write guest posts for reputable industry blogs.
  • Invite industry experts to contribute to your blog.
  • Partner with complementary businesses for co-branded content and cross-promotions.

Collaborative Content

Partner with other businesses or influencers to share content creation efforts and create co-branded content.

What you can do:

  • Identify potential partners and propose mutually beneficial content projects like webinars, podcasts, or joint blog series.
  • Co-author blog posts or whitepapers with industry experts.
  • Conduct joint webinars or podcasts with partners.
  • Exchange guest posts with complementary brands.

Cost-Effective Content Creation Techniques

Batch Content Production

Create multiple pieces of content in a single session to save time and resources.

What you can do:

  • Set aside dedicated time blocks for content creation and focus on producing several pieces of content at once.
  • Plan and script multiple videos or podcasts and record them in one go.
  • Write several blog posts during a single writing session.
  • Schedule photo shoots to capture a library of images for future use.

Outsourcing and Freelancing

Hire freelancers or agencies for specific tasks rather than maintaining a full-time content team.

What you can do:

  • Use content outsourcing platforms like Fiverr, Freelancer, or Upwork to find skilled writers, designers, and videographers.
  • Engage agencies for larger projects or ongoing support.
  • Negotiate project-based or retainer agreements to manage costs.

In-House Content Creation

Train existing staff to produce content and encourage your team to contribute content to save on outsourcing costs.

What you can do:

  • Provide training and resources on writing and content creation best practices.
  • Encourage staff to contribute blog posts, social media updates, and other content.
  • Establish a content calendar to distribute workload evenly across the team and assign topics to team members.
  • Reward employees for their contributions with recognition or incentives.

Content Automation Tools

Use free or low-cost tools for content creation and management, and technology to streamline content creation, scheduling, and distribution.

What you can do:

Focus on Evergreen Content

Create content that remains relevant over time to maximize long-term value.

What you can do:

  • Identify topics with long-term appeal and produce high-quality content that can be referenced and updated periodically.
  • Develop how-to guides, tutorials, and industry best practices.
  • Focus on topics with lasting relevance rather than trending subjects.
  • Regularly update evergreen content to keep it current.

Use Templates

Develop reusable templates for different types of content and use pre-designed templates and frameworks to speed up content creation.

What you can do:

  • Create templates for blog posts, social media updates, email newsletters, and other content formats to streamline the creation process.
  • Use graphic design templates for social media posts, infographics, and presentations.
  • Implement editorial templates for blog posts and articles.
  • Create content frameworks for consistent structure across all content types.

Cost-Effective Content Creation Methods

Choose Cost-Efficient Content Formats

Choose content formats that are less expensive to produce.

What you can do:

  • Prioritize written content, such as blog posts and articles, over high-production video content.
  • Use simple video formats like webinars and live streams instead of highly produced videos.
  • Leverage podcasts, which often require lower production costs compared to video.

Invest in Scalable Content Solutions

Implement scalable content strategies that grow with your business.

What you can do:

  • Develop a scalable content strategy that can be adjusted as your business grows.
  • Use content management systems (CMS) to handle increased content production as needed.
  • Invest in tools and platforms that offer scalability, such as cloud-based storage and collaboration tools.

DIY Video Production

Create videos using affordable equipment and simple editing software.

What you can do:

  • Use smartphones, affordable lighting, and free or low-cost editing tools like iMovie (Mac devices), InShot, or DaVinci Resolve to produce high-quality videos.
  • Create live videos on platforms like Facebook Live or Instagram Live.

Leverage Stock Media

Use stock photos, videos, and audio to enhance your content.

What you can do:

Develop a Strong Social Media Strategy

Use social media platforms effectively to distribute content and engage with your audience.

What you can do:

  • Schedule regular posts using free tools like Buffer or Hootsuite.
  • Engage with followers through comments, likes, and shares.
  • Use platform-specific features like Instagram Stories, LinkedIn Articles, or Facebook Groups.

Build and Leverage Relationships with Influencers

Partner with influencers in your niche to amplify your content’s reach.

What you can do:

  • Identify and engage with micro-influencers who have a loyal following.
  • Offer value in exchange for their support, such as free products or services.
  • Collaborate on content that benefits both parties, like joint webinars or social media takeovers.

Email Marketing

Use email marketing to nurture leads and maintain engagement with your audience.

What you can do:

  • Build an email list through website sign-ups, lead magnets, and social media promotions.
  • Send regular newsletters with curated and original content.
  • Use email automation tools like Mailchimp or Aweber to segment your audience and personalize messages.

Participate in Online Communities

Engage in forums, social media groups, and online communities to share content and build relationships.

What you can do:

  • Join relevant industry groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Reddit.
  • Share your content and provide value by answering questions and offering insights.
  • Network with other professionals and potential customers.

Content Recycling

Refresh and update older content to keep it relevant and useful.

What you can do:

  • Review your content library regularly, identify outdated pieces, and update them with new information and insights.

Educational Webinars and Workshops

Host online events to share knowledge and engage with your audience.

What you can do:

Use platforms like Zoom or Google Meet to conduct webinars and workshops on topics relevant to your audience, leveraging your expertise and engaging directly with attendees.

Interactive Content

Create quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics to engage users.

What you can do:

  • Use tools like Typeform, SurveyMonkey, or Visme to develop interactive content that captures audience interest and provides valuable insights.

Leverage Content Distribution Networks (CDNs)

Use CDNs to efficiently distribute content and reduce costs related to bandwidth and hosting.

What you can do:

  • Use CDNs like Cloudflare or Akamai to distribute content globally with lower latency.
  • Optimize media files to reduce bandwidth usage.
  • Implement caching strategies to reduce server load and improve content delivery.

Prioritizing High-Impact Content

Identify Audience Needs

Conduct surveys and research to understand your audience’s pain points and interests.

What you can do:

  • Use feedback and analytics to identify the topics and formats that resonate most with your audience.

Optimize for SEO

Optimize content for search engines to increase visibility and organic traffic without paying for ads.

What you can do:

  • Implement SEO best practices to ensure your content ranks well in search results.
  • Perform keyword research to identify high-value keywords
  • Optimize on-page SEO elements like title tags, meta descriptions, and headers.
  • Build backlinks through guest posting, partnerships, and outreach.

Focus on Content Quality Over Quantity

Invest time in creating high-quality content that provides real value, even if it means producing less frequently.

What you can do:

  • Conduct thorough research to produce in-depth, informative articles.
  • Ensure content is well-written, visually appealing, and free of errors.
  • Regularly update and improve your best-performing content.

Analyze Performance Metrics

Track content performance using analytics tools to make data-driven decisions, focus on high-performing content, and reduce wasted effort.

What you can do:

  • Use Google Analytics, social media insights, and other tools to monitor website traffic. Measure engagement and conversion rates, and adjust your strategy based on data.
  • Track social media engagement and performance metrics.
  • Analyze content performance to identify and replicate successful content types and topics.
  • Use A/B testing to refine and improve content effectiveness.
  • Discontinue low-performing content efforts to reallocate resources and focus on what works best.

Create Content Calendars

Plan your content in advance to maintain consistency and focus.

What you can do:

  • Develop a content calendar that outlines topics, formats, and publishing schedules to ensure a steady flow of high-quality content.

By employing the above budget-friendly strategies, your business can effectively manage content-related costs and maximize its ROI while delivering high-quality, engaging content to your audience without overspending.

***

To continue reading this guide, click on the pagination tabs below …

Content Troubleshooting FAQs

Content Troubleshooting FAQs

Content Troubleshooting FAQsContent-related issues can be a significant roadblock in achieving your online goals, whether you’re running a website, managing a blog, or curating digital content.

From formatting glitches to broken links, these challenges can hinder user experience, decrease engagement, and impact your site’s overall performance.

However, identifying and resolving these issues effectively is crucial for maintaining a seamless and engaging digital presence.

We encourage you to use these content troubleshooting FAQs in addition to our Content Troubleshooting Guide to explore common problems encountered in content management, such as inconsistent formatting, outdated information, and SEO optimization errors,

Go through the FAQs below … we guarantee you’ll find solutions, practical tips, and strategies to diagnose content-related issues, implement corrective measures, and prevent issues from recurring in the future.

Content Strategy Troubleshooting FAQs

Whether you’re a content creator, website administrator, or digital marketer, mastering the art of troubleshooting content issues is essential for ensuring the quality, relevance, and accessibility of your online content.

By addressing these challenges proactively, you can enhance user satisfaction, boost search engine visibility, and achieve your content goals more effectively.

Here are frequently asked questions related to content troubleshooting in the following areas:

Why is our content not driving traffic or engagement?

It could be due to inadequate audience research or irrelevant content. Analyze your target audience‘s preferences and interests.

How can we improve our content’s SEO performance?

Ensure your content is optimized for relevant keywords, has proper meta tags, and high-quality backlinks.

What should we do if our content isn’t converting leads?

Review your call-to-action (CTA) strategy, ensure your content aligns with the buyer’s journey, and consider offering valuable incentives.

Our content production process is inefficient, how can we streamline it?

Identify bottlenecks, implement content calendars, collaborate with team members, and consider automation tools.

How can we address negative feedback or comments on our content?

Respond promptly, empathize with the commenter, and use constructive criticism to improve future content.

Our content isn’t resonating with our target audience, what should we do?

Reevaluate your content strategy, conduct audience surveys, analyze competitors, and experiment with different content formats.

What metrics should we track to measure the effectiveness of our content strategy?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) may include website traffic, engagement rates, conversion rates, and ROI.

Content Planning Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is our content not aligning with our target audience’s interests?

Review your audience research and personas to ensure your content addresses their pain points and interests.

How can we improve the consistency and quality of our content?

Implement editorial calendars, style guides, and content workflows to maintain consistency and ensure quality standards are met.

Our content production is falling behind schedule, what should we do?

Assess your content creation process for inefficiencies, delegate tasks effectively, and consider outsourcing or automating certain tasks.

What should we do if our content strategy is not yielding the expected results?

Conduct a comprehensive content audit to identify gaps and areas for improvement, then adjust your strategy accordingly.

How can we ensure our content is optimized for search engines?

Conduct keyword research, optimize meta tags and headings, and focus on creating valuable, relevant content that addresses user intent.

Our content is not driving engagement or conversions, what steps should we take?

Analyze your content metrics to identify weak points, experiment with different formats and distribution channels, and optimize your calls-to-action (CTAs).

How can we better align our content planning with our overall business goals?

Regularly communicate with key stakeholders, align content KPIs with business objectives, and adapt your content strategy as business priorities evolve.

What should we do if our content is receiving negative feedback or comments?

Address criticism constructively, engage with your audience to understand their concerns, and use feedback to improve future content.

Content Production Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is our content production process inefficient?

