Users expect new and up-to-date information each time they visit your website. They don’t care about your resourcing issues. They expect everything to work: no broken links, no missing images, and no typos. You want them to leave the site having had a positive experience and therefore you need a level of dedicated resource. The extent of this clearly depends on the size of your organisation and the resources available to you.
A quick guide to managing your site
- Plan a monthly and annual content schedule
- Identify key tasks and responsibilities
- Write, design and build new content
- Establish quality assurance guidelines (see below)
- Establish a sign-off process
Planning a content schedule
Identify 'dynamic' content - that is, material which needs to be updated regularly. Think about content areas that you might use:
- Micro-content - short headlines and links
- News - remember to link to other relevant pages of your site
- Campaigns
- Fundraising
'Static' content is that which only needs to be updated as and when necessary, such as 'About us' or 'Contact us' sections
Make it readable
When you write, design and build content, it is important to remember that users read about 50% less online. Break up the text using sub-headings and bold text - both make text easier to read. Make sure new content links to old content and vice versa. Keep layout consistent using templates.
Quality assurance
- Users are turned off by spelling mistakes and broken links
- Ask someone else to check your work thoroughly
- Don’t let 'un-checked' work go live
- Set an editorial style guide as you would for printed materials
But problems will crop up…
- As content grows, navigation issues occur and you may need to introduce a search facility
- The labelling of buttons may become incorrect or inappropriate and will need to be reviewed
- Levels of hierarchy may become insufficient
- Certain areas may become more popular than others
- Old links may become broken
- Information may become obsolete or misleading
In other words, you need constantly to measure success, and plan the next step. Websites should be dynamic and flexible. A static website will not get repeat visits or sustain interest.