Take a balanced approach to Content Reuse and IA

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Content Reuse in Expert enhances management and consistency but can create duplicate content issues, prompting the consideration of a restructured information architecture to improve user experience and reduce redundancy.

Content reuse is a feature of CXone Mpower Expert that is designed to streamline content management and ensure consistency across your site. It enables you to maintain a single source of truth for specific content, which can be updated centrally and reflected across all instances where it’s reused.

While Content Reuse is undeniably useful, it has challenges. There is the potential to create duplicate content that appears in both internal and external search results. To avoid this, consider an alternative approach: rethink your information architecture (IA).

Rethink your IA

Take the car company Mavion, for example. They use the same stereo system in all their car, truck, and van models. The user manual for each model includes an article on setting up the stereo system.

Instead of reusing the setup article across all the manuals, which would create duplicate content, the Mavion content team could restructure their IA and move the setup article to a higher level.

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In this scenario, the article exists in only one location, eliminating the issue of duplicate search results. With the use of links, the user can interact with the content wherever you want.

There is also the option to use contextual help overlay links, which allow you to display the linked content in a lightbox overlay right where your users are. This means they will not be redirected to a different location, and allows you to provide information seamlessly, enhancing your users' experience without disrupting their navigation.

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Compare strategies: pros and cons

Both Content Reuse and rethinking IA have their advantages and potential drawbacks.

Content Reuse

Pros
- Ensures consistency
- Simplifies updates
- Reduces effort in content creation and management
Cons
- Can lead to duplicate content in internal and external search results

Rethinking IA

Pros
- Reduces duplicate content
- Provides an organized and intuitive user experience
Cons
- Requires careful planning and execution
- May involve significant changes to existing IA

In conclusion, while Content Reuse is a valuable tool, it’s important to use it judiciously. In situations where it could lead to excessive duplication, rethinking your IA might be a more effective solution. As always, the best approach depends on your specific needs, circumstances, and audience.