This could be due to lack of clear processes, poor collaboration among team members, or outdated tools. Conduct a thorough assessment to identify bottlenecks and streamline workflows.

How can we improve content quality while maintaining efficiency?

Focus on setting clear quality standards, providing training for content creators, and implementing regular quality checks throughout the production process.

What should we do if our content is not meeting deadlines?

Review your content calendar and production timeline to identify any unrealistic deadlines or resource constraints. Adjust deadlines accordingly and communicate with stakeholders about any delays.

Our content is not resonating with our target audience, how can we troubleshoot this?

Conduct audience research to better understand their preferences and pain points. Use data analytics to assess content performance and iterate based on insights.

How can we manage content production when resources are limited?

Prioritize tasks based on strategic goals, consider outsourcing certain aspects of content creation, and leverage technology to automate repetitive tasks.

What should we do if there are conflicts within the content production team?

Foster open communication, encourage collaboration, and establish clear roles and responsibilities to minimize conflicts. Address any issues promptly and diplomatically.

How can we ensure consistency across different types of content?

Develop comprehensive style guides and templates, provide training for content creators, and implement regular content audits to maintain consistency.

What metrics should we track to evaluate content production performance?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) may include production time, content quality scores, adherence to deadlines, and audience engagement metrics.

Content Marketing Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is our content not generating leads or conversions?

This could be due to ineffective targeting, weak calls-to-action (CTAs), or content that doesn’t address the audience’s pain points. Analyze your content strategy and adjust targeting and messaging accordingly.

How can we improve our content’s visibility and reach?

Enhance your content distribution strategy by leveraging social media, email marketing, guest posting, and SEO optimization. Additionally, collaborate with influencers or industry experts to extend your reach.

What should we do if our content is receiving negative feedback or criticism?

Listen to feedback with an open mind, identify areas for improvement, and engage with your audience to address concerns. Use criticism as an opportunity to learn and refine your content strategy.

How can we measure the effectiveness of our content marketing efforts?

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, engagement metrics, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI). Use analytics tools to gather data and analyze the impact of your content.

Our content is not resonating with our target audience, what should we do?

Revisit your audience personas and conduct thorough research to better understand their needs and preferences. Tailor your content to address their specific pain points and interests.

How can we overcome content production challenges such as limited resources or budget constraints?

Prioritize content initiatives based on strategic goals, repurpose existing content to maximize efficiency, and explore cost-effective production methods like user-generated content or curated content.

What should we do if our content is not ranking well on search engines?

Conduct keyword research to identify relevant search terms, optimize your content for SEO, improve website performance, and build quality backlinks to enhance search visibility.

How can we maintain consistency in our content marketing efforts?

Develop a content calendar or editorial schedule to plan and organize content creation and distribution. Establish clear brand guidelines and style standards to ensure consistency across all content channels.

Content SEO Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is my content not ranking well on search engines?

Content may not rank well due to various factors such as poor keyword optimization, low-quality content, insufficient backlinks, or technical SEO issues. Conduct a comprehensive SEO audit to identify and address the underlying issues.

How can I improve the visibility of my content in search results?

To improve visibility, focus on optimizing content for relevant keywords, creating high-quality and engaging content, building authoritative backlinks, and ensuring proper technical SEO practices such as mobile optimization and site speed.

What should I do if my website experiences a sudden drop in search rankings?

A sudden drop in rankings may indicate penalties, algorithm updates, or technical issues. Analyze recent changes to your website or SEO strategy, check for manual penalties in Google Search Console, and address any technical issues promptly to recover lost rankings.

How do I identify and fix keyword cannibalization issues?

Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your site target the same keyword, leading to competition and decreased visibility. Conduct a site audit to identify pages targeting the same keyword, consolidate or differentiate content, and use canonical tags to specify the preferred page for search engines.

What steps should I take to optimize content for featured snippets?

To optimize for featured snippets, create content that directly answers common questions, use structured data markup, format content in a Q&A style, and provide concise and relevant answers to target questions.

How can I diagnose and resolve issues with slow page loading times?

Slow loading times can harm SEO performance. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for improvement, optimize images and media files, enable browser caching, and consider upgrading hosting or using a content delivery network (CDN).

Content Promotion Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is our content not reaching our target audience effectively?

Possible reasons include improper targeting, insufficient promotion channels, or low-quality content. Conduct audience research to understand their preferences and behavior, and optimize your promotion strategy accordingly.

How can we increase engagement and visibility for our content?

Utilize a mix of promotion tactics such as social media marketing, email newsletters, influencer collaborations, paid advertising, and SEO optimization. Experiment with different approaches to find what resonates best with your audience.

Our content promotion efforts are not driving traffic to our website. What should we do?

Evaluate your promotion channels and messaging to ensure they align with your target audience’s interests. Optimize your content for search engines, improve the user experience on your website, and consider investing in paid advertising to boost visibility.

How can we leverage social media effectively to promote our content?

Develop a social media strategy that includes regular posting, engagement with your audience, use of relevant hashtags, and participation in relevant communities or groups. Monitor social media analytics to refine your approach and maximize reach.

Our content is not gaining traction on social media platforms. What could be the issue?

It’s possible that your content is not resonating with your audience or you’re not optimizing your posts for each platform. Review your content strategy, tailor your messaging to each platform’s audience, and experiment with different content formats and posting times.

How can we improve the effectiveness of our email marketing campaigns for content promotion?

Segment your email list based on subscriber interests, personalize your email content, use compelling subject lines and visuals, and test different email formats and sending times. Monitor email metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to refine your approach.

What should we do if our content is not gaining traction despite our promotion efforts?

Revisit your content strategy and quality, refine your promotion tactics, and consider reaching out to influencers or partners for additional promotion. Monitor analytics closely to identify areas for improvement and adjust your approach accordingly.

Content Management Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is our content not appearing correctly on our website?

This issue could be due to various factors such as coding errors, compatibility issues with the content management system (CMS), or caching problems. Start by checking the HTML code for errors, ensuring compatibility with the CMS platform, and clearing the cache to see if it resolves the issue.

How can we fix broken links or missing images in our content?

Broken links and missing images can detract from the user experience and impact SEO. Utilize website auditing tools to identify broken links and missing images, then update or replace them accordingly. Ensure proper file naming conventions and hosting to prevent future issues.

What should we do if our content is not ranking well in search engine results?

Poor search engine rankings may stem from inadequate keyword optimization, low-quality content, or technical SEO issues. Conduct keyword research, optimize meta tags, headings, and content for relevant keywords, and ensure proper site structure and navigation. Regularly monitor and update content to improve search visibility.

Why are we experiencing slow loading times for our content?

Slow loading times can result from large file sizes, excessive plugins or scripts, server issues, or inefficient coding. Optimize images and videos, minimize HTTP requests, and leverage caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to improve loading speed. Consider upgrading hosting infrastructure if necessary.

How can we address formatting issues in our content across different devices?

Formatting issues may arise due to inconsistent styling, CSS conflicts, or lack of responsiveness. Use CSS frameworks for responsive design, conduct thorough testing across various devices and screen sizes, and adhere to best practices for web design and development to ensure consistent formatting.

What steps should we take if our content is not engaging our target audience?

Poor audience engagement may indicate content relevance or quality issues. Analyze audience demographics and preferences, gather feedback through surveys or social media, and tailor content to address audience needs and interests. Experiment with different content formats and storytelling techniques to increase engagement.

Content Outsourcing Troubleshooting FAQs

Why is the quality of outsourced content not meeting our expectations?

Poor content quality may result from miscommunication, inadequate briefs, or hiring inexperienced writers. Ensure clear communication of expectations, provide detailed briefs with specific guidelines, and vet writers based on their experience and expertise.

How can we effectively manage deadlines when outsourcing content?

Deadline issues may arise due to poor planning, unrealistic expectations, or miscommunication. Set realistic deadlines based on content complexity and writer availability, communicate deadlines clearly, and establish regular check-ins to monitor progress.

What should we do if the outsourced content does not align with our brand voice?

Misalignment with brand voice could stem from inadequate brand guidelines or failure to communicate brand identity effectively. Provide detailed brand guidelines, including tone, style, and messaging preferences, and offer examples or references for clarity.

How do we handle revisions and edits for outsourced content?

Revision issues may occur due to unclear instructions or misunderstandings. Clearly outline revision policies and expectations upfront, provide constructive feedback, and establish a streamlined process for requesting and implementing revisions.

What steps should we take if there are confidentiality breaches with outsourced content?

Confidentiality breaches may result from inadequate contracts or insufficient vetting of freelancers. Implement robust confidentiality agreements, conduct background checks on freelancers, and limit access to sensitive information on a need-to-know basis.

How can we ensure outsourced content is optimized for SEO?

SEO issues may arise if writers lack SEO knowledge or fail to follow SEO best practices. Provide SEO training or guidelines to writers, specify keyword usage and placement requirements, and review content for SEO before publication.

***

Troubleshooting Your Content Plan

Troubleshoot common issues in your content plan to improve your content strategy.

Troubleshooting Your Content Plan

Learn how to troubleshoot common issues in your content plan to improve your content strategy.

Troubleshooting Content Plan Issues - Frustrated man using laptop.To establish a strong online presence and engage with your target audience, it’s essential for your business to develop a sound content plan.

However, even the most well-crafted plan can run into unexpected obstacles along the way.

Whether it’s a lack of clarity about your target audience, limited resources, or a failure to consider SEO, there are a number of common issues that can negatively impact your content plan.

In this lesson, we’ll explore some common problems that your business may face implementing a content plan and provide solutions and ways to address these.

By understanding these issues and knowing how to troubleshoot them, you’ll be better equipped to create a content plan that resonates with your target audience and helps your business reach its goals.

info

This article is part of our Content Troubleshooting Guide where we help you identify and fix content-related problems in your business.

***

Step 1 – Troubleshoot Your Content Strategy

Most content-related problems are a result of not having a sound content strategy in place, so if your content is not performing or delivering results as expected, the first thing to do is troubleshoot your content strategy.

If you are sure that the problems you are experiencing with your content are not strategic-level issues, the next area to look at is your content plan.

Step 2 – Troubleshoot Your Content Plan

Here are some common problems related to your content plan that can affect your content’s performance and results:

Lack Of Clear Goals And Objectives

Without a clear understanding of what your business wants to achieve with its content, it can be difficult to create a content plan that aligns with the overall strategy.

A lack of clear goals and objectives in your content plan can be addressed by setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your content.

For example, instead of setting a goal to “increase website traffic,” a more specific and measurable goal would be “increase website traffic by 20% over the next quarter by publishing two new blog posts per week.”

Insufficient Resources

Your business may not have the necessary resources, such as budget, personnel, technology, or time to execute its content plan effectively, thereby limiting the scope and reach of the content that you can produce.

For example, if you have a small marketing budget, you may not be able to produce high-quality videos or run expensive advertising campaigns.

