Don’t forget to add the Tax(onomy)

by Cathy McKnight — What is taxonomy? How does it differ from information architecture? And how do you create an effective taxonomy for a successful intranet?

“Taxonomy?”

Derived from the Greek verb tassein meaning “to classify” and nomos referring to law and science, taxonomy involves the classification, or labelling of data, in this case, a website’s content. This labelling of metadata (data about data) allows the site’s core content and information to be managed and manipulated. The resulting structured metadata, which if done correctly, provides a “map” of the site by words and concepts.

Now with that said, you still ask “What do I need a taxonomy for?” In a word – savings – savings of time, money and effort. These savings were shown at a conference where Microsoft’s Knowledge Architect Manager stated that even at the early stages of a taxonomy project the company saw a 62 percent reduction in the number of clicks, an average of 16 seconds saved per task and an 11 per cent increase in task success rate. That translates into a lot of time that can be allocated to other tasks … revenue generating tasks.

Want an effective taxonomy for your intranet site?

Now that you understand what taxonomy is, and how it complements the Information Architecture, here are some considerations to take in when preparing your intranet’s taxonomy:

1. Have a plan. Doing leg work and preparation before executing your site’s taxonomy will make the project much easier. Make sure you consider the following elements:
   • Accuracy – ensure labels and tagging are consistent across the entire site
   • Efficiency – have many labels for a single file or page so that it can be cross-referenced
   • Flexibility – recognize that when labels are updated, the changes need to be easily and consistently applied across the organization
   
   
2. Provide guidance for those who will carry out the taxonomy. Create guidelines or instruction process for categorizing content and creating meta tags including the use of...
   • Short meta tag descriptions and summaries.
   • Frequency of keywords.
   • Keyword descriptions.
   
   
3. Keep up the good work. Make sure the site’s taxonomy structure is kept up to date with the site’s content.

With content management climbing the priority ladder within the IT industry's agenda, so to does the availability of tools, templates, integration frameworks and industry applications supporting this field. But don’t fall into the trap of “making” your data fit on to the shelves of pre-defined information warehouse. Take the necessary time and energy to enlist the expertise needed to make your intranet’s taxonomy as effective as it can be.

With this knowledge of what taxonomy is and why it’s important, you can revisit your “how to get a well used intranet” checklist and set about developing a site about which users will say: “I can find everything I need with a simple search.”

Cathy McKnight is a Business Consultant with Prescient Digital Media and specializes in the delivery of strategic web solutions. For more information on Prescient’s CMS Blueprint service visit Prescient Digital Media Ltd.