Web design and development by Front, a strategy, design and technology studio in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Everybody wants to talk about social networking, and building relationships, and rich experiences…but what are we talking about? Probably an imageContent, she says, is just not sexy. It is rare to find a client, or company, or anybody who has a solid understanding that producing and governing content is complex and requires attention from day 1 of your project.

Content, content, content - not a “thing” you throw into your project late in the day, or something you can ignore completely, but definitely something you can plan for, produce repeatedly and use to build trust with the people who use your products and services. If I could teleport all of our wonderful (love you guys!) clients to one talk at Web 2.0 Expo, this would be the talk.

Here are some tips from Kristina for content strategists, or those working on web projects:

1. Content is not something to be sprinkled into your project when and if you have time - it fundamentally shapes the project from the beginning.
2. Content requires ownership - hire a content strategist, or create a board to oversee the governance of content.
3. Creating a content inventory will help you manage the production and ongoing governance of content - and will prove to your company the depth of effort required to produce relevant content for customers.
4. Creating a clear, useful style guide will guide the creation of content after the end of the initial project.

Kristina’s talk was refreshing, and reinforced (and reminded us of) some things we know, but sometimes let slip. Kristina has kindly posted the slides from her talk online. Well worth a look.