In a nutshell

We asked our contributors to distil their best advice regarding content creation into a few words:

“Content must be made by editorial staff; graphical layout by the design department.” Rob van Dorp, owner, AdFactory International

“Ensure consistent tagging is used and that the content is as rich as absolutely possible with careful consideration paid to SEO.” Cesare Navarotto, chief digital officer, Atex

“Create content in a digital-first platform, embrace new content formats such as web stories, increase video output and use data-driven CMSs and tools to make the content creation process easy and painless – even fun!” Brian Alford, founder & CEO, Bright Sites

“Focus on creating interesting content that makes a difference and adds value to any online or other offerings and make this as easy as possible for content creators by using the right tools.” Phil Arnold, managing director UK, censhare

“Always start the content creation process with a clear understanding of exactly what your core audience wants (or could want) and work your way out from there.” Luke Nicholls, content director, edie

“The benefits of teams working in a more real-time collaborative way shouldn’t be under-estimated.” Russell Pierpoint, managing director, Evolved Media

“My best advice for publishers would be to automate as much of the manual processes as possible and integrate their systems, to streamline the throughput and create a dynamic eco-system for their content.” Nigel Abbott, enterprise sales advisor, FotoWare

“Improving the technology and systems that support the creation of excellent content is a constant process, and must be driven by the needs of the creators.” Rob Corbidge, head of content intelligence, Glide Publishing Platform

“Good content is about showing how people are affected by events.” Martin Cloake, managing editor, Global Relay

“Watch, measure and reduce your business workflows on a regular basis in the same way you would a garden.” David Coveney, director, interconnect

“Make life easier for the content creators by implementing modern systems and workflows that remove the need to carry out mundane and repetitive tasks, which manage the transformations for different output channels, and allow them to fully focus on the content itself rather than having to waste effort in fighting against outdated and unwieldly technology.” Paul Driscoll, director, Media Systems

“Speak to the video team early on, even when pitching ideas and don’t overlook post-production.” Pete Fergusson, founder & CEO, Nemorin

“Think about things from your audience’s perspective. Who are they, what do they want and how?” Gavin Thompson, regional editor, Newsquest (Wales)

“Content creation is an artistic process that is all too often fragmented and interrupted by the hundred associated little tasks – focus your workflow automation on removing these tasks and you’ll have a more productive, less distracted and happier creative team.” Mike Hoy, managing director, Papermule

“Digital content evolves, it adapts and so should your digital content piece – over time, more data, media and information will present itself to the piece you are packaging; empower yourself with access to real-time media as well as archive material to bolster and provide your users with a full 365 experience.” Rich Cheary, CEO, Publisher's Toolbox

“We can get caught up in the latest industry buzzwords and can often forget that at our heart, we are communicators who are striving for a dialogue. We need to begin those conversations in language we would use to engage our own selves. Write for you!” Esther Newman, editor, Women's Running

“Content creation is the core of every publishing house, and the more people focus on the creative output and less on the technical and complex ways to collaborate, the more publishers can yield in terms of great copy and increased output.” Tom Pijsel, lead product manager, WoodWing