Lessons Learned from Spoiled Milk

Have you ever poured yourself a glass of milk that’s past its expiration date? One sip of spoiled milk can make you regret not clearing your refrigerator of outdated food sooner. But did you know that redundant, outdated, and trivial (ROT) content on your website can have the same effect? It can spoil the experience for your users.

Getting Rid of the ROT

Like the expiration date on a milk container, content needs to be checked regularly to make sure that it’s not past its prime. Although new content is often added, content owners are less likely to review and remove older content. By performing a ROT analysis on your site, you can get a good start on identifying content that is no longer fresh, purposeful, or relevant.

For websites with hundreds or thousands of pages and assets, redundant, outdated and trivial content can make your site even larger than it needs to be, and make it harder for users to find information. Employees now expect a consumer-grade experience inside the enterprise, and for the most part, the consumer world has conditioned them to expect new and updated content all the time. When they continuously find outdated or irrelevant information, or if your content doesn’t support their business needs, it can diminish the trust and credibility that users have with your site.

Future-State Readiness

The regular performance of a ROT analysis can also help you prepare your content for the future so that you can adapt more quickly to consumer-driven experiences, such as mobile and omni-channel. Adhering to a content strategy that includes ongoing ROT analysis paves the way for a better enterprise future-state – without the bad taste of expired milk.

At Logical Design Solutions, we provide robust content strategies that keep your content fresh and ROT-free.