The project which your business is currently undertaking to redevelop your company website, or intranet, or extranet system is only the start of something bigger.  Don’t let it fail by underestimating the level of resource required to keep its content properly managed and relevant once its launched.

Because the web isn’t physical in nature, it is easy to imagine that it is without limits.  It doesn’t limit us to the same physical constraints that an office or a depot might do.  If you are running a project in another area of your business, you will know that the amount of output you expect is directly related to the amount of input you will need to invest.  If you run a taxi company of ten vehicles, you will know that it will take at least ten drivers and at least one radio operator to make the company work.  The purchase of the infrastructure, i.e. the cars and equipment is only the start of the project, it’s only at that point that the infrastructure can produce the outputs it was designed to provide.

Online, it is all too easy to make the decision to over commit to maintaining a website or intranet system which will take more time to manage than available resource to manage it.  This is because some businesses fail to understand where the value lies in an intranet or website.  For regular readers this will be a familiar message, but contrary to what you may believe the value of your website doesn’t lie in its technology, its content management system, or dare I say it even its design.  The greatest value of your website lies in its content.

With this in mind you should view your website or intranet as a publishing medium, with the appropriately managed publishing schedules and resources.  Do you have a staff directory on your intranet?  It needs to be updated when people leave or join.  Do you have an events diary on your website?  Events need to expire when they pass, and new events need to be added.  Do you have a search facility on your site?  It needs constantly to be fed relevant keywords to help it display the best possible results to people using it.

If you can’t keep the staff directory up to date, or you can’t keep feeding keywords to your search function then don’t have one.  All these features will be doing is really frustrating your users, and slowing them down as they seek to complete their daily tasks.  If you need to, stall phase 2 or phase 3 of your website to provide time to manage your staff directory and your search function correctly.

Go back to the fundamental questions.  Who is your website or intranet for?  Why will they visit it?  What are they hoping to achieve?  How can you help them achieve it?  In summary the job is to disseminate knowledge and to drive an appropriate action from the reader as a result of that knowledge.  If content is badly written, or rushed, or obsolete it will achieve the opposite of the reason that it was produced in the first place.  Slow down and get it right.

If you are in management, start allocating appropriate resource to allow you to keep your electronic communications accurate.  This can only occur when you are comfortable that the return on investment for your website or intranet is sound.  If you are working directly on an intranet or web project, make sure that those who have commissioned the project recognise the fundamental importance of the key ingredient in all of the process – the content.

Commit to publishing appropriately.  Continue to review new and existing content.  Axe any content which no longer makes the grade.  Replace it with timely, accurate, relevant content which will drive actions, improve productivity, increase morale and bring your closer to your customers.