Content Anarchy Is Not a Strategy
Who decides what topics to cover?
Who approves content before publishing?
Who's responsible for updating old content?
Who ensures brand voice consistency?
If the answer to any of these is "nobody" or "it depends," you have a governance problem.
What Content Governance Includes
Editorial standards. Minimum quality bar. Style guide. Brand voice guidelines. Fact-checking requirements.
Approval workflows. Who reviews. Who approves. How many rounds. What the timeline is.
Publishing authority. Who can publish. Who can edit published content. Who can delete pages.
Content ownership. Every piece has an owner. That owner is responsible for accuracy, updates, and performance.
Update schedules. Evergreen content gets reviewed quarterly. Time-sensitive content gets reviewed monthly.
Why Governance Matters for SEO
Inconsistent quality confuses Google about your site's authority.
Outdated content damages trust signals.
Duplicate or conflicting content causes cannibalization. A content audit reveals these issues before they compound.
Good governance prevents all three. Google's SEO starter guide emphasizes that consistent quality signals across your entire site matter for rankings.
Keeping It Simple
Governance doesn't have to be bureaucratic. For small teams, it can be:
For larger teams, you'll need formal workflows, content management systems, and defined roles.
Scale governance to match your team size. But have governance.
And ensure your standards include SEO optimization. SEO Checkup -- 113 tasks, 4 checklists, free, 30 seconds.
Govern your content. Or it governs you.