To address issues in your content plan related to insufficient resources, your business must find ways to prioritize and optimize available resources.

This could be repurposing existing content, outsourcing certain tasks, or focusing on lower-cost marketing channels and activities like social media or email marketing.

Also, your business may allocate a budget for content marketing in its content strategy, but when the budget filters down to the content planning stage, the allocated budget may be insufficient to cover all that is expected to do. In this situation, your business either has to find or free up more resources or reevaluate its content strategy.

Lack Of Clarity Of Your Audience

Without a deep understanding of your target audience, it can be difficult to create content that resonates with them and drives engagement.

For example, you may create content that is too technical for a general audience, or not specific enough for a niche audience.

To address issues in your content plan related to a lack of clarity regarding your target audience, consider conducting market research to better understand your target audience’s demographics, interests, and pain points.

For example, you could conduct surveys or focus groups to gather information about your target audience or analyze customer data to identify patterns and trends.

For more information see this lesson on how to understand your target audience.

No Content Differentiation

If your business’s content is similar to that of its competitors, it can be difficult to stand out and attract and retain customers.

Issues related to a lack of content differentiation can be addressed by researching and better understanding your target audience, their pain points and interests, and creating content that addresses their specific needs and interests.

For example, if your company sells a weight loss supplement, you could differentiate your content by creating a series of blog posts on healthy recipes, workout plans, and success stories from real customers who have used your supplement.

Inadequate Content Distribution

Even the best content can fail to generate results if it is not distributed effectively. Your business needs to have a distribution plan that reaches your target audience.

Issues related to inadequate content distribution can be addressed by identifying the most effective channels to reach your target audience and utilizing these to distribute your content.

For example, if you are targeting young professionals, you could find that you’ll get better results distributing your content on LinkedIn and Instagram, while if you are targeting stay-at-home parents, you may find more success on Facebook and Pinterest.

No Content Measuring Or Evaluating

Without measuring or evaluating your content’s performance, it can be difficult to determine what is working and what is not, identify areas for improvement, and improve your results.

For example, you may produce a high volume of content but fail to track engagement or conversions, making it difficult to understand the impact of the content on your business.

To address issues in your content plan related to a lack of measurement or evaluation, establish clear goals and metrics for your content and track its progress over time.

For example, you can use analytics software to track website traffic, conversions, and engagement, or conduct surveys to gather feedback on your content and use it to improve future content.

Lack Of Content Focus Or Consistency

If your business fails to publish content consistently, you risk confusing, alienating, or losing your audience, and failing to establish yourself as an authoritative source in your industry.

For example, if you regularly produce content on different topics, you may struggle to build a following or establish yourself as an expert in any one area.

To address issues in your content plan related to a lack of focus or consistency, establish a content calendar that includes regular content topics, themes, or formats, such as a weekly blog post or a monthly video series focusing on one industry or niche, and stick to it.

No Content Integration With Other Marketing Efforts

To maximize the impact of your content marketing activities, you need to ensure that your content integrates with other marketing efforts, such as social media, email, and advertising.

Issues caused by a lack of integration with other marketing efforts can be addressed by creating a content marketing plan that aligns with your overall marketing strategy and goals.

For example, if you are running a social media campaign to increase brand awareness, you could integrate your content by creating shareable social media posts featuring the content and including the campaign hashtag.

Difficulty Creating Engaging And Relevant Content

Creating content that resonates with your target audience and aligns with the goals of your business can be challenging.

To address this issue, use data and research to understand the current content landscape and identify content gaps that your business can fill, and conduct research to gain a deeper understanding of your target audience, including their demographics, pain points, and interests.

Use this information to create unique and valuable content that addresses your audience’s needs and interests, and test and experiment with different types of content to see which resonates best with them.

No Sense Of Storytelling

Your content should be able to tell a story and engage your audience, instead of just being a series of bullet points or facts.

Issues related to no sense of storytelling can be addressed by incorporating storytelling elements into your content, such as relatable characters, a clear conflict, and a satisfying resolution.

For example, if your business sells a productivity app, you could create a series of blog posts featuring real-life examples of how the app has helped different types of users, such as small business owners, students, and stay-at-home parents to increase their productivity.

Not Enough Focus On Content SEO

Not optimizing your content for search engines can limit its visibility and reach, and cause your business to miss out on valuable organic traffic.

For example, you may produce great content but fail to optimize it for search engines by ignoring warnings and suggested fixes from your Google Search Console dashboard.

Troubleshooting Content Plan Issues: Google Search Console - Improve page appearance.
Consider implementing suggestions from Google on how to improve your content’s search engine optimization.

To address issues related to a lack of consideration for SEO, ensure that your content is optimized for search engines by reviewing SEO guidelines, including relevant keywords, meta tags, and alt tags.

Also, make sure that your site is mobile-friendly with a fast page loading speed, and has a clean and structured site architecture.

View our lesson on Content SEO.

Limited Understanding Of Analytics

Without understanding the metrics that matter, it can be difficult to assess the effectiveness of your content plan and make data-driven decisions.

For example, you may focus on increasing website traffic but neglect to track conversions or sales.

To address issues related to a limited understanding of analytics, consider investing in tools and training to help your team track and analyze key metrics and use analytics software to track website traffic, conversions, and engagement, or consider hiring a data analyst to help make sense of the data.

Content Plan Not Flexible

A content plan that is not flexible can limit the ability to adapt to changes in the market or the industry.

For example, if you are not willing to pivot your content strategy to reflect changes in customer needs or industry trends, your business may struggle to stay relevant.

To address issues in your content plan related to a lack of flexibility, be willing to pivot your strategy as needed to adapt to changes in your market or industry.

For example, conduct a content audit and regular reviews of your content to identify areas that need improvement and make adjustments accordingly.

Step 3 – Troubleshoot Your Content Implementation Plans

If you are not experiencing the general issues described above, you may need to drill further into areas of your content plan and troubleshoot elements of your content plan like:

For example:

Difficulty Creating A Content Pipeline

If you are experiencing issues creating and maintaining a content pipeline, this is most likely a content production issue.

Solution: Review your content production plan and troubleshoot issues related to having no content pipeline.

Difficulty Generating Leads

Content marketing is an inbound marketing strategy and it takes time to generate leads.

If your business is not getting enough leads from your content marketing efforts, this is most likely an issue related to content promotion.

Solution: Review your content promotion plan. You may need to troubleshoot issues related to lead magnets, calls-to-action, and landing pages to convert visitors into leads or use retargeting ads to target people who engaged with your content but haven’t converted.

Difficulty Measuring Content Performance

Measuring your content’s performance can be challenging because there are many different metrics that you can use and each metric may have its own strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re experiencing difficulty measuring your content’s performance, this could be an issue of content promotion related to not defining content metrics aligned with the goals and objectives of your business, or a content management issue related to not setting up systems for tracking your content’s performance.

Solution: Review your content promotion plan and your content management plan. It may help you troubleshoot issues at a more granular level.

For example, you may find that the issue is related to things like:

  • Not defining common metrics used to measure content performance such as engagement (e.g. clicks, shares, likes), reach (e.g. views, unique visitors), and conversions (e.g. sales, signups). You may need to use a combination of metrics, rather than relying on a single metric (for example, engagement metrics and reach metrics) to provide a more complete picture of how well a piece of content is performing,
  • Not tracking metrics over a longer period of time to identify meaningful trends and patterns in performance
  • Not using A/B testing to test different versions of a piece of content and compare their performance, or
  • Not providing your team with better training on how to interpret the metrics used to measure performance and how these relate to a desired outcome, such as driving sales or increasing brand awareness.

Summary

Creating a content plan that effectively communicates your brand message and drives business growth can be a challenging task.

When things aren’t going as planned, take a step back and assess the situation. Are your goals and objectives clear? Is your content differentiated from your competitors? Are you utilizing the right channels to distribute your content?

Hopefully, the simple yet actionable solutions to common content plan issues presented above will help you get your content back on track.

See the content troubleshooting guide for links to additional content-related issues, solutions, and resources.

***

Image: Laptop User

Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy

Troubleshoot common problems that can affect your content strategy.

Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy

Learn about common problems that can affect your content strategy and simple solutions you can implement to overcome these.

Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy - Frustrated blogger

Content strategy is the planning, development, and management of content. It involves creating a clear plan for the types of content you will create, how it will be organized and stored, and how it will be promoted and distributed.

A well-executed content strategy is essential for engaging your audience, building trust, and helping your business achieve its goals.

However, there are many common problems that can negatively impact your content strategy. From not having a clear target audience to poor search engine optimization (SEO) to insufficient promotion and distribution of content, these issues can affect your content strategy and your ability to create and distribute content effectively.

In this article, we will explore common problems that can impact your content strategy and provide solutions for addressing them. By troubleshooting your content strategy, you can create and distribute content that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your goals.

info

This article is part of our Content Troubleshooting Guide where we help you identify and fix content-related problems in your business.

***

Common Problems That Can Impact Your Content Strategy And Solutions

Has your business developed a content strategy yet?

If the answer is “no,” then see our lesson on how to develop a content strategy for your business.

If the answer is “yes,” then use the list below to identify and troubleshoot common problems that can affect your content strategy:

1. Not Setting Specific Goals And Objectives

Without clear goals, it is difficult to know what you are trying to achieve with your content or how to track your progress.

Solution: Set SMART goals and objectives

Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals and objectives helps to guide your content creation efforts and measure their success.

By setting clear goals, you can focus your efforts on creating content that helps you achieve them and track your progress along the way.

2. Not Having A Clear Understanding Of Your Target Audience

Without a defined audience, it is difficult to create content that resonates with anyone and achieves the desired results.

Solution: Define your target audience and determine their needs and preferences

Having a clear understanding of who your target audience is and what their needs and preferences are is essential for creating effective content.

By taking the time to get to know your audience, you can create content that addresses their specific needs and interests, which can lead to higher engagement and better results.

3. Poor Organization And Storage Of Content

Having a well-organized system for storing and managing your content is crucial for maintaining efficiency and ensuring that your content is easily accessible.

Poor organization can lead to lost or misplaced content, which can be time-consuming and frustrating to deal with.

Solution: Use a CMS to organize and store your content

Using a content management system (CMS) can help you organize and store your content in a central location, making it easier to find and access.

A CMS can also help you manage multiple users, track changes to your content, and keep your content organized using tags and categories.

4. Lack Of High-Quality Content

Poor-quality content can turn off your audience and damage your reputation.

Solution: Create high-quality content that follows best practices and utilizes media

Creating high-quality content is essential for engaging your audience and building trust.

By following best practices and utilizing media such as images, videos, and infographics, you can create more engaging and effective content that resonates with your audience.

For additional information and help in this area, see these sections of the course:

5. Poor Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Poor SEO can make it difficult for people to discover your content, resulting in lower traffic and engagement.

