An editorial charter is a reference document intended to ensure the consistency and quality of a publication. It formalizes the rules and procedures to which the members of an editorial project must comply. The charter addresses both the content and the form of the content to be published. It specifies the objectives, targets and workflow of the editorial project. The editorial charter can be used in any editorial project, whether physical or digital. Many websites have an editorial charter, sometimes publicly available.
The charter should not be confused with the editorial line. The editorial line, rarely formulated in writing, is only one of the components of an editorial charter.
The objectives of the publication
This first step allows you to define the target audiences thanks to the content created, the type of traffic you want to attract, the elements (qualities, products, services, team, etc.) of the company you want to highlight. before, etc.
The editorial line
In a context of content creation, the editorial line represents a real common thread. It determines the communication angle with which each content will be produced. It also defines the different formats that will be authorized (list article, mood post, video tutorial, etc.) and the way in which they will be orchestrated. Finally, the editorial line determines the temporality, the rhythm of publication imposed. This last element finds its importance in particular on the newsletter and on the social networks of a company.
The SEO strategy
To get a place of choice on search engines, SEO, or natural referencing, is studied strategically as part of the editorial charter. The company thus begins by defining the territory of keywords in which it wishes to be present, and to identify synonyms. This approach will then be used by web editors who will dig into these keywords to improve the visibility of the company.
Subsequently, it is advisable to set up an internal linking system. This is a method of organizing internal links to a website. The objective of this device is twofold: it optimizes navigation from the Internet user’s point of view and also plays an important role in SEO.
Sectioning
This work requires a division by zone of the site. Starting from an overview of the tree structure, the sectioning consists of describing the purpose of each of these areas. This first step makes it possible to annotate each advice section (expertise, news, study case) when writing each page: home page, product pages, institutional pages, etc.
Editorial rules (form and content)
Defining writing rules is essential for the identity of the company, especially when several people are involved in the creation of the content. It is a question of giving a line of conduct to create coherence between the different elements (title, chapô, image, video, text, call to action, etc.), impulse a tone (proximity or distance, uninhibited or academic , humorous or wise, etc.) and define the desired level of technicality.
The production process
The content production process includes the choice of subjects to be covered, the editorial plan, the quality control of productions, the validation process, possible translation, the coordination of editorial contributors and the monitoring of statistics.
The legislation
Consideration should be given to applicable copyright and human rights laws, and steps taken to comply with them. In addition, the conditions for reusing the content published on the site must be specified in the charter, as must the type of license adopted (Creative commons, copyright, etc.).
(Includes texts from Wikipedia translated and adapted by Nicolae Sfetcu)
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