---
title: "Where the words live"
description: "The eight categories of the Content Lexicon, from foundations and editorial craft to governance and AI, each with its terms."
canonical: "https://contentlexicon.com/categories"
---

# Where the words live

167 entries · eight categories

Content work covers strategy, editing, software, research and governance. Some of the terms are shared with other disciplines, which sometimes have territorial ambitions on the content space. This is partly why there's not always 100% agreement on meaning and significance. These eight categories are our attempt at putting each word where it belongs.

Every term sits in one category. Where a word belongs in two places, the entry says so and links across. You can also start with the [full A–Z](https://contentlexicon.com/a-z).

## Foundations

14 terms. Strategy, purpose, business case. The words that decide what content is for, and who gets to say.

- [Content strategy](https://contentlexicon.com/content-strategy)
- [Content operating model](https://contentlexicon.com/content-operating-model)
- [Attention economy](https://contentlexicon.com/attention-economy)
- [Channel strategy](https://contentlexicon.com/channel-strategy)

[All 14 in Foundations](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/foundations)

## Editorial craft

29 terms. Writing, editing, accessibility, voice. The making of the thing itself, and the standards that hold it up.

- [Accessibility](https://contentlexicon.com/accessibility)
- [Alt text](https://contentlexicon.com/alt-text)
- [Content design](https://contentlexicon.com/content-design)
- [Copy editing](https://contentlexicon.com/copy-editing)

[All 29 in Editorial craft](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/editorial-craft)

## Operations

22 terms. Briefs, calendars, costs, maintenance. How the work actually gets done.

- [Content brief](https://contentlexicon.com/content-brief)
- [Content lifecycle](https://contentlexicon.com/content-lifecycle)
- [Content costs](https://contentlexicon.com/content-costs)
- [Content decay](https://contentlexicon.com/content-decay)

[All 22 in Operations](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/operations)

## Structure and systems

28 terms. Models, types, components, CMSs. The scaffolding under the words, and why it decides what you can reuse.

- [Content model](https://contentlexicon.com/content-model)
- [Content type](https://contentlexicon.com/content-type)
- [Atomic content](https://contentlexicon.com/atomic-content)
- [CMS](https://contentlexicon.com/cms)

[All 28 in Structure and systems](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/structure-and-systems)

## Research and evidence

14 terms. Audits, inventories, card sorts. Finding out what is true instead of guessing confidently.

- [Content inventory](https://contentlexicon.com/content-inventory)
- [Card sorting](https://contentlexicon.com/card-sorting)
- [Audience segmentation](https://contentlexicon.com/audience-segmentation)
- [A/B testing](https://contentlexicon.com/a-b-testing)

[All 14 in Research and evidence](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/research-and-evidence)

## Governance

19 terms. Ownership, standards, sign-off. Who decides, who is answerable, and what happens when nobody is.

- [Content owner](https://contentlexicon.com/content-owner)
- [AI governance](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-governance)
- [AI use policy](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-use-policy)
- [Centralised governance](https://contentlexicon.com/centralised-governance)

[All 19 in Governance](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/governance)

## Roles

10 terms. Strategists, designers, managers, teams. The jobs content needs done, and the many names they go by.

- [Content manager](https://contentlexicon.com/content-manager)
- [Head of content](https://contentlexicon.com/head-of-content)
- [Content designer](https://contentlexicon.com/content-designer)
- [Content operations manager](https://contentlexicon.com/content-operations-manager)

[All 10 in Roles](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/roles)

## AI and tooling

31 terms. Agents, context, pipelines, slop. The vocabulary arriving (and going in and out of fashion) fastest.

- [Context engineering](https://contentlexicon.com/context-engineering)
- [AI slop](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-slop)
- [Agentic AI](https://contentlexicon.com/agentic-ai)
- [API](https://contentlexicon.com/api)

[All 31 in AI and tooling](https://contentlexicon.com/categories/ai-and-tooling)

## Something missing?

If a word you use every day isn't here, or is filed somewhere odd, tell us. [Suggest a term](https://contentlexicon.com/suggest).