How and why to move from WordPress to Astro
A journey from a monolithic content management system to a modern tech stack. And how AI can help create a smooth path to get there.
The best content strategy resources
Our pick of the best books and blogs to read, podcasts to listen to and communities to join
For content strategists present and future, these are the shoulders of giants. We’ve gathered the best blogs, books, podcasts and communities to help you on your content strategy journey.
Content strategy blogs
Sources of regular content strategy sustenance and wisdom in blog form.
A word to the wise: try using the browser extension for the app Pocket to save articles for reading later. If you use Notion, you can do a similar thing with that. We also subscribe to RSS feeds of our favourite blogs in a #reading Slack channel. Because we’re keen like that.
Brain Traffic
The Brain Traffic team really know their onions. Come for the unmatched content strategy insights, stay for the beautiful illustrations.
Zen
Carrie Hane is a nuanced and perceptive writer on content strategy. She’s particularly good on developing rigorous processes and improving relationships.
UX Booth
A community of user experience designers show you the ropes, with how-to guides, interaction design tips and practical advice.
Content insights
Hilary Marsh is an experienced digital strategist, and her articles on digital transformation are super handy if you’re putting your mind to organisation-wide strategy.
New thinking
We’re big fans of Gerry McGovern’s top tasks methodology; he also spins a good yarn, using everyday situations to find genuinely insightful observations on customer experience.
A List Apart
This blog started life as a mailing list in 1997 and has been a leading voice on web standards and best practices since then, from trans-inclusive web design to digital democracy.
Scriptorium
Specialising in topics at the more technical end of the content strategy rainbow, such as XML data modelling, Scriptorium are especially good at sharing their owl-wisdom on content’s return on investment.
Content strategy books
Longer reads, with actual pages.
The Elements of Content Strategy, Erin Kissane
In this neat little guide, Erin explores the roots of content strategy and demonstrates how to do it well with wit and insight. You can now read the whole thing for free online.
Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach’s seminal book is full of great stuff guaranteed to make anyone who works with content smile, nod and exclaim out loud.
Content Everywhere, Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Sara walks you through how to make future-ready, flexible, reusable, manageable content that will be meaningful in all sorts of contexts.
Content Strategy at Work, Margot Bloomstein
Case studies, real-world examples and practical approaches you can adopt, no matter what your role is on the content team.
Clout, Colleen Jones
A useful approach to assessing content qualitatively as well as quantitatively, using principles of rhetoric and psychology.
Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey
From audit to analysis, strategy to implementation, occasional Contentious associate Meghan Casey’s toolkit gives you everything you need to solve all your messy content problems.
Content Strategy for Mobile, Karen McGrane
Karen will teach you everything you need to know to get your content onto screens of various shapes and sizes, strategically. (Bonus tip: Content in a Zombie Apocalypse is well worth watching.)
Nicely Said, Nicole Fenton and Kate Keifer-Lee
Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee write beautifully about how to write beautifully. A useful guide to being clear and concise, and a joy to read.
Designing Connected Content, Mike Atherton and Carrie Hane
Design should start with words not pixels. And in the 21st century, content needs to be structured for multiple uses, platforms and devices.
Just Enough Research, Erika Hall
Good content needs good research. Learn how to do just the right amount with Erika’s excellent book.
Managing Chaos, Lisa Welchman
Getting digital right in organisations is painfully hard. Lisa charts a way to manage people, content and technology without being buffeted by political infighting.
Why you need a content team and how to build one, Rachel McConnell
You can’t have good content without good content people to create it and look after it. Rachel McConnell has lots of convincing arguments up her sleeve.
Everyday Information Architecture, Lisa Maria Martin
Structuring and organising content is really hard. Lisa Maria Martin’s book is brilliantly accessible.
The Web Project Guide
Corey Vilhauer and Deane Barker’s created this brilliant guide as an “emergent book experience”. It’s an invaluable guide to building a website.
Content strategy podcasts
The Content Strategy Podcast
Kristina Halvorson talks to all sorts of interesting people about their content strategy work.
Listen while you run/walk/cook
Content Strategy Insights
Larry Swanson interviews content strategists from around the world about all sorts of things, from conversational journalism to finding your brand voice.
Voice of Design
Content and design thinker and writer Erika Hall co-hosts interesting conversations about design with Mike Monteiro.
UX Podcast
Twice a month, James Royal-Lawson and Per Axbom talk about the closely related discipline of UX.
Content strategy communities
The content strategy community is great. There are lots of friendly, intelligent people out there who have a heartfelt belief in what they do and are happy to share their ideas and experience.
Content + UX
A brilliant, friendly Slack community of 5,000 people, Content + UX is full of proponents of and experts in content strategy and user experience design.
The Content Strategy community
The newer, and slightly more strategy-focused, Content Strategy community is hosted by Hilary Marsh on Mighty Networks.
Content Strategy Facebook group
A Facebook community of 3,500 practicing content strategists which is another good place to ask questions.
Bluesky
Twitter/X was long the social network hangout of choice for many content strategists. These days, many are migrating to Bluesky.
Other sources of resources
Content strategy people are very good at sharing. These are a couple of our favourite lists.
The Alphabet of Content Strategy, Jess Vice
This A-Z of all things content strategy is packed full of good links to useful, interesting resources.
The Epic List of Content Strategy Resources, Jonathon Colman
Anything else?
What did we miss? Let us know what your favourite resources are and we’ll consider them for inclusion.
More resources
Guides, tools and recommendations for content people
How to use AI for better content
Artificial intelligence can be used to improve the quality of content, and content systems, and not just to produce faster content slop. This resource shows how.
Commas, colons and capitalisation
Consistency and clarity of language are as important in a world of AI as they were in the time of Gutenberg. Nothing beats having your own style guide, but if you're still saving up for one of those, there are some good ones online that you can use.