The Great Content Migration Drive (Part 2)

Posted by: Kyle Bondo, Director of Interactive Technology Oct 23, 2008 0 Comments

Not all content management systems (CMS) are created equal, but they do all have one thing in common: they all require that content! But how do you get all that content into the new site? It’s called the Great Content Migration Drive and it will save your new CMS a world of hurt!

Count the Herd

The first step is to discover just how much content you have. In doing a content inventory, you not only discover just how big your “herd” is, but you also tend to discover all sorts of forgotten content you didn’t even know you had.

Get Directions

Now that you know how big the herd is, how will you get it into the CMS? The answer is a simple one: create a plan that categorizes the content as essential, stale, or missing. Having content priorities will help you focus your resources on moving the migration forward in bite-sized waves without getting overwhelmed.

Cull the Herd

Next, you need to consider what shape the content should be in when it gets to its new home. Do you need to clean it up and make it more usable? Implementing a new CMS requires you to take an honest look at your content and consider new standards.

Know Your Barns

Make sure to designate where old content will go on the new site. Some content will be an easy one-to-one mapping, while other content will not match up cleanly, if at all. This is where some hard decisions have to be made. The end result should be a complete guide that shows where all of your content goes.

Take Ownership of the Herd

Make sure all migrating content has an owner. By getting in-house editors to make decisions about priorities and locations, you delegate the responsibility to those who care the most about it. After all, these ranch hands will become essential to keeping the herd alive and well long after the migration is completed.

Get Along, Little Doggies

Now it’s time to migrate! You should begin by moving your content in small, prioritized waves. This method gives you the flexibility to quickly clean the content as you go and easily adapt to your new production processes. Unfortunately, the only true way to migrate content is to get your hands dirty with cut-and-paste. But since you’ll be cleaning your content as you go, manual migration is the best way to accurately get your website up and running correctly.

Maintaining the New Ranch

Once all your content is at home within the new fence line, the final step is to find a content manager who will shepherd the herd, enforce participation and timely contributions, and keep your content from wandering off again.