Solution: Optimize your content for SEO by using keywords and following best practices

Optimizing your content for search engines is an important aspect of content strategy because it helps your content rank higher in search engine results.

By using relevant keywords and following SEO best practices, you can improve your search engine visibility and increase the chances of your content being seen by your target audience.

For additional information and help in this area, see this lesson: Content SEO.

6. Difficulty Creating A Cohesive Content Marketing Plan

Without a cohesive plan, your business may struggle to create content that aligns with your overall marketing goals.

Solution: Develop a content marketing plan that outlines your business’s goals, target audience, and the type of content that will be created.

Use this plan as a guide for all your content creation and marketing efforts.

7. Insufficient Promotion And Distribution Of Content

Without sufficient promotion, it can be challenging to get your content seen by the right people.

Solution: Promote your content through social media, email marketing, influencer marketing, and guest blogging

Promoting and distributing your content is crucial for reaching a wider audience and increasing engagement.

By utilizing social media, email marketing, influencer marketing, and guest blogging, you can reach a larger audience and get your content seen by the right people.

For additional information and help in this area, see our module on Content Promotion and our section on Content Promotion Tools.

8. Lack Of Analysis And Improvement

Without ongoing analysis and improvement, it can be difficult to know what is and isn’t working, and you may miss out on opportunities to optimize your content and achieve better results.

Solution: Analyze the performance of your content and use the data to improve it

Analyzing the performance of your content and using the data to improve it is an important aspect of content strategy.

By tracking content metrics such as views, clicks, and engagement, you can measure content performance, identify what is and isn’t working, and make changes to optimize your content and achieve better results.

Ongoing analysis and improvement can help you continually improve your content and achieve your goals.

9. Inconsistent Tone And Branding

Having an inconsistent tone or brand voice can be confusing and off-putting to your audience.

Developing a consistent brand voice can be difficult, especially if your business does not have a clear understanding of its brand identity and messaging.

Solution: Create a brand voice and messaging guide

Create a brand voice and messaging guide that outlines the key elements of the brand’s personality, tone, and messaging, and use this guide to ensure consistency across all content.

Maintaining a consistent tone and branding across all of your content is important for creating a cohesive and professional image.

By keeping your tone and branding consistent, you can create a more cohesive experience for your audience and build trust.

See this section for more details: How To Create A Brand Voice And Messaging Guide.

10. Lack Of Resources

Having insufficient resources, such as time, budget, or personnel, can make it difficult to execute your content strategy effectively.

Without the necessary resources, it may be challenging to create high-quality content, promote it effectively, or analyze and improve it.

Solution: Allocate sufficient resources (e.g., time, budget, personnel) for your content strategy

Allocating the necessary resources can help you create high-quality content, promote it effectively, and analyze and improve it on an ongoing basis.

For additional information and help in this area, see our lesson on Digital Business Setups.

11. Ineffective Collaboration And Communication Within The Team

Without good communication, it can be difficult to coordinate efforts and ensure that all team members are on the same page.

Solution: Foster effective collaboration and communication within your team

Effective collaboration and communication within your content team and other departments is essential for creating and executing a successful content strategy.

By fostering good communication and collaboration, you can ensure that all team members are on the same page and working towards a common goal.

12. Not Staying Up-To-Date With Industry Trends And Best Practices

If you are not keeping up with the latest trends and best practices, your content may become outdated or irrelevant, which can negatively impact your content strategy.

Solution: Stay up-to-date with industry trends and best practices

Staying up-to-date with industry trends and best practices is crucial for creating relevant and effective content.

By keeping up with the latest trends and best practices, you can create content that is timely and relevant to your audience.

13. Not Adjusting Your Strategy Based On Changes In Your Industry Or Audience

If you don’t stay up-to-date with changes in your industry or audience, your content may no longer be relevant or effective, which can negatively impact your strategy.

Solution: Adjust your strategy based on changes in your industry or audience

Your industry and audience are constantly evolving, and it is important to adjust your content strategy accordingly.

By staying up-to-date with changes in your industry or audience, you can create content that remains relevant and effective.

14. Not Being Able To Measure The Success Of Your Content

Without the ability to measure the success of your content, it is difficult to know how well your strategy is performing and what areas need improvement.

Solution: Implement tools and processes for measuring the success of your content

Measuring the success of your content is an important aspect of content strategy because it helps you understand what is and isn’t working.

By implementing tools and processes for tracking metrics such as views, clicks, and engagement, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your content and make improvements.

15. Lack Of A Clear Content Creation Process

Without a clear process, it may be difficult to create content efficiently or maintain a consistent tone and branding.

Solution: Develop a clear content creation process

Having a clear content creation process in place helps to ensure efficiency and consistency in your content creation efforts.

By outlining the steps for creating, approving, and publishing content, you can streamline your content creation process and ensure that all team members are on the same page.

For additional information and help in this area, see these sections of the course:

16. Not Having A Content Governance Plan

Without a content governance plan, it may be challenging to maintain quality control and consistency in your content.

Solution: Create a content governance plan to ensure quality control and consistency.

A content governance plan outlines the roles and responsibilities of team members, the process for creating and approving content, and the standards for quality and consistency.

By having a content governance plan in place, you can ensure that your content is of high quality and consistent with your brand guidelines.

tip

If you are still experiencing content-related issues after going through the items listed above, try troubleshooting your content plan.

Your Content Strategy Is The Key To Your Content Success

Troubleshooting your content strategy is an important step for ensuring that you are creating and distributing effective content.

By identifying common problems and implementing solutions, you can create a content strategy that engages your audience, builds trust, and helps you achieve your goals.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different approaches and make adjustments based on the data and feedback you receive. With a little effort and attention, you can create a content strategy that truly resonates with your audience and helps your business achieve its desired results.

Refer to the Content Troubleshooting Guide if you experience other issues or problems with your content strategy.

***

Image: Frustrated Blogger

The Challenges Of Managing Content Effectively

Learn about the main challenges to managing content effectively and how to address these. 

The Challenges Of Managing Content Effectively

Content management challenges abound in all organizations. Learn about the main challenges to managing content effectively and how to address these. 

Content Management Challenges - Frustrated laptop user.

There are many challenges to managing content effectively. These include having too much content, multiple contributors, outdated content, adapting to new technologies and platforms, and more.

We explore these challenges in more detail and offer suggestions for effectively addressing them in this lesson.

info

This article is part of our Content Troubleshooting Guide, where we help you identify and fix content-related issues in your business.

To learn how to address common challenges and concerns about content-related activities, see our comprehensive Guide To Overcoming Content Challenges.

Are You Managing Your Content Effectively?

Content management is about effectively creating, organizing, and maintaining digital content. This is not only essential for your business to operate efficiently, but also to communicate with all stakeholders.

There are, however, many challenges to managing your content effectively, and poor content management leads to confusion, costly delays, and lost business opportunities.

Think about this…

If your business has an online presence, it almost certainly needs content.

This applies to all businesses. If your company wants to compete online effectively, especially against larger competitors, it needs to regularly create and promote new content (your competition is doing the same).

New content, however, gets old very quickly. Old content with outdated, irrelevant, inaccurate, or obsolete information almost always has no value to users and can hurt your business.

Additionally, the more content you have, the more content you have to manage.

Now … stop for a moment and think about all the content and all the content-related areas your business needs to manage.

You will soon realize that effective content management involves managing not only your existing content, but all content-related areas and processes associated with content planning, content production, and content promotion.

Look deeper and you will realize that there are some obvious challenges to managing content effectively and some that are not so obvious.

Let’s look at these areas.

Managing Content Effectively – Obvious Challenges

The obvious challenges of managing your content effectively include:

1. The Challenge Of Too Much Content

As your business creates and acquires more digital content, it can become difficult to sort and organize it all in a way that is easily accessible and makes sense.

This can lead to important information getting lost or overlooked.

To effectively manage a large amount of content, it is important to implement a system for organizing and tagging content, perform regular content reviews, and purge unnecessary or outdated items.

Also, use a content management system (CMS) or other tools to help categorize and structure your content.

2. The Challenge Of Multiple Contributors

When multiple people or teams contribute content to your company’s digital assets, coordinating and consolidating these contributions can be challenging.

It is important to establish clear guidelines and protocols for content creation and submission, and a system for reviewing and approving new content.

Ensuring that all content meets standards for quality and consistency is also crucial. This is where documenting procedures can help, as well as using a workflow management system or other tools to help streamline the content creation and approval process.

3. The Challenge Of Outdated Content

Outdated content containing inaccurate or obsolete information can be confusing for users and it can harm your credibility.

Regularly reviewing and updating content is essential to ensure it is current and accurate. It is also good to consider repurposing old content rather than simply deleting it, as it may still be valuable in a different form or context.

This may involve using a content calendar or other tools to help schedule and track content updates.

4. The Challenge Of Adapting To New Technologies And Platforms

As new content management systems and tools are developed, your business must stay current to ensure the effective management of its digital content.

This can be a challenge, as learning and implementing new technologies requires effort and resources. Additionally, it is important to ensure that content is compatible with various platforms and devices, as more and more users access the internet through mobile devices and other non-traditional means.

This may involve using responsive design techniques or other methods to ensure that content is accessible and user-friendly across different devices and platforms.

5. The Challenge Of Securing And Protecting Content

Ensuring that sensitive or confidential content is secure and protected from unauthorized access or leaks is crucial for your business.

This may involve implementing security measures like password protection, encryption, content hotlinking prevention, and access controls to protect sensitive content.

6. The Challenge Of Measuring The Effectiveness Of Content

Determining the impact and effectiveness of content is essential for making informed decisions about future content strategies.

This may involve using analytics tools or other content tracking methods to measure content metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI) for different types of content.

7. The Challenge Of Integrating Content With Other Systems And Processes

Ensuring that content is integrated and aligned with other systems and processes within the organization is important for optimizing efficiency and avoiding confusion or duplication of effort.

This may involve using integration tools or other methods to seamlessly link content with other systems and processes.

8. The Challenge Of Budget And Resource Constraints

Allocating sufficient budget and resources to content management efforts can be a challenge, especially for smaller businesses or those with limited resources.

It is important to prioritize content management efforts and allocate resources accordingly while finding ways to maximize efficiency and reduce costs where possible.

We cover the challenges involved in this area in more detail in our Digital Business Setups lesson.

9. The Challenge Of Managing Client Content

Managing client content poses challenges involving communication, organization, and consistency.

Effective communication is crucial to understanding client expectations and delivering content that meets their needs, but it can often be difficult to ensure clarity and alignment between parties.

Organizational issues can also arise from the sheer volume and variety of content, requiring robust systems for tracking and managing various assets and versions.

Maintaining consistency across all client content is also a significant challenge, as it requires adherence to brand guidelines and quality standards while accommodating your client’s unique requirements.

