RESOURCES

Web Content Inventory

Download Inventory Worksheets ( 55 kb)

What is a Content Inventory?

Migrating content from an existing Web site to a new Web site can be deceptively difficult. Some existing content is out of date, other content is missing. New site designs and organizational structures also require content to be reorganized, reshaped, and reworked.

The best way to approach the challenge of reviewing and preparing content for migration to a new Web site is to systematically perfom a content audit or inventory. A content inventory helps you to identify what you have, what you will keep, and what is missing. Since most content that is migrated to new sites require rework, it helps you to identify what needs to be done and how that will happen. It helps you to track where you will put the content on the new site when it is ready for migration.

Content Inventory, Prep, and Migration Worksheets

The Content Inventory, Prep, and Migration Worksheets prepared by PageSolutions, Inc. will help you to:

1. Identify all content that will be migrated from an existing site to a new site
2. Identify work that needs to be done—and who will do that work
3. Determine which content should not be in HTML, but in some other "end document" format
4. Plan/monitor the progress of all page content requiring migration to the new site.

Download the Web Content Inventory, Prep, and Migration Worksheets for personal use. ( 55 kb)

Where Do I Start?

Instructions are included on the first page. The three Worksheets build upon one another, and should be completed in succession. For example, on the first Worksheet you will identify what content you want to keep/kill, what work needs to be done to the content you will keep, and who will do the work.

Don't Forget the Site Map!

You must know the high-level "buckets" for content organization on the new site before you begin. As you work through the process, you need to determine the exact location of each page and "end doc" as it will exist on your new site. Your site map will grow and become more defined as you work through the Worksheets. Each item on the last Worksheet should map to a specific location on your growing site map.