Definition
A content inventory logs the existing content of a website.
Description
A content inventory takes the form of a detailed list (in an Excel sheet) of all the pages and other content items (downloadable documents and publications, video, audio, etc.) present on the website.
Ideally, the content inventory should reflect the hierarchy (navigation level) of the content on the site. This builds up a visual representation of a website, which makes it easier to understand how the site content is structured.
The benefits of a content inventory
A content inventory is a way to account for the content as it is (before transformation), to facilitate analysis of the content and its improvement. The content inventory of a site logs, for example, the main sections; types of content and the most visited pages.
Once the content transformation is complete, the content inventory shows what happened to the content and where it can be found, or if it has been deleted or archived.
Content inventory template
170402_Content_Inventory_Template.xlsx
How to fill in the content inventory template
The content inventory template includes the following fields:
A - Current structure
- Page Title – the title of the webpage as it appears on the site
(not necessarily in the URL) - Level 1 (column B)/ Level 2 (column C)/ Level 3 (column D)/ etc.–
these columns represent the structure of the site, in descending order - URL – the URL of each page or item on a page
B - Content description
- Type of content: high level categorisation of the content. This field includes a pre-set dropdown menu, where you can choose from any one of the categories (Database, Video, Content, Form, Navigation page…)
- Content description and comments: Optional: brief description of the content which may help in reviewing content
- Word count: Optional: number of words on the page
- Languages: Optional: use the drop-down to indicate the languages in which the content is available
- Analytics: number of visits during the last X months
- Last updated: date of last update
Next steps
Once you have prepared the Content inventory, proceed to the next stage in the process: Content : ROT analysis.