Additionally, addressing client feedback or complaints efficiently is essential to maintaining positive relationships and ensuring ongoing satisfaction.

We address these challenges and provide solutions in this lesson: Managing Client Content

Managing Content Effectively – “Not-So-Obvious” Challenges

Now that we have looked at the obvious challenges of managing your content effectively, let’s look at the “not-so-obvious” challenges that are not apparent until you start trying to manage your content effectively.

Challenge #1 – Effective Content Management Is A Catch-22 Situation

Have you heard the expression “no one will hire you without experience, but you can’t get experience if no one will hire you?”

That’s an example of a “Catch-22” situation.

Managing content can feel somewhat like that.

You can’t plan, produce, promote, and manage content effectively until you have put in the right systems and processes to plan, produce, promote, and manage content effectively.

Putting all these systems and processes in place, however, requires a significant investment of time, effort, and resources.

Most businesses have very limited time, effort, and resources.

So…do you:

A) Invest your time, effort, and resources into putting the right systems and processes in place to plan, produce, promote, and manage your content effectively, and then create and promote your content, or…

B) Invest your time, effort, and resources into creating and promoting content, and then start putting systems and processes in place?

Chart - Content Management Options.
Which of these options will you choose to manage content effectively in your business?

Managing content effectively requires choosing option “A”.

Many businesses, however, choose option “B” because it seems more practical.

Publishing and promoting content first and then worrying about systems and processes when things start becoming unmanageable, however, only leads to more challenges and bigger problems.

Challenge #2 – All Areas Of Your Business Are Involved

Your content strategy is part of your content management system, so if you start creating and promoting content before developing your content strategy and putting other systems in place to manage your content effectively, then what’s the point of having a content strategy?

Without a content strategy, you are just creating content blindly based on guesswork and assumptions without any real direction or ways to measure and track your content’s performance, so it’s all going to be hit and miss and eventually your business will have a very difficult mess to deal with and many problems to sort out.

So you want to put a content strategy in place before you start creating and promoting content.

This, however, has its own challenges.

First, there’s the challenge that content impacts all areas of your business as discussed in the lesson on your digital business structure.

Chart - Content involves all areas of your business.
Content impacts all areas of your business. Click the image to enlarge it.

Challenge #3 – Creating And Managing Content Effectively Requires A Sizeable Digital Team

Next, is the realization that creating effective content requires a sizeable content team.

Chart - Digital Content Team.
Managing content effectively requires a sizeable content team.

There are many different roles involved in the process of planning, creating, promoting, and managing content, and whether you’re an individual blogger or part of a larger organization, all of these roles and responsibilities have to be met to create and manage your content effectively.

This leads to the next challenge…

Challenge #4 – Effective Content Management Requires Significant Resources

We touched briefly on the challenge of resource constraints earlier.

However, it’s not until you seriously try to start managing your content effectively that you realize just how resource-intensive creating and managing content can be.

You need a sizeable budget and personnel with skills and expertise, plus research, planning, and documented systems, all of which take time to create and take resources away from other areas of the business.

Chart - Content Strategy requires resources
Creating effective content requires significant resources.

Most businesses operate with limited resources and have very little time to devote to important areas like planning and documenting systems.

If, like most businesses, your decisions are influenced by a lack of time and resources, by competitive and financial pressures, and by the need to make things happen sooner rather than later, then your ability to manage content effectively may be heading toward bigger problems.

For example, here’s what can happen when you choose option “B” (i.e. start with content, then try to put systems in place later):

1) Little to no content planning

If your content is created based on keyword research but there is no content strategy or content plan and new content projects are mostly based on guesswork and assumptions instead of solid research and analytical data, then your content pipeline will keep drying up, leaving your team continually scrambling to come up with new content ideas.

2) Chaotic and disorganized content production

If there is no content plan and there are no documented procedures for workflow processes and operational guides for doing content research, creating a content brief, using content production tools, etc. your content production will be chaotic and disorganized, leading to inconsistent production outputs.

3) Hard to measure and quantify content performance

If, in addition to the above, your content metrics and content marketing objectives are not well-defined, any generated reports won’t lead to actionable efforts or initiatives to improve results, and your content marketing activities and ROI will be difficult to quantify and calculate.

Challenge #5 – Building Content Management Systems As You Go Is Hard To Do

Think about all the areas of your business that are involved in the planning, creation, delivery, distribution, and promotion of content.

Now, ask yourself:

  • How quickly can your business create and publish new content?
  • What’s stopping you from creating more content and publishing it faster?
  • How does your business keep a pipeline of new content going?
  • How does your business keep the information in your existing content (across all content types and distribution channels) up-to-date, relevant, and accurate?
  • How do you know when your content is out-of-date or has become irrelevant, inaccurate, or obsolete?
  • How can you tell if your content is performing well?
  • How do you keep your content processes documented, organized, and accessible so anyone needing the information can locate it quickly and easily?
  • How can you tell if your team members implement and follow effective content management processes?
  • How quickly can your business adapt to incorporate new content planning, production, and promotion processes, strategies, methods, and tools?

From the above, it should be clear that not only does your content need management but all of the content-related processes and areas responsible for planning, creating, delivering, distributing, and promoting your content too.

And to manage all of this effectively requires systems.

This is where option “C” comes in. You develop, test, and improve your systems while creating and promoting content, documenting everything as you go, and repeating this process.

Chart - Effective Content Management
Option C involves building, testing, and improving your content management systems as you go.

Option “C” will help your business solve the challenges of managing content effectively, but it is very challenging and hard to do, especially if you have already started down the path of “Option B” (i.e. create and promote content first, and then worry about putting systems and processes in place later).

Building systems to document the work as you do the work requires a total “buy-in” from everyone in your organization, and the focus and commitment to work twice as hard and twice as long, often with little to no resources, and with no guarantees that things will work out until everything is in place and you can assess the results.

Even just thinking about it can feel overwhelming, because content impacts every area of your business!

But even before you can put all of these systems in place, there is one more “not-so-obvious” challenge your business has to overcome…

Challenge #6 – Managing Content Effectively Requires Solid Business Foundations

No doubt you’ve heard the expression “walk before you run”.

Without basic business foundations in place, managing content effectively becomes almost impossible.

Chart - business processes.
Many processes need to be put in place before your business can manage its content effectively.

For example, suppose you want to write and publish an article on your website that will help your business generate new leads.

You care about the reputation of your business, so naturally, you will want to publish only quality content across all channels…from your site’s company pages, product descriptions, and blog posts, to social media posts, emails, newsletters, banner ads, sales, marketing, and training content, videos, collateral materials, etc.

Also, because your business has limited time and resources, you’ll want to avoid guesswork and taking blind stabs in the dark. If you are going to invest time, money, and effort into activities designed to promote and grow your business online, every activity must be geared toward generating optimal results and delivering maximum return on investment.

So, ideally, your lead generation article will target the right audience, with the right message, at the right time, to help them make the right decision (e.g. buy, subscribe, submit an inquiry, etc.).

To do this effectively, however, you need accurate information to help you understand who you are writing the article for (i.e. your target audience).

In other words, even before you begin writing your lead generation article, you will need to know things like:

  • Who is going to buy your products or services?
  • What problems are they looking to solve?
  • Why would they buy from you and not from your competitors?
  • What can stop them from buying your products or services?
  • etc.

Once you understand this, you can begin to write the article from the instructions provided in your content brief.

Now…your content brief is created from the specifications and guidelines set out in your content plan.

But …

And all of this should have been defined during the business planning phase after a need has been identified in the market, and you have done research and feasibility studies to determine whether there is even an opportunity worth pursuing (and this should be done even before you spend any time or money getting a website built!).

Ok, let’s assume that you have done all of the above before writing your lead generation article and you know the who, what, how, why, and when of your article’s purpose.

All you need to do now is write the article, right?

Whoaaa … not so fast! Let’s think about this for a moment.

Creating a high-quality, high-value, and high-yielding article involves an editorial process with activities like content scheduling, production, planning, research, writing, editing, and different stages of reviews and approvals before the content can be published.

This requires having some expertise and skills (e.g. content research, content writing/copywriting, editing, media creation, etc.).

For example, your article needs elements like a compelling headline, useful content that will engage your reader’s interest, a call to action, and additional copy elements like summaries, excerpts, artwork, images, image captions, product and meta descriptions, testimonials, references, credits, attributions, etc.

You may also need to source, create, script, produce, edit, format, and upload media elements to your server,  like images, logos, photos, videos, audio, downloadable files, and other documentation before you can insert these into your article or web pages.

After this is done, you then also need to revise, format, fact-check, search optimize, proof, edit, review, and approve your article before you can publish, distribute, and promote it.

There are also additional checks like making sure that the content flows well and your article is easy to read; that any links in your content to related articles or additional information point to correct URLs; that branding guidelines have been adhered to; that any embedded scripts or code (e.g. rotating testimonials, forms, etc.) work correctly; that there are no distracting elements that could negatively affect your conversions; that the content displays well on all web browsers and devices, etc.

Also, you may need to obtain clearances and clarifications from other departments before your article can be published.

For example, the article may contain information related to products or services that include pricing or tax information, special offers, competitions, discount coupons, product or service availability, product ordering, shipping and delivery, liability disclaimers, terms and conditions, brand or product licensing, use of images or media, copyright, trademarks, etc.

All this needs to be cleared with your marketing, accounting, and legal teams.

Finally, you may need to consult management or executive levels (e.g. product, finance, or operations manager) to make sure that the article complies with all company policies, manufacturer specifications, third-party service guidelines, industry rules and regulations, and any other legal requirements.

But it doesn’t end there.

You want your investment of time and effort to achieve consistently and progressively better results for your business, don’t you?

So, after publishing the article, you will also want to track and measure your results and document these in a report so you can review, analyze, and improve your content’s performance.

After publishing, you may also need to moderate comments, answer questions, reply to user inquiries, collect and collate form data, and add new entries to your site’s FAQ section (for example, if you repeatedly get the same questions from your site visitors, prospects, customers, etc).

As you can see, creating something as seemingly simple as an article for your website requires systems and processes in place…

  • before the article gets written (to ensure that you’re targeting the right audience),
  • during the content production process (e.g. review workflows and scheduling when the article will be published), and
  • after the article has been published (e.g. tracking its results and performance).

In short, unless your business doesn’t care about the content it publishes, there is nothing simple about creating content for your website or blog.

It requires participation from all areas of your business and the effective integration and coordination of different roles, systems, and processes, in addition to ensuring that everyone involved follows all content procedures, specifications, and guidelines, while also ensuring compliance with all company, departmental, and legal policies…staying aligned all the while with the goals and objectives of the business.

Ideally, everything required to write an article as described above would be in place before the article is written.

