Content Experts in Intranet Sites

A man works on a computer with digital interface overlays, surrounded by sticky notes on the wall. The setting is a bright office.

The role of content experts is gaining increasing importance in organizations. Since the emergence of the first intranet solutions, this role has been born and has only expanded and grown.

Today, almost every medium-sized organization and above maintains an internal intranet, portal, and/or website or community. In large organizations, the number of sites can grow to dozens or hundreds.

While it's clear to almost every organization that maintaining an external website is a profession and marketing sites are entrusted to professional content experts (some more, some less), most organizations have not yet incorporated this understanding for internal sites and feel that since they are not directed at customers, compromises can be made. There's no need to invest in content editing and design within the organization.

One of the main compromises concerns content experts. Organizations invest significant resources and planning in site architecture, technology, and methodology but leave maintenance to employees without appropriate skills.

The logic behind recruiting content experts is simple: "Whoever understands the site's subject best will maintain it as long as the information is in there." These content experts usually do their work without adequate training and preparation, as part of an additional role, sometimes out of necessity, without special compensation, and sometimes without a sense of belonging and identity with the site.

The result: internal sites with a lot of money and effort invested in the planning and building stage contain outdated and inefficient content, disappoint expectations, and stand abandoned by users.

Why does this happen?

It's important to remember that organization employees are also customers. And like customers "outside," they expect certain standards and will only use sites that are simple to use, clear, and have added value. A site that is not properly maintained or where the content is not understandable, up-to-date, and user-friendly will "chase away" its users, who will look for other solutions.

What should be done?

After investing so much resources and time in planning and building an internal site, it's equally important to invest in finding and training skilled writers who will ultimately handle the core of the site and what gives it real value - the content - with capable hands.

Who is a good content expert?

Ideally, a good content expert is an employee with time (preferably full-time) who thoroughly knows the site, lives the internet market and how to write for it, is oriented toward writing, updating, and improving content, will proofread, initiate new content, initiate needs identification research, and examine satisfaction with the content.

A good content expert has several skills:

Excellent writer with mastery of the language in which the site is written. Despite the myth, they don't have to be an expert in the field they are writing about. They specialize in presenting information they receive from experts in the field.
Trained in concise media-appropriate writing and linguistic editing
Has (at least basic) capabilities in marketing writing and copywriting
Able to conduct research, search for information, and consolidate it
Has systematic thinking, a tendency for order, consistency, and perseverance

However, ideal is one thing, and reality is another. Not every organization can afford to employ such content experts. Organizations often need to compromise and use the employees themselves as writers for reasons of economy and lack of choice. The limitations are inherent. But to prevent failures as described so far, it is very important to adhere to the following principles when using employees as content experts:

Recruitment and job framework

Recruit those who are suitable for and interested in the role. Recruitment is almost arbitrary in many organizations based on "who has more time" or "the expert on a specific topic." To be a content expert, one needs to know and love to write. Choose someone drawn to the field, even if they are not the greatest expert on the subject. They should know how to verify the accuracy and validity of content with the expert but not necessarily provide the answers themselves.

Additionally, remember that a content expert is also a service provider. Therefore, they should have good interpersonal skills and a courteous, service-oriented approach. They are integrators responsible for collecting, filtering, processing, organizing, and optimally presenting content.

Allocating time and resources

Many organizations feel that, thanks to technology, uploading content to a site is quick and easy. However, it's important to understand that a writing process with quality results takes time. Even if it's technologically easy to upload content, its quality and effectiveness for users still depend on the writer, who needs mental quiet, concentration, and inspiration to prepare.

Churchill once opened a letter with the words: "Forgive me for writing a long letter; I didn't have time to write you a short one..." The point is that writing a long, scattered, and confused message is easier and quicker than writing a short and precise message.

Don't assign the role to someone whose job is already pressured. Choose those who have, or can be given, time for the writing process and content creation and who have the required concentration ability.

Compensation

In most organizations, a content expert for an internal site does this in a "semi-voluntary" manner. That is, although they do it following an instruction/order they received, the role is in addition to their original role and without receiving a formal appointment for it (as in their original role). As a result, most content experts feel that the role is secondary to their original role in importance and contribution. Additionally, their work in this role is not compensated or considered when considering compensation or promotion. This situation does not allow for motivation recruitment. Therefore, formally integrate content writing into the content expert's role. Their periodic performance evaluation should include the element of writing on the site, and they should be compensated for it as they are compensated for their actions within their original role. This way, the role will be rooted in the employee, their managers, and the entire organization.

Preparation and training

No one is born a content expert. This is a skill that must be learned. Even when they perform the role in addition to another role, content experts on sites should receive training for their role:

Understanding the field of knowledge management and its advantages
Understanding the process of content writing and content organization
Skills in concise, effective writing adapted to Internet media
Marketing skills and user motivation
Fast and purposeful reading skills to distinguish between essential and trivial
Skills in identifying user needs and receiving feedback
Work process skills - time division and integration with the original role, task prioritization, identifying successes and failures, identifying opportunities, long-term planning, and more

It is highly recommended that content experts be gathered for a course framework that will disconnect them from their usual environment and allow them to invest in acquiring new skills. After they return to their environment, it is important to maintain these skills and enrich them over time.

Role perception

In the role of content expert, there is no place for a "small head," and it is not just about writing. An important component in success in the role is the care and genuine desire of the expert for the content they wrote to be valuable to users and make a real contribution to their needs. They should feel like a messenger for their users. They should not be disconnected and should be in contact with them to receive feedback and identify new needs. They should recognize their centrality in the knowledge flow process and their influence on the final product of the unit/organization. They should promise and deliver. Understanding the role perception and sense of mission is important to instill in content experts during their training and to maintain it. It will truly assimilate the role's values and improve products.

Recommended method

Gather all content experts into a joint forum
Ask each expert to tell the group why they wanted the role or why they were chosen for it
Ask each expert to mention at least one trait that helps them succeed in their role (tendency for order and organization, high written expression, patience, etc.)
Record all participants' answers and conduct a discussion on defining the role of content experts, their expectations, and the required skills.
Turn the discussion results into a shared charter based on agreement between the experts. It will also become a guideline for management to examine the quality of activity on the site and a parameter for evaluation and compensation.

Conclusion

Sites, portals, and communities may be for internal use, but assumptions are not appropriate in them. Just as the fastest car is worthless without a skilled driver, organizational internal sites, no matter how advanced, will not be able to serve the organization without skilled content experts.

Those who can employ full-time content experts should do so. Those who must rely on their employees are recommended to invest extensively in their training and emotional recruitment and not rely on it happening alone. The investment is substantial, but the return (ROI) will not be long.