The Intranet Content Secret You’re Missing Is…Co-workers

The intranet should be a dynamic community fueled by user-generated content—a digital extension of your company culture.

Creating a space that celebrates employee input not only makes the intranet more engaging but also promotes diversity and knowledge sharing in your organization.

But your co-workers will need the right guidance, resources, and perhaps a little encouragement if you want them to make regular contributions. This resources page explores how to get co-workers to contribute valuable intranet content.

What types of content can employees contribute?

Blog posts: Internal articles are a valuable way to share best practices or simply get to know people.

Videos: The ubiquity of smart phones enables everyone to create videos sharing team experiences. Videos are also a simple way to break up text-based content, differentiate from company policies, and make the intranet more visually appealing.

Photos: Employees can share photos of their work, teams, company events, or even personal moments. Photos can help to create a sense of community and make the intranet more engaging.

Discussion forums: A powerful way to resolve questions and suggest innovations, discussion forums get employees involved and engaged with the intranet and their peers.

How to encourage and support user-generated intranet content

1. Identifying internal influencers

Every company has employees who take a more active lead in Employee Resource Groups and social communities. If there’s a good place to begin identifying intranet contributors, it’s with them.

Use your intranet's analytics suite to find user profiles of the employees that contribute and interact most with your intranet content.
Checking likes, shares, comments, active forum membership, or blogging may be good first indicators. More advanced intranet software may also aggregate data for an ‘Influence Score’.
Many internal communications platforms are permissions-based, so don't forget to search for employees who are less active because they don't have access.
Putting out a call in your comms for new contributors may also help to drive new content.

Be a consumer: Avidly reading or watching YouTube videos may seem strange advice but it can help you to adapt to different tones and styles. Use Google Alerts to compile new links and news relating to your industry and then distribute them via a dedicated Teams/Slack channel or email. This can give people a better sense of what to create and how to do it.
Don’t be afraid of personality: When it comes to internal content, it may be better to let employee contributors use their own voices rather than a set corporate style. AI writing tools can assist with grammar and stylistic choices if needed.
Give content “eye appeal”: Content creation is more than words on a page. Accessibility and visuality are also key. Simple things like advising on colors, fonts, alt text, and sizes can make people feel confident they’re supporting neurodiverse, accessible content.

Calling for user-generated content may require comms professionals to support people to feel like better writers or content creators. Many organizations run communications skills training, but few focus on copywriting or content techniques.

These tips can help your co-workers ensure the content they create is engaging and easy to read:

2. Offering content creation tips

Internal communications technology has come a long way and your intranet should support employees to create engaging content too. Each system will differ, but the features below are some of the ways Interact works to increase contributor confidence.

3. Supporting with technology

An easy-to-use CMS intranet editor with drag-and-drop blocks for tables, quotes, buttons, images, and other media makes it simple to create content that is eye-catching and engaging.
Content templates for those without webpage design experience. These also help to achieve visual coherence across your intranet.
Inclusivity and sentiment suggestions to help employees master the changing nature of inclusive language. An AI-based writing tool can automatically detect un-inclusive language or negative sentiment and suggest alternatives.
Mobile blogging functionality enables employees to blog on the go (in addition to commenting, liking, and reading the work of others), so it’s possible for everyone to contribute, even if they don’t spend their days at a desk.
Auto-summary functionality can automatically capture the important points within a page and summarize its key points to help readers quickly understand what a piece of content is about.

Managing intranet content in a scaling business

Managing intranet content from an increasing number of contributors can be a challenging task for a small internal communications team.

However, with effective strategies and tools, you can streamline the process and ensure the intranet remains a valuable resource for employees. Here are some recommendations:

Establish and publish clear content guidelines to help maintain consistency and quality.
Assign specific team members or subject matter experts to review and approve content before it is published on the intranet.
Categorize and tag content to help users find relevant information quickly and efficiently.
Offer ongoing support and guidance to ensure employees have the necessary skills to contribute effectively.
Utilize content management tools such as page management, version control, and permissions, making it easier for your team to manage a growing intranet.
Foster a feedback culture by actively seeking input from users to identify areas for improvement and address any gaps in content, usability, or accessibility.
Conduct periodic content audits to assess the relevance and usefulness of existing content and remove outdated or redundant information.
As the company grows, consider assigning content ownership responsibilities to subject matter experts or individuals from different departments. Many large organizations have a decentralized publishing model.
Continuously monitor analytics data and user feedback to gain insights into user behavior, content preferences, and pain points.

By implementing these strategies, even the smallest internal communications team can effectively manage intranet content in a growing company, harnessing the collective knowledge of employees and ensuring a valuable resource for all.

How to run an intranet content audit

If you want your intranet to be a trusted source of information for employees, you need to regularly remove irrelevant and out-of-date content. Performing an annual content audit can help, and this guide and template will show you how.

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