Time To Do a Spring Content Audit

Talia Whyte Global Wire Associates, Web Design web accessiblity

Spring is here, and it is time to do some cleaning, and I am not just talking about around your house. Now is a great time to do an inventory on your online presence by doing a content audit.

What is a content audit?

No, a content audit has nothing to do with your taxes. Rather, it is an inventory check of the content on your website, social media or other online platforms.

Why would I want to do a content audit?

The main purpose of having a content strategy is to make sure the information you are presenting online is consistent with your organizational messaging and brand identity. It’s a good idea to do audits to keep your content on point.

What things should I be looking for in a content audit?

This depends largely on what the goals are behind your content strategy. An audit can be an inventory of your whole website, or certain parts of it. Some audits might just look at the effectiveness of your email newsletter or social media strategies. There is also something called content sampling, where you randomly select content on your website to review.

How exactly do you conduct a content audit?

In the simplest fashion by using a spreadsheet, a basic audit for a website will include columns for the following: Page Title, Page URL, Keywords/SEO, Description, Date Published and Audit Date. There you want to go through your website and fill in the rows with the metrics you are auditing. If you use a web traffic reporting tool like Google Analytics or Hootsuite, you would need to match the traffic with the pages.

You will spend your time reviewing the conversion rates and content for your pages on the spreadsheet. Specifically:

What are the web pages or links with the most or least traffic?
Are images easy to view and tagged correctly?
Is your content up to date?
Are pages meeting the standards for web accessibility?
Are blog posts written with proper grammar and appropriately embedded SEO keywords?
Do you need a redesign of your website?
Are your email and social media outreach consistent with content posted on your website?
Can some content be repurposed on other platforms?
Should you stop using a certain platform if it isn’t giving you the needed results?
Etc… other content questions specific to your audit

Now would be a good time to correct and/or delete any content that no longer serve your purposes. Depending on how much content you are reviewing, like a website with hundreds or even thousands of pages, the process might take a while and you will need to get your co-workers or colleagues to help you.

How often should I do a content audit?

It depends on what your content strategy looks like. Most people do it quarterly or annually to coincide with company financial and marketing reporting. Others do it monthly or even weekly. No matter how often you do an audit, it is always a good idea to review how your content strategy is working for you.

I still need help with doing a content audit

You can contact me or my staff at Global Wire Design about getting further assistance with a content strategy and audit or web design and marketing support. We are hosting an “Extreme Website Makeover” on 14 May where we will showcase a “before and after” of two websites we redesigned recently. Space is limited and priority will be given to current and past GWA clients, so sign up now at info(at)globalwireonline(dot)org.

29 April 2015

Time To Embrace Web Diversity

Talia Whyte Technology, Web Design web accessiblity

So it is kind of intentional that I have been writing about diversity as of late, whether it be intercultural, workplace or literature diversity. As a web developer, I have to always be thinking about building websites that communicate to and are accessible to all people. I recently went to a talk by Rob Larsen, a front-end developer and author of The Uncertain Web. He made some really good points. Essentially he says that it is time to embrace web diversity.

By web diversity, he means identifying and embracing your online audience, no matter their technological know-how or access. To do this, Larsen suggests focusing on website solutions that are optimized, not absolute. With the rapid growth of mobile technology use, an optimized website should look good on a computer, mobile phone or tablet. More than half of the world’s Internet traffic today comes from mobile devices. Google just announced that its search engines will now give preference to mobile-friendly website.

Developers also have to create websites that look good on all browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera and, yes, even Internet Explorer. While Windows’ problematic browser is reviled among design professionals, Internet Explorer is still the most widely used browser in the world.

Sometimes designers and developers have so many tech bias that we forget that most of the world doesn’t use or have access to the latest, cutting edge technology. MacBooks and iPhones are pretty awesome, but most people use PCs and Androids. I personally use a PC and a Mac simulator to build websites and my mobile is a BlackBerry. Yes, people still use BlackBerrys! I use it because I need a real QWERTY keyboard for typing the dozens of emails and texts daily. I am also a government contractor, and many of the agencies I do work for require that I use a BlackBerry for security purposes.

Most people are not that tech-savvy, so it is always better to design websites for functionality first, like the three-click rule, where users should be able to find anything on a website within three clicks.

Web diversity also means embracing all abilities and disabilities. There are approximately one billion people with disabilities worldwide and websites need to address their needs appropriately.

For example, try using your website without a mouse and a keyboard. If you are not able to use the site by only touching the screen, it is time to redesign the website to better accommodate those with motor disabilities. You also have to take into consideration visual blindness, poor eyesight and color blindness when you use certain colors, text and images.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a good place to learn more about accessibility issues. Embracing accessibility provides an added benefit for all users, regardless of ability. For example, closed captioning was originally designed for hearing impaired users, but it also benefits those watching online videos in a noisy environment and people learning the language being spoken in the video and need to follow the transcription.

The Web should be as diverse as the people using it.