How to spring clean your web content

At the start of a New Year, our thoughts turn to fresh starts. We plan holidays and make resolutions to improve ourselves. At work, you might be planning your next year of marketing comms or fundraising campaigns -- plans that may generate lots of new content for your website.

 

At home, once the Christmas decorations are down, we often think about spring cleaning and decluttering. But when did you last declutter your website?

 

Do you ever spare a thought for the content you should delete?

 

 

Why it matters

 

Most people find it hard to declutter, and the idea of removing any website content is anathema for many organisations. But there are some very good reasons to review your content regularly, and delete the stuff you no longer need:

• User experience – If content is out of date, that’s frustrating for your users. It leaves the wrong impression of your organisation, and in certain cases could be downright dangerous
• Carbon footprint – We tend to forget that every piece of content online has an environmental impact. Removing content you no longer need will improve this. You can use a carbon calculator, such as websitecarbonfootprint.com, to estimate the impact of your website
• Search engine optimisation – It’s actually good for your Google rankings. Search engines these days are looking for high quality information, and that means staying up-to-date and relevant

 

Auditing your content

 

It can feel pretty overwhelming when faced with auditing the content for a sprawling website. So where do you even begin?

 

 

Approach one topic at a time

 

Choose a topic, such as fundraising. As you work through your content audit, this will make it easier to see areas of duplication and spot any gaps.

 

 

Take stock of what you have

 

Compile a list of all the pages that relate to your topic. This might mean tackling your website in sections but more likely, if your site has grown organically, you’ll have pieces all over the place.

 

Use Google to search only your site for relevant keywords, so you don’t miss anything.

 

 

Get your user story straight

 

Start with your users. If you don’t already have user stories and job stories written for your website, this is great time to start. Before you even think about the content you have, consider what your users need. Plan the key points you need to cover for your topic, as if you were starting from scratch.

 

These will be your bible as you audit your content. With every piece you review, refer to your user stories.

• Which of your user stories does this content support?
• Does this page really answer a specific user need?
• Is this a user need that your organisation should be meeting?

 

Touch it once

 

We often hear ”touch it once” as a tip when decluttering your home or managing your email inbox. That means dealing with things straight away and making quick decisions about which box to put it in.

 

With web content, rather than physical boxes you might try:

• Keep it – no changes needed
• Review it / Move it / Repurpose it – assign it to someone for a more thorough review
• Archive it offline – be ruthless. If it’s no longer relevant it should be archived. Action it immediately or, if needed, pass it to whoever needs to approve the decision

 

Archive old pages

 

For the content you decide to retire, you’re going to want to put some redirects in place. Make sure that anyone with the old link is diverted somewhere – a more recent version, a related topic, or just your home page. Don’t leave loose ends dangling.

 

Simply unpublish it in your Content Management System (CMS), or alternatively keep a copy offline, unless you’re sure you won’t need to reference it again.

 

 

Tackling your ‘review’ pile

 

There are so many possible directions for content that needs a review, we’ll revisit this in a second article.

 

Meanwhile, here are just a few quick wins to get you started:

• Fact-check. If you can’t update older information right away, flag it instead. For example, if the general principles still apply despite an update to legislation, make that clear. A disclaimer at the top of the page helps the reader to make an informed choice
• Put first things first. If you do nothing else with a page of content, work on optimising the first few lines, and make them prominent. This can make a huge difference to the user experience. If your key information can be summarised easily in the opening paragraph, do that. More context and additional details can follow below. Otherwise, tell the user upfront what the page is about, and give them short ways through the copy to find what they need
• Check for accessibility. Optimise links for people using screen readers. Check that your images include descriptive Alt text. And make sure the language is easy to read for people with learning disabilities, non-native speakers, or just people in a hurry
• Move it. Check where the content sits within the site structure. Is it in the right place? If it began life on your blog when it was topical, can it now live in the specific section for that topic?
• Combine it. If you have lots of separate pieces covering the same topic, consider merging them. Remove any duplication and resolve any contradictory advice
• Show the way. Check your content isn’t leaving people hanging. Is there a clear call to action? Have you signposted other useful content? Is it obvious how they take their next step?

 

Getting into good habits

As part of your decluttering exercise, why not put systems in place to make it easier next time?

 

Try to create new content with the end in mind. Always begin with the user or job story to guide you. Document who will be responsible for updating it, and the next review date. And if your CMS allows it, try including hidden fields for page editors to see these details alongside your content.

 

Congratulations, you’re well on your way to creating a clutter-free website.