Of course, you can ignore all this, and just start writing and promoting your articles and see what happens!

If You Don’t Want To Guess Your Way To Success…

If you want to avoid guesswork, the first step to managing your content effectively is to accept that effective content management is not a simple undertaking.

Your business will need to put effective content management systems in place to grow using content, continually review your content’s performance, and improve its results.

While there are loads of useful information and tools that can help you do this (including our lessons), there is no one-click, “done-for-you”, “set-and-forget”, “hands-free” service, software, or app that will allow you to manage your content effectively.

It’s a process and it requires a systemic approach.

Summary

Effective content management is essential for your business to operate efficiently and to communicate effectively with all stakeholders.

Managing content effectively in any organization, however, is a complex and difficult undertaking, as content impacts all areas of your business.

It can also feel like a “Catch-22” situation. You can’t plan, produce, promote, and manage content effectively until you have put in the right systems and processes to plan, produce, promote, and manage content effectively.

While there are challenges to managing content effectively, your business can overcome these by implementing effective content management systems.

Action Steps

Assess how willing your business is to become systems-driven (instead of personality-driven).

If you haven’t already, we recommend starting with the following steps:

Resources

***

Image: Home Office

What Effective Content Management Looks Like

Learn what effective content management looks like and how it can help to address most of the content-related problems in your business.

What Effective Content Management Looks Like

Here is a picture of what effective content management looks like and how it can help to address most of the content-related problems in your business.

Effective Content Management. Stock Photo: Man in office attire looking at laptop while celebrating with hands in the air and feet on the desk.In this article, we show you how the right picture of what an effective content management framework looks like can help you fix and eliminate most of the content-related problems in your business.

Note: This article is part of our Content Troubleshooting Guide.

***

Is Your Content Creating Discontent?

Is there a style of management that is ideally suited for managing content effectively in your business?

For example, in the participative style of management (also called the democratic leadership style), feedback, input, and participation from staff are sought in the decision-making process and team members/staff generally try and solve any issues themselves.

Would a participative style of management, then, lead to effective content management?

Consider this scenario:

Let’s say that you notice several articles on your company’s blog are addressing the same or a similar topic, and hence competing with each other for keyword ranking and traffic.

A participative (i.e. democratic-style) manager would probably respond by turning to the editor and saying something like: “you’re the editor…what do you suggest we do? How would you fix this?”

In most situations, encouraging staff members to come up with the solution to a problem by working it out amongst themselves is a great approach and typically works. Staff members are encouraged to think for themselves; they feel empowered when asked for their input; they feel valued for their contribution, and they also feel recognized for their expertise.

The manager also feels and looks good. The participative style of management allows them to quickly lob any issues back over the net and into their team’s court by posing problems as questions for the team to resolve, and this makes them one of “the good guys.”

Everyone feels good and everyone values each other.

That’s great, except for the fact that this style of leadership, which is used across many industries and organizations, doesn’t really help to solve any fundamental issues of content management caused by a lack of strategic planning and the failure to implement effective systems and processes.

For example, if your content isn’t “meeting all the metrics,” the issues may not be related to your team members’ skills, expertise, technical abilities, or their motivation, enthusiasm, and willingness to contribute and participate in helping the business succeed, but to a lack of planning and systems.

To understand this better, let’s go back to the example where you have found several articles essentially covering the same topic, hence potentially competing with each other for rankings and traffic, and let’s assume that the manager has asked the editor to come up with a solution.

For this discussion, let’s imagine that there are three articles involved:

  1. Article “A” is an old post written by a guest contributor back in the day when the company couldn’t afford its own team of staff writers. It’s a well-written post with a catchy title and a decent number of backlinks, and it gets a reasonable amount of traffic each month.
  2. Article “B” is about two years old and written by a staff writer who no longer works with the company. This post is also well-written, with a keyword-optimized post title. This article covers the topic in detail, has a decent number of backlinks, and gets reasonable monthly traffic.
  3. Article “C” is the most recent of all three articles. It was written by the current full-time writer and complies fully with Google’s latest content quality guidelines. As the article was only recently published, however, it’s kind of hard to assess how well it is performing in terms of search traffic and backlinks…we’ll have to wait and see!

Now, suppose that the editor goes back to their desk, reads through each article, and makes the decision to:

  • Rewrite article “A” and remove some of the content that doesn’t fit with the new article’s approach or angle,
  • Redirect article “B” to the newer article “C” (even though they are not exactly covering the same topics), then delete article “B”, and
  • Add links to related content in article “A” and article “C”.

Should the editor have done this?

The answer is … it depends!

Making decisions about what to do with existing content is not that simple.

For example, does the editor know how the articles were performing for certain keywords? What happens if you change the content in the article and traffic suddenly drops?

You wouldn’t know this unless there is a system in place to track changes to the content and monitor its performance before deciding to edit it.

If the newly-edited article doesn’t perform as well as was hoped, who is tracking which elements of the content were changed? Can the editor compare different versions of the article and restore it to how it was before being edited?

If you edit an article and remove certain content, how do you know that the deleted content wasn’t required to be there (e.g. through some form of paid or reciprocal content exchange or agreement?)

Screenshot of Slack conversation discussing removal of content from a blog post.
What happens when you remove content from an article that was supposed to be there through some prior agreement?

If you delete an article, what happens to the content that was currently linking to it? What will your site visitors experience when they click on links pointing to articles that no longer exist?

Also…what if the old article (containing outdated, irrelevant, or obsolete information) performs better than the new article? If there is a noticeable drop in traffic, how can you tell if it’s temporary or permanent and how long will you wait to find this out? How are you monitoring all this?

As you can see, unless the editor is also responsible for putting systems in place to track SEO and content performance, these are not necessarily editorial decisions.

But there are other areas to consider besides focusing only on SEO.

For example…why were there three articles covering similar topics, all potentially competing for the same keywords and traffic? Why wasn’t this picked up during the content planning stage?

And what criteria is the editor using to prioritize whether to keep, update, fix, or completely rewrite content in existing articles or make decisions on articles and blog posts with similar content? Who established those criteria and did they take into account how their decisions will impact other areas of the business?

Clearly, making the content production team responsible for “fixing” content-related issues is not necessarily the best approach, as it doesn’t address the cause of the issues.

Hence a participative style of management may not be “fixing” anything, especially if the same content-related problems keep occurring.

In other words, if your content is not delivering expected or hoped-for results (i.e. “meeting all the metrics”), the issue most likely has nothing to do with management styles or the lack of skills or expertise of team members, but with the fact that your organization may not have fully grasped the difference between the three levels of decision-making in a business as explained in the Content Management Mindset lesson.

So, let’s recap this concept briefly.

What Effective Content Management Looks Like

Take a look at the diagram below. It may look simplistic, but when you truly understand what it means, you will be able to identify, troubleshoot, and find solutions to fix almost all of the content-related problems in your business.

Every business has these three levels of decision-making:

Chart: The three levels of decision-making in a business.
Every business has three levels of business decision-making…even a one-person business!

While everyone in the business is responsible for helping the organization achieve its objectives and realize its vision, each of these levels plays a specific role in helping the business reach this outcome.

Chart: Executive, Managerial, and Tactical roles and their functions.
What each decision-making level does in an organization.

Executive-level roles are responsible for making “big-picture” decisions.

Managerial-level roles are responsible for figuring out the systems and processes that will deliver results that match the “big picture” set at the Executive level.

Tactical-level roles (also known as Technical-level roles) are responsible for following the systems and processes set at the Managerial level to achieve the results and objectives set at the Executive level.

So, what does this all mean and how can it help you troubleshoot and fix your content-related problems in areas like content planning, content production, content marketing, and content management?

Let’s take a look using an example.

Suppose your business decides to use content marketing methods like posting regular articles on its blog and social media, email marketing, paid advertising, etc. to promote itself and grow online.

Suppose too that, like many businesses, your company doesn’t have the budget to outsource every content-related role to a digital marketing agency or the financial resources to hire and build a team of content specialists to run everything in-house.

Let’s also say that your digital business setup includes the following:

  • A website with a blog.
  • Social media accounts on the main platforms.
  • An email service account.
  • A small budget to spend on content creation and advertising.
  • The people already hired to work in the business (including you).

So, this is what your business has to work with.

Next, they appoint you as their Content Manager and make you responsible for helping the business grow using “content” and getting results within your available budget and resources.

Now, let’s make things a little challenging but not so impossible that it would make you want to quit your new role.

Your content team is comprised of two other team members including you. We’ll call them Ash and Pat.

All three of you agree to share the responsibility of regularly writing and publishing content on the blog.

Pat has excellent design skills, so Pat will also look after social media.

Ash has a marketing background, so Ash will handle things like creating email campaigns, send email promotions, run newsletters, grow and maintain a list of subscribers, etc.

Your budget will be used for outsourcing your advertising campaigns to a professional agency.

Other people in your organization are also happy to offer assistance where required (e.g. reviewing content in their areas of expertise, suggesting new content topics, etc.)

Finally, you, Pat, and Ash agree to have a production team meeting once a week to discuss how the work is progressing. You also agree to meet regularly with the General Manager to provide updates and reports and to discuss any issues.

With this basic plan, you and your team begin the work of creating and publishing content.

Each week, you meet with your team. You all come up with new content ideas. You then assign article topics for Ash, Pat, and yourself and aim to get at least two new articles published every week, plus send an email roundup to your subscribers (Ash) and post social media updates (Pat).

Now, what happens if you experience issues with content production like:

  • Running out of content ideas?
  • Being unable to complete projects due to circumstances outside the control of your team?
  • Published content not performing as well as expected?

Well, if you understand the three levels of decision-making mentioned above, then you would have a starting point for troubleshooting and addressing these at the appropriate level.

For example:

Running Out Of Content Ideas

The content team (Tactical Level) is not responsible for making sure that the content production pipeline never runs dry.

The Managerial Level is responsible for creating the Content Plan and developing and implementing the systems and processes responsible for creating a self-sustaining content pipeline.

The Managerial Level, however, can’t create this content plan, unless and until the Executive Level has defined and created a Content Strategy for the business.

So, running out of content ideas is ultimately an issue that needs to be addressed at the Executive and/or Managerial Level.

tip

If your team needs new content ideas for your website, blog, or newsletter, subscribe to our FREE Infinite Content Ideas course.

Being Unable To Complete Projects Due To External Circumstances

If your articles or blog posts depend on new product features being released or services being available and there is a hold-up in product development, then the content team may have no choice but to put their projects on hold.

Again, this is not an issue that the content team (Tactical Level) is responsible for or can resolve. It has to be addressed and resolved at the Managerial Level or higher.

Published Content Not Performing Well

If your published articles or blog posts perform poorly, the issue may be your content team’s responsibility only if the editor has not provided the team with an adequately prepared content brief.

