Table of Contents What is website governance and why do you need it? The benefits of a governance framework Getting started with your governance framework Who’s permitted to manage your website? Do you have processes and policies in place to govern it? If yours is a mid to large-scale website that’s grown to become hundreds of thousands of pages, it’s imperative you can answer these questions—and more—in the form of a website governance framework. As websites become increasingly complex and expand in terms of the number of stakeholders and the volume of content, a governance framework is essential.
The challenges of operating large-scale websites If your organization is large, you’re bound to have siloed teams working from locations around world. Processes grow increasingly fragmented, which inevitably result in:
Inconsistency in voice, look and feel, and messaging Outdated content Violations of established performance standards Reduced effectiveness of the website at large Website governance is the framework for maintaining a corporate website.
It provides set of policies and procedures for managing all aspects of a website. It provides staff with the guidance to create, manage and measure content across all digital properties. Identifies a single point of accountability including the skills required, staffing, roles & team structures. It guides the development and implementation of new capabilities, development pipeline, and related project work. A governance framework establishes best practices, policies and procedures related to the content, people and processes for websites (or intranets). Having a well-planned and documented governance framework helps to:
Avoid duplication and silos Speed time to completion Reduce costs The framework should establish: Defined website goals and objectivesGuidance for creating, managing and measuring content across all digital propertiesGuidance to prioritize the development and implementation of new capabilities, the development pipeline, and related project workA single point of accountability including the skills required, staffing, roles and team structuresA review process to measure traffic, engagement and conversionStandards that can be easily replicated by all team members in any locationA checklist to ensure a review process , documentation and budgets are in placeClick image to expand
Creating a governance framework may appear to be a daunting task. The following guide help kickstart the creation of your framework. Aim to create a strong foundation that you can continue building on over time.
What are the business goals and how are they defined? Is there a clearly defined list of KPIs for the website ? Are budgets in place to support these goals and KPIs? How are expectations set within the company; what is the review process? What stakeholders are involved in setting website expectations in terms of leads, pipeline, exposure, etc.? Is there a reporting structure and review timeline? Are the legal and compliance requirements documented? Yes/No – if no, is there a plan in place to create? Who manages the maintenance of this document? Who is responsible to ensure the website adheres to all requirements? What is the review cadence to enforce compliance? Is the website set up to comply with current and upcoming legal and regulatory requirements? Can the website support new legal requirements such as GDPR compliance? What tools are in available and who is managing the programs? Are these tools in place now? Who is managing them? Who has login access? Is a review process in place to test their effectiveness? What training is need to use these tools and who should be trained on these tools? Is clear documentation available for teams to understand? Is there a process in place to train relevant staff when new tools are deployed, or when existing tools are updated? What are the standard content requirements? How does the content fit in to the customer journey? Have personas been created? Is content personalized by user type, geo, etc.? Is content mapped to the high-level personas and throughout the customer journey? Is there an ongoing user journey analysis? Are content owners defined? Does each piece of content have an owner? Do they have a way to view performance? What is the content review and revision process? What is the process to update and add new content? Who is responsible for managing updating content and ensuring compliance with performance and content standards? Is content developed on a set cycle or as needed? Who determines when new content should be added? Are there content templates and guides available for writers to follow. What is the process for creating and managing content throughout the lifecycle? Is there an established process for when and how new content will be created? Is a content template available for writers? Have content standards been created and shared with all writers? Is an archiving process in place? Content Optimization: Is content optimized for search and usability? Has keyword research by product area been completed? Do relevant teams have access to this information? When new content is created are optimization techniques incorporated? (infographic) Is meta data and other important search optimization factors incorporated for every piece of content? Is non-HTML content such as PDFs optimized ? Is there an ongoing internal linking strategy in place to improve search crawling? Is organic reporting in place? Has an SEO technical audit been ever been completed? Is this done on a set schedule? Content Inventory & Auditing: Is an annual content audit being conducted? Is there a process for inventorying and auditing the content in place? Does this process include all content types such as PDFs, video, tools and apps? Who initiates and manages this process? Is there a content localization strategy? Does the site reflect that strategy? Is the right content for each market being delivered to that market? What are the gaps? Is there a plan to identify new content for localization? How is the taxonomy defined, implemented and enforced? Is content presented in appropriate silos so that visitors can quickly understand how content is organized? Can new content be easily integrated into this structure? Are the