Depending on the topic and publication, user data may already be available.

You can explore the following:

• What users have engaged with in the past. Sources can include
  • sales data from previous versions of a publication
  • sales data from similar print publications
  • site analytics for existing digital content.

  Site analytics for existing digital content are particularly useful. These will tell you what users are selecting, what they are searching for, and the pages they ‘bounce’ from (ie pages from which they exit your site) when they do not find what they need. This will help you to develop your content plan and understand which topics most interest users, and which content is confusing or less useful.

• What users have liked and shared on social media. General social media statistics and research, much of which is available for free online, can be used to find out about overall user interests and trends. You can look at both qualitative data (free-form text feedback in the comments section, hashtags associated with a post) and quantitative data (number of times a post or update is ‘liked’ or shared with other social media users, number of times an associated hashtag is used).
• What users have told you directly. Direct sources of information include any feedback that you may have collected from previous publications and surveys or existing websites, including customer queries, suggestions, complaints and ideas.
• What search terms people are using online. Tools such as Google Trends can
  • tell you what terms or phrases people are using to look for information
  • compare popularity of search terms and phrases
  • tell you how search terms and phrases vary across regions
  • tell you how search terms and phrases vary over time.