If the content brief is found to be adequate, then the problem may lie in a poorly-constructed Marketing Plan (Managerial Level) or Marketing Strategy (Executive Level).

So…why is your content team not responsible for solving any of the issues described above?

Well, if you understand the three levels of decision-making in a business, then you will see that:

Executive Level roles are responsible for setting a clear business vision and formulating a business strategy, a marketing strategy, defining an overall budget to cover the cost of hiring people to fill roles and invest in resources, etc.

Managerial Level roles are responsible for turning strategies into plans (e.g., a business plan, marketing plan, etc.) implementing documented systems and processes (e.g. for training and onboarding people into their roles, content production, content promotion, etc.), and making sure that guidelines and procedures are created for Tactical Level roles to follow (e.g. content briefs, branding and style guides, etc.)

Tactical Level roles are responsible for making sure they follow the systems and processes they are given to deliver the work as specified in the strategies, plans, and guidelines they have been given.

Think about it…

If you are asking a content writer to come up with content ideas and topics to write about so that your content pipeline doesn’t run dry, then you are effectively putting someone who doesn’t have the bigger picture of your business (i.e the business vision) in charge of defining your content strategy and creating your content plan.

It is only inevitable that this will lead to the issues described above (and those listed in the Content Troubleshooting Guide).

Setting Tactical-Level KPIs

If the Executive and the Managerial level roles have delivered what is truly required of them, then tactical-level roles like editors, content writers, media creators, etc. can simply plug into existing systems, follow established processes and procedures set out in documented strategies, plans, and guidelines, and deliver work to the standards and results expected by the business to meet its overall goals and objectives.

In this scenario, then, setting realistic and fair KPIs and benchmarks may include the following:

  1. Content Production – Is the business setting realistic workload targets and quotas? Are these being met and delivered on time?
  2. Work Quality – Is the work delivered meeting their brief? Are documented guidelines, procedures, and specifications being followed?
  3. Role Competency – How much of the completed work is being performed by the person responsible for that role? (e.g. with content writers, is the writer doing most of the work and submitting a draft that requires only editorial refining to advance to 2nd and final drafts, or do other people have to get involved and assume the writer’s workload to help get their content over the line?)
  4. Team Participation – Are team members willing to participate and contribute ideas and suggestions for improving processes, and take on additional tasks and responsibilities?

If executive and management-level roles do not provide tactical-level roles what is required, however, then assessing performance can end up being skewed, unrealistic, or unfair.

For example, content writers should NOT be penalized or assessed unfairly if:

  • Targets set by management are unrealistic.
  • Writers are expected to deliver X articles per week but there are regular holdups in product or business development so their articles can’t be completed on time.
  • There is no new content in the pipeline (as discussed, writers don’t create the content plan to meet strategic objectives, management is responsible for delivering this)
  • Writers are not given a well-researched and detailed content brief outlining objectives, specifications, or requirements.
  • Timely delivery needs additional roles involved in the content creation process (e.g. supplying testing data, videos, technical diagrams, code samples, performing technical checks, etc.) and these aren’t made available or supplied in a timely manner.
  • Writers have been given too many additional responsibilities other than writing because there are not enough resources available in the company to handle those.
  • There are other performance issues directly related to a lack of clear communication, documented guidelines, training, essential tools, resources, etc.
  • There are other factors outside the writer’s control.

Summary

Understanding the three levels of decision-making in a business will help you to identify, troubleshoot, and find solutions to fix almost all content-related problems and issues in your business.

Action Steps

Review this lesson: Content Management Mindset

Resources

References

***

Image: Successful Business

Content Troubleshooting Guide

Use this content troubleshooting guide to help you identify and fix content-related issues in your business.

Content Troubleshooting Guide

Use this content troubleshooting guide to identify and fix content-related issues in your business.

Content Troubleshooting GuideThis troubleshooting guide will help you identify issues in your content that may be preventing your business from experiencing better results and presents fixes and solutions to improve your content management practices.

In this guide we’ll:

  1. Show you a picture of what content management done right looks like and how it addresses most content problems.
  2. Examine common areas where things can go wrong and present typical scenarios.
  3. Troubleshoot the main issues preventing your content from performing better, identify their causes, and look for solutions to correct and fix these.

tip

Refer to our content management glossary if you need help understanding some of the terms or concepts described in this section.

***

How To Use This Troubleshooting Guide

This guide is divided into sections listing the main content-related problems you may run into, with links to articles that expand on the possible causes and solutions to investigate.

We recommend starting with the section below, then coming back to this index page whenever you experience issues.

Let’s get started…

Knowing Where To Tap

 A boilermaker was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that had stopped working, causing the ship owner tens of thousands of dollars in productivity losses.

After listening to the ship’s engineer describe the problem and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room, looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls, took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve one time.

Immediately, the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.

When the ship owner received a bill for five thousand dollars, he became outraged and complained that the boilermaker hadn’t even been in the engine room for fifteen minutes and requested an itemized bill.

So, the boilermaker sent him the following itemized bill as requested:

invoice

The aim of this troubleshooting guide is to show you “where to tap” to fix content-related issues and problems preventing your business from achieving its goals and objectives.

info

As you work through this guide, keep in mind that issues experienced at one level are often directly affected by the lack of systems and processes on their preceding levels.

Content processes - animated graphic
Issues on one content level are often caused by a lack of systems and processes on the level that precedes it.

In practical terms, what this means is that if you experience content-related issues at the level of content production, content promotion, or content management, the underlying cause will probably be found to be related to issues at the content planning level.

In turn, issues at the content planning level are often caused by issues at the strategic level (i.e. a lack of a sound content strategy) and strategic-level issues are often caused by a lack of implementing foundational-level principles (i.e. business basics).

Content Troubleshooting Chart
Use this simple chart when diagnosing content-related issues in your business.

This content troubleshooting guide aims to help you identify which level may be causing your issues so you can implement long-term fixes.

Before going any further, make sure to also read these articles:

Content Troubleshooting Goals And Objectives

Most users engage with businesses online via their websites, so it’s important to focus on improving the effectiveness of your web content.

Common web content troubleshooting goals and objectives include:

  • Improving overall website performance: This goal aims to optimize your website’s loading times, reduce bounce rates, and increase user engagement. This can be achieved by implementing a content delivery network (CDN), compressing images, and minifying code.
  • Increasing search engine visibility: This goal focuses on improving your website’s search engine rankings in order to drive more organic traffic. This can be achieved by optimizing meta tags, creating high-quality content, and building backlinks.
  • Enhancing user experience: This goal aims to improve the overall usability and navigation of your website, making it easier for users to find what they are looking for. This can be achieved by creating a clear and consistent website structure, improving website navigation, and making sure all links are working.
  • Increasing social media engagement: This goal focuses on driving more engagement on social media platforms. This can be achieved by creating shareable content, running social media contests, and incorporating social media sharing buttons on your website.
  • Boosting conversions: This goal aims to increase the number of website visitors that convert into customers or leads. This can be achieved by creating compelling calls to action, optimizing landing pages, and A/B testing different elements of your website.
  • Increasing brand awareness: This goal focuses on building brand recognition and reputation. This can be achieved by creating a consistent brand voice, incorporating brand imagery, and regularly publishing high-quality content.
  • Improving analytics tracking: This goal aims to ensure accurate tracking of website analytics in order to gain insights into user behavior and improve performance. This can be achieved by setting up Google Analytics, setting up tracking codes, and regularly monitoring website metrics.
  • Improving mobile optimization: This goal focuses on optimizing your website for mobile devices in order to provide a better user experience for mobile users. This can be achieved by creating a mobile-responsive design, reducing page load times, and simplifying navigation.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of what the aim of troubleshooting content is, let’s take a look at the issues that can prevent you from achieving these goals and objectives and how to address these.

Content Strategy-Related Issues

This section will help you identify, troubleshoot, and correct issues with your content strategy.

Here are some of the main problems experienced at this level:

  • Lack Of A Content Strategy – Your business does not have a content strategy.
  • Lack Of Business Planning – Foundational steps have not been implemented
  • Lack Of Resources – Your business lacks the human and financial resources to implement the content methods specified in the content strategy.
  • Lack Of Direction – Your business may be creating content but it lacks a clear purpose and direction. This is reflected in poor results.

Let’s go briefly through each of these issues.

Lack Of A Content Strategy

The Executive Level is responsible for creating a documented content strategy for your business.

The lack of a well-defined content strategy is often the root cause of most of the content-related issues your business will experience.

Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart: A cycle of content-related business processes.
Your Content Strategy impacts all content-related areas of your business and is often the root cause of all other issues.

If your business lacks a content strategy, then the Executive level either:

  1. Doesn’t fully understand that it is their responsibility to develop the content strategy, or
  2. Hasn’t implemented the foundational steps that come before it (see next section below)

For help and information on the above, see this lesson: How To Create A Content Strategy.

Lack Of Business Planning

If your business lacks a content strategy, it’s most likely because other important foundational steps have not been implemented in the business beforehand.

Make sure that your business has implemented the processes listed in the chart below before developing a content strategy:

Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 1: Business Basics
Your business needs to implement the basic business steps shown above before it can develop a Content Strategy.

For help and information on the above, see this lesson: Business Basics

Lack Of Resources

Your business strategy defines the overall budget of your business.

This budget determines the resources the business has available to invest in areas like hiring people for your content team and the budget it can allocate to different departments like sales, marketing, product development, etc.

The marketing strategy and marketing budget ultimately determine which content methods your business will use.

So, if your content strategy asks you to implement a specific content method (e.g. video marketing) but your team has insufficient human or financial resources to develop, employ, or promote this method effectively, then the solution is to either:

  1. Review and adjust the content strategy (e.g. set more realistic expectations), or
  2. Help your content team become more resourceful (e.g. learn to do the best you can to work within your limitations.)

For help and information in this area, see these lessons:

Lack Of Direction

A Content Strategy tells your content team where to focus its efforts and sets the destination to aim for. The Content Plan helps your team get there by specifying what to do to and how to get it done.

So, if your team is lacking direction (e.g. by asking questions like “what are we supposed to be working on now?” or “what are we going to be working on next?”) then it probably lacks a well-defined Content Plan.

As explained in the article What Effective Content Management Looks Like and the Content Management Mindset lesson, the Managerial Level is responsible for creating and delivering the Content Plan.

Before your business can create an effective Content Plan, however, the business has to have a clearly defined strategy as shown in the chart below.

Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 2: Content Strategy
Your business needs a Content Strategy before it can develop an effective Content Plan.

As the Executive Level is responsible for creating the Content Strategy, both the Executive Level and the Managerial Level have to work together to develop the Content Plan.

For more information and help on the above, see these course modules:

Also, see this lesson: Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy

Content Planning-Related Issues

Before troubleshooting issues with Content Planning, make sure that systems and processes have been implemented in the preceding level (Content Strategy), and review the lessons and course modules below:

Your Content Plan is the practical “how to” implementation of your Content Strategy.

