Content strategy for HiOA website

Transcription

1 4 October 2012, Magne Velle Content strategy for HiOA website Two criteria to content The most important goal of the website is to offer good content and functionality that matches what our users need and demand. Before content is published on the website, two criteria must be met: The content must be of real benefit for the site's user groups The content should support the college's strategies If the content does not meet these requirements, it should not be published on the website. If the content already has been published, it will be deleted. User groups are defined as students (future, current, former) employees and external groups. Of these groups, students have the highest priority on the site. The second content criterion means that the site will also prioritise promotional content, such as dissemination of research and information for the press. Types of content The content strategy applies for all content, regardless of whether it appears on a computer screen or a mobile device. Photos and graphics Photos and graphics will illustrate and deepen the information content of the text, not only for decoration. The illustrations are intended to clarify the message. Image use The website should use images of high quality with documentary style that clearly communicates the mission of the university college. Graphics Graphics should meet the requirements in the law of universal design and other accessibility considerations. Flash is an example of technology that currently is problematic to use depending on availability considerations. Sound and video Videos published on YouTube can also be embedded on the site as needed. Here are the same requirements to content elsewhere on the site. The videos must be texted. Functionality - integrations The site relies on a number of technical integrations. The user experiences these services and tools as part of the network solution, although in practice they are separate parts, where the responsibility for these lies outside of the web team. Examples include the students' schedule and syllabus. Content strategy will also define how these tools are presented on the website. Users peak assignments Users rarely visit websites to have a look around. Most have specific tasks they want to solve, and the most important tasks we call "top tasks". Users peak duties will govern what is published on the site and how the site is prioritised. The user groups' top tasks, should be surveyed periodically. Here are the top tasks that were identified in HiOA's web project in 2010:

2 All users 1. Seek admission 2. Finding a course / program of study (that suits me) 3. Logging on to Fronter / Studentweb (learning platform / student administration system) 4. Leisure activities for students (concerts, hobbies, sports, parties, walks) 5. Work from home 6. Using the library / learning centre 7. Who does what, who can help me and how do I find them? 8. Contact students and staff 9. Schedule / calendar 10. Research dissemination 11. Order a tailor-made courses Prospective students 1. Finding a course / program of study that suits me 2. Seek admission 3. Leisure activities for students (concerts, hobbies, sports, parties, walks) 4. Apply for loans, grants and endowments 5. Housing for students, employees and guests 6. Available study / waiting list 7. Receive supervision, 8. The menu in the cafeteria 9. Use the college training facilities 10. Study techniques, writing assistance and preparation for examination Students 1. Logging on to Fronter / Studentweb (learning platform / student administration system) 2. Teaching plan, annual plans and semester plan 3. Receive / submit assignments or home exam 4. Receive supervision, 5. Pay tuition / register for the semester 6. Checking / updating own schedule / calendar 7. Contact students, faculty and staff 8. Use library and learning centre 9. Reading lists 10. Who does what: Who can help me and how do I find them Staff 1. Work from home (remote desktop / VPN) 2. Employee tools (SAP, , ephorte, ESS) 3. Who does what: Who can help me and how do I get them 4. News from the College 5. Logging on to Fronter 6. Contact students, faculty and staff 7. Payroll, reimbursement, travel expenses 8. Literature databases 9. Curriculum and syllabus 10. Using library and learning centre 11. Checking / updating own schedule / calendar 12. IT support Quality vs. quantity Each new page we publish, each link we add, increases our site's complexity and makes the important content harder to find. Do not be afraid to use a lot of space around the text you publish; it gives weight to the content!

