Keep useful content current

Content stewardship means maintaining a page while it serves a real audience, then updating, archiving, or removing it when its purpose changes.

Printed documents and folders on a desk representing content review

The lifecycle decision

Create, maintain, review, update, archive, or remove

The content owner remains accountable for whether a page is useful and accurate. A review can be triggered by a process change, a broken link, a reader question, a change in ownership, or a scheduled check set by the organization.

At each review, choose an outcome: keep as-is, update, archive for reference, or remove. If the page supports another team’s work, involve that team before changing its availability.

Worked example: team procedure page

A fictional Northstar Services example; the trigger, not an assumed calendar interval, prompts the review.

Review trigger Owner action Disposition
A team reports that a linked process has changed Content owner checks the procedure against the current process source and asks the process owner to confirm disputed steps. Update the page, check the affected links, and tell dependent teams what changed.
A link no longer opens Content owner verifies whether the destination moved or the reference is obsolete. Replace the link with a verified destination or remove the reference.
The team no longer uses the procedure Content owner confirms the change with affected users and checks whether the page is still needed for reference. Archive or remove the page; coordinate access and navigation changes with the administrator.
The named owner changes roles Governance lead or designated ownership role assigns a successor. Transfer ownership before the next substantive review.

Run a useful content review

  1. 1

    Confirm purpose and audience

    Check that the page still answers a real reader task and identify the teams that rely on it.

  2. 2

    Verify facts, links, and ownership

    Compare key claims with their trusted sources, test links, and confirm an accountable content owner.

  3. 3

    Choose a disposition

    Keep, update, archive, or remove the page. Involve the administrator when the decision changes access or shared navigation.

  4. 4

    Communicate material changes

    Tell affected teams what changed when it alters a process, destination, or decision they rely on.