March 2006 Archives

I've had a number of people ask me for example spreadsheets to help them with conducting a content audit or content inventory.

Jeff Veen, a founder of Adaptive Path, wrote an essay about content analysis back in 2002. You can find the essay and a basic spreadsheet on the AP site. I find that I often customize Jeff's basic spreadsheet based upon the needs of the site and the project.

Here is an example of a content inventory spreadsheet (Excel: 72 KB) that has been customized for site migration. The first tab is blank and the second tab shows what it could look like all filled in. This was from my days at PeopleSoft, but since the site (and company) no longer exist, I figured there was no harm in posting the spreadsheet.

The main thing to remember is that the spreadsheet is just a tool to help you capture what it is that you are learning about and seeing on the site. There is no "one true" spreadsheet that will work in all cases. Play around with it. Adjust the columns to capture the information that is relevent to your situation.

And remember - content analysis is fun!

Tomorrow afternoon I'm presenting a session on "Content Analysis: Methods and Mentoring." The presentation is not included in the conference CD, but you can find the PowerPoint slides here on my site.