3 Core pages are pages with the content user groups actually requested, and they make up less than ten percent of the total content of an average public website. It is therefore important that we understand the difference between core content and filler content. As far as possible, we should avoid filler content. Core pages should constitute the main part of the site - it is this content the site is built around: Studies and courses Research and development Faculties and centres Contact For students For employees Good content frees the user from having to understand menu system. A website that consists of core pages is a better site for users, and it is easier to maintain. Content lifecycle: Your responsibility as owner Your main task as the content owner is to ask 'why' before publishing. Each content need one owner, and ownership lasts until the contents are deleted. Does content need to be updated? Is it out of date? If we follow the guidelines below, we can avoid that our website grows bigger than necessary. Before publishing Think carefully about how to structure your content before you publish. Publish your content where it belongs. The ideal is one page per topic, and the page should only have one "home address" on the website. Does the content have a purpose, and is it clear which users who need it? If the content helps users solve a task, you are on the right track. Gladly let a colleague have a look at the content before you publish to test readability. Also remember that content must be tagged with keywords before publishing. It is important that the keywords are the most correct. See separate guide on keywords. Checking All content expires. The question is only when. When will the article you are about to publish be audited? Set a date. "One time next year" is not good enough. Ideally, you should check pages and links every month. In practice this may be difficult, but once a quarter must be minimum. Some content might require more frequent maintenance; For example, studies and courses. Archiving and deleting If in doubt, there is no doubt; archive contents until further notice. With archiving, content is no longer available on the website. It is better to save too much than too little. Prevent the old content to remain and decay. Content that is no longer relevant is deleted. For content with a clear end date - set archival time already before publishing. Pages that are not visited, should be deleted. Before deleting, you must check whether there are external websites that link to this page. In this case, the page should be deleted with a 301 forwarding. Please contact the web team if you need help. Portfolio Management - responsibility and authority The central web team has overall responsibility for ensuring that the guidelines for the site are followed, but the operational responsibility lies with the editors at faculty and department. The web manager has the opportunity to intervene when the content strategy is not followed.

4 The day-to-day work is managed through an editorial governance with clear mandate, based on the prevailing strategy documents. Clear language, style and tone In the user survey the students ask for texts that are less bureaucratic and more towards the style of blogs. In addition traditional journalistic newspaper and magazine articles are addressed more to external readers than students. The website content should: Have an open and accessible language Be clear and understandable Avoid bureaucratical language Use active phrases - you, not one. Be linguistically correct - proofread, avoid typos and sloppiness Use consistent terminology Avoid imperatives and exhortations Writing for computer screens / mobile devices requires other considerations than writing for print. This will be the topic of a separate guide, but we include some of the main principles here: Good communication on screen The most common mistake we make is to write for ourselves (or no one) instead of the reader. What do you want to convey? Write first thing first How to increase readability: Be concise - use short paragraphs, sentences and inter titles Use space between paragraphs instead of indenting Use bulleted lists when listing Highlight key words Use meaningful and informative headlines Use active language Write simple and understandable Consider the following the next time you write for the website: Who is the user? What should he / she achieve? Would she care about the information? How do I convey content best? (think good oral communication) Remember: Users see first and foremost their own needs You must understand these needs What users care about may well be the opposite of what you care about Check facts and proofread Credibility and trust is easy to lose Search engine optimisation Search engine optimisation (SEO) is all about methodical and long-term work with site content. A search engine optimised site is primarily a site with quality content. A good web text which follows the guidelines for how we should write for the web, is search engine optimised. There are no shortcuts. The ideal one topic - one page - one keyword is good both from a user perspective and from an SEO perspective.

5 Write and publish content that is tailored for the users. Pay attention to how and why they seek in the search engines. Use their keywords, not your own. Actively use keywords when writing. Search engine optimisation is the practice of using optimisation. File attachments and publishing documents PDFs and other files should have content descriptive titles, title tag and description tag. Large document files should be published with a summary or table of contents in HTML. Measurements and maintenance Content strategy must be supported by a maintenance plan that ensures systematic, continuous and long-term evaluation and maintenance of the entire website. The responsibility for overall maintenance lies with webmaster and digital advisors. This implies among others: Monitoring of Internet traffic Evaluation of the content from user surveys Evaluation of the contents by overriding content requirements Evaluation of the content by the requirements for legibility and tone of voice Prioritisation and maintenance of content from the annual cycle Monitoring of user-generated content on the website and in related channels Measuring concrete actions as inquiries by telephone, sharing on social media, downloading catalog amongst others Evaluation of search engine optimisation Evaluation of links and navigation Archiving and reorganisation of older content Removal of redundant and outdated content Assessment of change and development needs over time Evaluation of the site based on web standards and requirements for government websites Strategic framework and guidelines for site New knowledge New Practice - Strategy 2020 Oslo and Akershus University College Communication Strategy for Oslo and Akershus University College Online Strategy for Oslo and Akershus University College The Discrimination and Accessibility Act "Clear language in the state" Principles The quality criteria for Agency of Public Management and egovernment