What’s content modeling?

Tomas Nosek, Boris Pocatko

4 minutes

Content model

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If the content were coffee, the content model would be the coffee cup, which holds all ingredients and the final product together. Find out what other parts of a content model represent compared to coffee, along with examples from other areas, and what purpose it has in your content production.

Caffeinated content modeling

As mentioned, when you imagine content as coffee, the content model would be the coffee cup. The cup is a constraint, but with the ingredients, it also gives you a lot of possibilities when making coffee. Content modeling is very similar to this real-world scenario. In content modeling, ingredients would be your content type elements. The same ingredients can be used to make different types of coffee, so you are also able to create different content types with your content type elements. Overall, the process of preparation would be the assembly model. You don’t need to remember this term, but it can be a suitable keyword if you look for more content modeling information.

Comparison of coffee and the content model

Examples from other worlds

Here are some other examples you can use to understand different content modeling terms:

Content	Article	Coffee	Building	Information
Assembly model	Order of sections	Steps	Building blueprint	SQL
Content model	Structure of articles and how they relate to each other	Coffee cup	Building codes	Database
Content types	Blog, News, Breaking news	Flat white, Cappuccino, Cafe latte, Lungo, Cold brew	Bungalow, Duplex, Villa	Table
Content type elements	Images, Text, Video	Water, Beans, Milk, Creamer, Sugar	Mortar, Bricks, Water, Cement, Timber, Tiles	Column
Content chunks	SEO fields, Metadata fields, CTAs	Coffee pods, Creamer, Nescafe 3-in-1	Pre-fab walls, Windows, Doors	Variable

“I’m a developer, and this seems a lot like databases or object-oriented programming.”We can’t stress enough that a piece of content isn’t a piece of database information or source code. Treating content modeling like modeling a database or building an object-oriented programming solution will introduce a lot of red flags along the way. That will likely result in content creators resenting the configuration, sending you back to the drawing board eventually, costing the company time, money, and resources. Check out who should be part of the content modeling process.

A content model’s purpose

Detailed and careful preparation, with great ingredients and a bit of uniqueness, will set you up for success if you plan to open your own coffee chain. The same can be said for the content model.The content model is the foundation of your project, and although it may have similarities with the content models of others, it will have some unique traits. It’s so unique that no one will have exactly the same content model as you or your company. It’s only yours and no one else’s.Creating a good model is hard, so the best approach is to start small and iterate. This can be done by building it in a flexible and extensible way. This should be your mantra for the whole process. On top of that, involve at least one stakeholder per department to address their needs and get internal buy-in for the model.

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