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Content governance and life cycles

Last updated on March 4, 2026

Content governance helps teams create, publish and maintain content that is accurate, accessible, secure and useful.

Without good governance and content life cycles, information can quickly become outdated or wrong. This can confuse the public and staff, and increases the risk of spreading misinformation. This is especially true when search engines and artificial intelligence (AI) tools summarize or combine your content with content from other sources.

Once published, content can be reused or summarized outside its original context. This means outdated or incorrect information can continue to spread, even after it's no longer accurate.

Good content governance makes sure there's clear responsibility for what is published, how it is updated and when it is removed.

On this page

Do a content inventory and audit

Before creating new content, check what already exists. A content inventory and audit helps you:

  • Find duplicate, outdated or incorrect content
  • Check if content is still useful
  • Assign ownership and review tasks
  • Set timelines for updates

Regular audits help prevent outdated content from being reused or shared by mistake.

Identify roles and responsibilities

Clear roles make governance work. This helps everyone know who is managing each part of the content life cycle.

Roles will look different on each team, depending how your team is structured. Common roles may include:

  • Content designers: do research  and interviews that inform the information architecture and content design. They write and design content, remove outdated content, check for clarity, accuracy, quality and accessibility, and manage updates following the Web Content Standards
  • Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) provide knowledge and check content for accuracy
  • Approvers: do final edit and review, and approve content for publishing

Some responsibilities may overlap. Writing and final editing should always be separate roles. Make sure there is a backup for each role when staff are away.

Define content life cycles

Content should never be published and forgotten. Using content life cycles helps your team:

  • Reduce duplicate or outdated content
  • Keep content accurate and clear
  • Improve search engine visibility
  • Build public trust

This, in turn, helps people find what they need faster.

What is a content life cycle?

Content should move through different stages:

  • Planning what you're creating and why
  • Drafting and designing the content
  • Editing and revising for clarity and accuracy 
  • Putting it through approvals
  • Publishing
  • Maintenance and continuous improvement based on analytics and data
  • Removing content from the site

Who is taking care of it?

Once content is published it's your team’s responsibility to keep it up-to-date. Not all content needs the same level of maintenance. Some content may stay accurate for a long time, while other content may need frequent or even daily updates. Clear roles and responsibilities help teams stay accountable and make sure the right content is reviewed at the right time.

You need to know:

  • Who will reviews the content and how often
  • Who approves updates
  • How you will check if content still meets the audience needs
  • Who monitors updates to standards and guidance from the Web Style Guide
  • How you will review high-risk or frequently updated content before it becomes outdated

Life cycles improve your SEO

Regular updates improve improve search results and reduce the risk of people using outdated or incorrect content.

Identify what type of record the content is

The website is for communicating with the public, not for storing records. Important records must also be saved in your branch’s record-keeping system.

Just like other types of government information, website content and assets must follow the Information Management Act.

Do not lose important information

Some content may need to be kept for legal, financial, audit or historical reasons. This may include:

  • What content was published
  • When it was published
  • Approvals 

Classify the record type

Before publishing, classify content using government information schedules. If you're not sure how to classify it, ask your ministry’s records officer.

When removing content from the site, follow managing website content (PDF, 3.1MB) to find out if it needs to be saved or deleted. 

What are my responsibilities?

Your team must:

  • Record policies and procedures for how content is managed
  • Define roles and responsibilities for who is accountable for what
  • Make sure people understand their roles
  • Keep up to date with guidelines and monitor for compliance

Removing content

Content that's duplicated, outdated or no longer needed should be updated or removed.

Some websites may need to be preserved in full in government archives. Check with your ministry records officer or the managing website content (PDF, 3.1MB) guide.

Content standards

All B.C. Government content must meet our Web Content Standards.