Making your website content better – part 2

So, this is the second blog in my series looking at website content review processes – aimed at website managers working in public sector and research organisations. Read the first blog on overall content review processes.

When you have content on your website which needs a subject expert’s eye cast over it, you’ll need to find appropriate content owners for this and bring them on board to help you ensure accuracy and relevancy.

Once you have located the right reviewers to assist you in the process, it’s useful to explain the process to them and also provide clear guidance on what it is you actually need them to do. This will vary between organisations but I have found it helpful to give reviewers a set of questions to work through. Here’s an example from work I have undertaken with a health research organisation:

• Is the content still relevant and written in the correct tense? For example there may be text referring to a ‘upcoming report’ which is in fact now published – this should be replaced and a link to the publication put in place if available.
• Is there anything new to add in?
• Is the content in chronological order with the most recent research and findings first? Or if not, is there another coherent order to the content on the page?
• Are any ‘jargony’ words properly explained?
• Do all the links on the page go to the correct page? For example, if a link is to another organisation’s site and they have moved the relevant content then a new link needs to be found.
• Are there further links which could be added? For example to partner organisations or further relevant research.
• Any comments or questions?

This allows the researchers I work with to understand exactly what I need them to do but is short and informal enough to make it seem a bit less like a chore!

Further blogs in this series

In my next blog I’ll be looking at a checklist for website managers to ensure consistency of formatting, tone, language and also improving SEO (search engine optimisation) as part of the content review process. And to finish off the series, I will share some of the resources I use for a bit of inspiration and examples of good practice.