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Content Prioritization Principles Guide

Evidence-based frameworks and principles for prioritizing content improvements

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Core Prioritization Principles

01

Business Impact First

Content that directly affects revenue, lead generation, or strategic goals takes precedence.

  • Revenue-generating pages (product, pricing, demos)
  • High-converting landing pages
  • Sales enablement content
  • Customer retention materials
Key Metric: Potential revenue impact per quarter
02

User Value Alignment

Prioritize content that serves critical user needs and journey stages.

  • High-traffic help documentation
  • Frequently accessed resources
  • Decision-stage content
  • Problem-solving guides
Key Metric: User engagement rate & task completion
03

Effort-to-Impact Ratio

Quick wins with high impact should come before complex, resource-intensive projects.

  • Simple metadata updates
  • Broken link fixes
  • Title tag optimizations
  • Quick content refreshes
Key Metric: Hours required vs. expected improvement
04

Risk Mitigation

Address content that poses legal, compliance, or brand risks immediately.

  • Outdated legal information
  • Incorrect product specifications
  • Non-compliant accessibility issues
  • Security vulnerabilities
Key Metric: Risk severity score (1-10)
05

Strategic Alignment

Content supporting current initiatives and campaigns gets priority.

  • Product launch materials
  • Campaign landing pages
  • Seasonal content
  • Partnership materials
Key Metric: Alignment with quarterly OKRs
06

Data-Driven Decisions

Use analytics and performance data to guide prioritization, not opinions.

  • Traffic trends analysis
  • Conversion rate data
  • Engagement metrics
  • Search performance
Key Metric: Performance delta from baseline

Prioritization Frameworks Comparison

FrameworkFormulaBest ForProsCons
RICEReach, Impact, Confidence, Effort(Reach × Impact × Confidence) / EffortLarge-scale content operations with diverse stakeholders• Comprehensive scoring
• Accounts for uncertainty
• Scalable approach		• Complex calculation
• Requires extensive data
• Time-intensive
ICEImpact, Confidence, Ease(Impact + Confidence + Ease) / 3Quick decisions and small teams• Simple to calculate
• Fast implementation
• Easy to explain		• Less nuanced
• No reach factor
• Subjective scoring
PIEPotential, Importance, Ease(Potential + Importance + Ease) / 3CRO and A/B testing prioritization• Conversion-focused
• Balanced factors
• Action-oriented		• CRO-specific
• Limited scope
• Requires testing data
Value/Effort Matrix2x2 quadrant approachPlot: Value (Y) vs Effort (X)Visual thinkers and executive presentations• Highly visual
• Easy to communicate
• Quick categorization		• Binary decisions
• Less precise
• Oversimplified
MoSCoWMust, Should, Could, Won'tCategorize by criticalitySprint planning and agile teams• Clear categories
• Stakeholder-friendly
• Time-boxed approach		• No ranking within categories
• Subjective placement
• Political challenges

Practical Scoring Guidelines

Impact Scoring (1-10)

  • 10: Game-changing, transforms business metrics
  • 7-9: Significant improvement to KPIs
  • 4-6: Moderate, measurable improvement
  • 2-3: Minor improvement, nice to have
  • 1: Minimal or no measurable impact

Reach Scoring

  • 10,000+ users/month = Very High
  • 5,000-10,000 users/month = High
  • 1,000-5,000 users/month = Medium
  • 500-1,000 users/month = Low
  • <500 users/month = Very Low

Effort Estimation

  • 1: Less than 1 hour
  • 2-3: Half day (2-4 hours)
  • 4-6: Full day to 3 days
  • 7-8: One week
  • 9-10: Multiple weeks

Confidence Levels

  • 100%: Proven with data/testing
  • 80%: Strong evidence/similar cases
  • 60%: Good hypothesis, some data
  • 40%: Educated guess
  • 20%: Pure speculation

Priority Decision Worksheet

Step 1: Initial Assessment

Step 2: Calculate Priority Score

Priority Score = (Impact + Value + Risk) / Effort

Step 3: Categorize Priority

Urgent (Score >7)

Address within 1 week

🟠 High (Score 5-7)

Address within 1 month

🟡 Medium (Score 3-5)

Address within quarter

🟢 Low (Score <3)

Address as resources allow

Common Prioritization Pitfalls

HiPPO Syndrome

Problem: Highest Paid Person's Opinion drives decisions

Solution: Use data-driven frameworks and document reasoning

Recency Bias

Problem: Latest complaint gets top priority

Solution: Maintain prioritization backlog with consistent scoring

Perfect vs. Good

Problem: Waiting for perfect data before acting

Solution: Use confidence scores and iterate based on results

Everything is Urgent

Problem: No true prioritization when everything is P1

Solution: Force-rank items and limit high-priority slots

Implementation Roadmap

Week 1-2: Foundation

  • Choose primary framework (RICE, ICE, or custom)
  • Define scoring criteria for your context
  • Create prioritization spreadsheet/tool
  • Train team on methodology

Week 3-4: Pilot

  • Score top 20 content items
  • Validate scores with stakeholders
  • Adjust scoring weights if needed
  • Document edge cases and exceptions

Month 2: Scale

  • Apply to full content inventory
  • Create priority buckets/sprints
  • Assign resources to high-priority items
  • Set up tracking dashboards

Ongoing: Optimize

  • Review priority scores monthly
  • Measure actual vs. predicted impact
  • Refine scoring model based on results
  • Share wins and learnings

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