Effective content planning involves implementing systems and processes that will deliver better results in areas like Content Production and Content Promotion.

Unless processes are implemented to ensure that your content team only focuses on creating and promoting content that is aligned with the goals and objectives of your business, you will experience problems at the Content Planning level, such as:

  • Working in a constantly chaotic, disorganized, and crisis-driven environment; having no clear understanding of business goals or objectives (poor Planning Processes)
  • No clearly-defined areas of responsibility within the team leading to doubling up or missing important tasks and activities (poorly-defined Team Roles)
  • Missing important content events and opportunities (poorly managed or no Content Calendar)
  • Too much effort being spent on ineffective content planning or research (poorly defined Content Metrics)
  • Ignoring growing problems with existing content or sweeping these under the carpet (lack of scheduled Content Reviews)
  • Too much time being spent on content planning or research (lack of team member training or knowledge of using Content Planning & Research Tools)

It is important, then, to make sure that your Content Plan has implemented the processes listed in the chart below before moving into areas like Content Production and Content Promotion.

Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 3: Content Plan
Content Planning issues affect your Content Production.

For more information and help in this area, see this course module: Content Planning

Also, see this lesson: Troubleshooting Your Content Plan

Content Production-Related Issues

Before troubleshooting issues with Content Production,  make sure that systems and processes have been implemented in the preceding levels (Content Strategy and Content Planning), and review the lessons and course modules below:

Implementing effective content production systems and processes will ensure that your business can consistently deliver content on time, targeted to the right users, in the right content types and formats.

Issues related to content production are often caused by the lack of systems or processes in areas such as:

  • Content Production Workflow – Different content types (e.g. articles, videos, ebooks, etc.) require different content production workflows. If you haven’t defined these different workflows, then you will run into workflow issues.
  • Workflow Documentation – Once you have defined the different types of content workflows your content team will focus on, it’s important to document these. A lack of documented workflows will cause many issues and problems in your content production.
  • Team Roles – Just as with content planning, unclear role responsibilities can lead to duplicated efforts and missed tasks and activities.
  • Content Calendar – Again, just as with content planning, a poorly managed (or no) content calendar can lead to missed opportunities and deadlines.
  • Production Team Meetings – Without a regular and structured team meeting schedule to discuss production issues, chaos ensues.
  • Content Production Tools – Are your team members aware of content production tools that can save them time and increase their productivity? Are they trained to use these tools competently and effectively?
Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 4: Content Production
Content Production issues affect Content Promotion.

If your team is experiencing issues related to content production, such as:

  • Content Output Is Low/Content Pipeline Has Dried Up – Your team is struggling to come up with new content ideas.
  • Content Is Late – Your content is not being delivered on time; your content team is missing important delivery deadlines.
  • Content Is Below Standard – Your content is not meeting expected quality standards

Then see this section: Troubleshooting Content Production Problems

Additionally, if your team is:

  • Running Out Of Content Ideas
  • Unable To Complete Projects Due To External Circumstances
  • Publishing Content That Is Not Performing Well

Then see this article: What Effective Content Management Looks Like

For more information and help in this area, see this course module: Content Production

Content Promotion-Related Issues

Before troubleshooting issues with Content Promotion,  make sure that systems and processes have been implemented in the preceding levels (Content Strategy, Content Planning, and Content Production), and review the lessons and course modules below:

Implementing effective content promotion systems and processes will ensure that your business promotes content that strengthens its brand, performs well according to set metrics, delivers results that meet or exceed expectations, and that it can continue to improve and refine its processes.

Issues related to content promotion are often caused by the lack of systems or processes in areas such as:

  • Marketing Plan – The lack of an overall marketing plan results in not knowing when or which content to create or promote.
  • Content Marketing – The lack of a clear content marketing plan leads to focusing time and effort on content methods and activities that fail to meet your target audience’s needs and ultimately perform poorly.
  • Content Metrics – Not knowing which metrics to track and not tracking important metrics means that your business cannot measure results or improve its content performance.
  • Content SEO – To deliver optimal results, your content should be optimized for both humans and search engines. SEO-related issues include poor results in search engines or being penalized for failing to adhere to SEO guidelines.
  • Content Distribution – Not knowing which distribution channels or the right formats to use when sharing, publishing, and promoting your content leads to poor user engagement and poor results.
  • Content Promotion Tools – Not knowing about useful content promotion tools and services or how to effectively use these can lead to significant time and effort being spent on activities that could be automated or boosted to deliver better results such as wider reach, more engagement, higher conversion rates, etc.
Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 5: Content Promotion
An effective Content Promotion system helps to reduce Content Management issues.

For more information and help in this area, see this course module: Content Promotion

Content Management-Related Issues

Before troubleshooting issues with Content Management, make sure that systems and processes have been implemented in the preceding levels (Content Strategy, Content Planning, Content Production, and Content Promotion), and review the lessons and course modules below:

Implementing effective content management systems and processes will ensure that your business can continue to grow, scale this growth, and help it achieve its goals and objectives to realize its vision.

Issues related to content management are often caused by the lack of systems or processes in areas such as:

  • Content Organization – A lack of organization at this level results in your content team spending too much time and effort looking for the information it needs to get things done. This creates delays and missed deadlines, and results in wasted opportunities, wasted time and resources, etc.
  • Content Documentation – A lack of documentation puts your business at risk and creates many issues, such as inconsistent standards, low-quality output, etc.
  • Content Tracking – Not having tracking systems in place to monitor, measure, analyze, and review data and performance means that your business is operating on guesswork and hence cannot improve its results.
  • Content Protection – A lack of content protection measures can result in copyright issues, unauthorized use of your content or content theft, etc.
  • Content Linking – A lack of an effective content-linking management strategy can lead to issues like broken links, links leading to error pages (poor user experience), having to manually search and replace outdated links throughout your website, etc.
  • Content Reviews – Not performing regular content reviews can lead to a growing body of content that is outdated, inaccurate, obsolete, or irrelevant to users, leading to poor user experience, loss of traffic or conversions, etc.
  • Content Backup Strategy – Not having a content backup strategy in place places your business at serious risk of losing some or all of its content should something unexpected happen (e.g. loss of server, security breaches, etc.)
  • Content Management Tools – Not knowing about useful content management tools and services or how to effectively use these can lead to significant time, effort, and resources being wasted trying to manage content and content-related processes that could be automated and better organized.
Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 6: Content Management
Effective Content Management systems and processes will help your business achieve its goals and objectives.

For more information and help in this area, see this course module: Content Management

Outsourcing-Related Issues

When troubleshooting issues related to Outsourcing, make sure that systems and processes have been implemented in the preceding levels (Content Strategy, Content Planning, Content Production, Content Promotion, and Content Management), and review the course lesson below:

Essentially, your business should not outsource anything until it has the systems and processes to manage everything it plans to outsource.

Implementing effective systems and processes for outsourcing content-related areas and activities (e.g. Content Production, Content Promotion) will ensure that high-quality standards of service and delivery are maintained by your outsourced providers.

Without systems and processes to outsource effectively, your business is not outsourcing but abdicating its responsibility for managing its outsourced processes.

Issues related to outsourcing are often caused by the lack of systems or processes in areas such as:

  • Outsourcing Strategy – Your outsourcing strategy determines what areas of your business should be outsourced and why. Without a strategy, outsourcing is like a rudderless ship, aimless and without direction.
  • Outsourcing Plan – Your outsourcing plan defines how outsourced areas like Content Production or Content Promotion should be managed. Without an outsourcing plan, your business could be wasting valuable time and money instead of saving time and money.
  • Outsourcing Management – If your business is putting external providers in control of managing the systems and processes that the business should be managing, then it can’t control or improve the quality of the outsourced work.
  • Outsourced Hiring – A lack of outsourced hiring guidelines can result in spending time and money hiring people or services that can’t meet your business expectations.
  • Outsourcing Documentation – A lack of outsourcing documentation (e.g. guidelines, procedures, training, etc.)  can result in outsourcing work to people or services who can’t deliver work to meet the quality or standards that your business needs.
  • Quality Management – Without a process to track, measure, analyze, and review what it is outsourcing, your business can’t manage and improve the quality of the work being delivered.
Content Troubleshooting Guide Chart 7: Outsourcing System
Effective Content Outsourcing also helps your business achieve its goals and objectives.

For more information and help in this area, see this course lesson: Outsourcing

Content Troubleshooting – FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about content troubleshooting:

What is content troubleshooting?

Content troubleshooting involves identifying and resolving issues with digital content, such as web pages, articles, or multimedia, to ensure they function properly and deliver the intended user experience. It includes diagnosing technical errors, addressing formatting issues, and resolving compatibility problems.

What are common issues in content troubleshooting?

Common issues include broken links, missing images or videos, formatting errors (e.g., text alignment or spacing), slow page loading times, and compatibility issues across different devices or browsers.

How do I troubleshoot broken links?

Use website auditing tools to identify broken links, then update or remove them accordingly. Regularly check and update internal and external links to maintain website integrity.

What tools can I use for content troubleshooting?

Tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and SEMrush can help identify technical issues and optimize content for better performance and user experience.

How can I troubleshoot slow page loading times?

Optimize images and videos, enable browser caching, use a content delivery network (CDN), and minimize HTTP requests to improve page speed.

What role does content management system (CMS) play in troubleshooting?

CMS platforms provide tools and functionalities to manage, edit, and troubleshoot content effectively. They streamline the process of identifying and resolving issues within digital content.

How do I troubleshoot formatting errors?

Review the HTML and CSS code for errors, ensure proper use of tags and styling, and test content across different devices and screen sizes to address formatting inconsistencies.

What steps can I take to troubleshoot compatibility issues?

Test content on various browsers, operating systems, and devices to identify compatibility issues. Use responsive design principles and CSS media queries to ensure content adapts well to different screen sizes.

Content Troubleshooting Articles

Refer to the articles below for additional content troubleshooting information:

Content Troubleshooting Guide

Content Troubleshooting Guide

Use this content troubleshooting guide to help you identify and fix content-related issues in your business.
The Challenges Of Managing Content Effectively

The Challenges Of Managing Content Effectively

Learn about the main challenges to managing content effectively and how to address these. 
Overcoming Content Challenges

Overcoming Content Challenges

A comprehensive guide to overcoming your content challenges and growing your business online.
What Effective Content Management Looks Like

What Effective Content Management Looks Like

Learn what effective content management looks like and how it can help to address most of the content-related problems in your business.
Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy

Troubleshooting Your Content Strategy

Troubleshoot common problems that can affect your content strategy.
Troubleshooting Your Content Plan

Troubleshooting Your Content Plan

Troubleshoot common issues in your content plan to improve your content strategy.

***

Image: Laptop