relevant pages and related content to reflect the existing taxonomy? Is reporting set up to reflect this content structure? Asset Management Is there a review of non-HTML content (PDFs, videos) for freshness, messaging and up-to-date branding? Are there standards in place that have been created for search optimization? Blogs, Videos and Podcasts Is a blogger checklist in place to align with best practices, engagement and post-launch success? Is a blogging calendar set up and followed? Is topic and keyword research created for each blog? Is video content optimized and distributed on-site and across other channels such as YouTube and Vimeo?Is there content approval process before blogs posted? Content Performance Reporting Have standards been defined and shared? Are there performance benchmarks for content? How often is content performance reported on? Who has access to this data? Is a process in place to review and act upon the types of content that drive high-converting traffic? – Who monitors this? Who sees this data? What are the brand requirements and standards and how are they enforced? Is there a well-documented messaging and brand voice guide available? How is it communicated? Are there established brand guidelines for items for images, messaging, style? Are there variations of the brand guidelines that need to be created based on channel selection or use case? Is a process in place to facilitate compliance with new and existing content? Is there a frequency for ensuring brand compliance? Who is involved in this process and what is the workflow? Who is responsible for strategy and execution? Is there a team or department responsible for maintaining online/offline channels such as Wikipedia, YouTube? How is content selected for cross-channel publication? Do lead generation standards exist and how are they communicated? – How is compliance with these standards enforced? What is the process for managing consistency in messaging? Who is responsible for ensuring consistency – everywhere, including images, messaging, etc.? Is it clear that all communications – across all channels – originate from your company? How is reporting standardized across channels? Is there a process in place to ensure a consistency of marketing performance reporting? Who needs to see this? Does the current lead nurture process does it reflect the business KPIs? Has a lead nurture program been established for every lead? How does it get implemented across all campaigns? Is there a way to implement as campaigns scale and evolve? Is there a process to measure against KPIs? Who manages demand generation and ensures relevance and volume? What is the decision hierarchy for deciding the site structure and organization? Is the structure designed to be flexible and scalable? Does it work for current and future content needs? Who is involved in deciding the site structure? (sitemap ) Does the structure support business strategy goals such as target markets? What happens with content that doesn’t naturally sit within this structure i.e. microsites, landing pages, etc.? Does the site reflect best practices in user experience and design? Does the content provide a consistent, intuitive, useful user experience that leads to an action? What ongoing processes are happening to ensure user engagement? Is ongoing user testing being conducted? How are improvements identified and prioritized? Measuring KPIs What are the KPIs and is there a system in place to measure and report on success? How is visitor behavior measured? What key behavior metrics are tracked i.e. homepage bounce rate, days to a conversion, conversion URLs? Is data from on-site search evaluated? Is IP tracking in place to identify activities by target accounts? Campaign Measurement Is there a tool or guide in place that identifies correct tracking based on an agreed naming conventions and definitions? Are campaign managers and agencies aware? How is this enforced? Are campaign tracking URLs being used for accurate measurement? Has there been an analytics audit to ensure data accuracy? Has an analytics audit been conducted? Is there a regular, ongoing crawl to ensure analytics code is present throughout the site? Are employee IPs excluded from the metrics? Is this updated on a set frequency? How does the company anticipate and address disruption in analytics? For example, when Google changes it’s reporting or problems with tracking code? What is the reporting cadence? When is reporting completed, in what format and who is this shared with? Tracking and Access Where and how is data tracked and who has access to it: e.g. Google Analytics and Data Studio, Salesforce, Marketo? Who can create or modify reports? Is the data tracked across platforms measuring on a consistent basis? Is there a review process to identify cross-platform reporting inconsistencies? Who is approved to view and edit analytics setup: GTM, Google Analytics, Google Search Console? Is there an SEO reporting dashboard for content owners and writers? When do we bring in agency support? What triggers the hiring of an outside vendor? Who owns that relationship? Who manages vendor review to ensure business alignment and legal compliance? Is this decided at the product team level or by corporate? Will new vendors be permitted by Accounts Payable? Onboarding What access does a vendor to people, platforms and processes? What access is required? Are there platform or permission restrictions? Website Testing Does the website meet current performance requirements such as speed, mobile devices, load balancing, etc. Who manages vendor review to ensure business alignment and legal compliance? Is this decided at the product team level or by corporate? Will new vendors be permitted by Accounts Payable? Capabilities + Integration Does the website support required technologies, capabilities and applications (e.g., chat, personalization, localization)? How are integrations identified, implemented and managed (e.g. Marketo, Salesforce)
→ Google Sheet Website Governance Template
Co-Author: Meghan Soule
Inbound Digital Engagement Manager at Pegasystems
Related Resources https://www.smartsheet.com/data-governance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_governance
How to Conduct a Content Audit > 
