Do you feel nervous or anxious when you edit your website? Does the pesky negative self talk get started just thinking about a website change? Are you comfortable making website updates but only get time when everything is “on fire”? Good news - it doesn’t have to feel scary, annoying, or chaotic.
Thankfully, there are some easy tips to help you through website content management. In this post, we’ll explore a few easy concepts to help you understand, manage, and organize your website editing. Let’s get started!
How to understand your website content
Your website is made of information displayed in several ways. Often through text with titles, paragraphs, and links or media such as images, videos and files. In many instances this information is created using pages. Usually the pages are grouped by the kind of information that is being shared, such as news, events, and blog posts.
The more organized your content is presented to your audience, the easier they will find what it is that they are searching. Learn more in our recent blog post about understanding your analytics report. When you understand how content is organized it not only makes it more searchable, but easier to manage.
What does it mean to manage a website?
Managing a website takes care, much like home chores. If it’s been a while since you have audited your website, it’s a good idea to start there. Similar to changing burnt out light bulbs in your living space, you’ll want to change old content on your website. Through auditing, you’ll learn what content exists on your website and how relevant it is to your audience. Managing a website means that you make regular updates to the information being shared and create content based on the needs of your audience.
Ways of dissemination evolve through time and with it so do the needs of people who rely on your digital space for information. It wasn’t that long ago when websites were accessed in one way, from a tiny desktop screen with slow connection speeds and usually in the middle of your living room. Has your website content adapted? Has your digital vernacular met the needs of people connecting with this information from a device in their pocket or on their wrist? How have you graduated from making content for a machine in the corner of your living room with dial up to meet the needs of a person connecting with you from their wrist? The clanging and clashing sound of that modem is forever etched in my memory. Today, replaced with a “ding” from my watch!
How do we adjust from an ancient method of communication to new methods? The speed of our changing digital landscape could be described as drastic, but keeping our content up to speed doesn’t have to be. Making small, incremental updates to your digital message can lead to big returns from your website visiting audience. The key is consistency and a solid schedule.
How do I make a schedule for managing website content?
It works just the same to schedule a meeting for ourselves as it does to schedule one with others. If we don’t prioritize our website maintenance, it will make itself known in ways that we may not want (like fewer page views and decreased enrollment in our programs). Don’t let it get you down! Schedule time for your website tasks on your calendar and be dedicated to consistency and effort.
Set your focus on the behavior instead of the output. Getting familiar with your website takes time. More editing updates will happen during your scheduled time as you become more engaged with your content and the editing process. At first, your time may be spent just reviewing your content and learning how to make a change. Give it a try and watch what happens to your outlook and site updates! You’ll be amazed at what consistency and effort can give to a website presence!
How often do I need to schedule time for my website and to which areas should I be dedicating my effort?
When beginning to schedule website editing, start small and work your way toward more advanced goals. Below are some suggestions to get started.
How can website updates become part of your regular department/unit/center processes? One way to ensure website updates is by including them into your normal team checklists. For example, when your group has a new hire, there are usually several on-boarding tasks required to help them get started. Don’t forget to add “making a website profile” to that task list!
Identify the seasonal calendar similarities of your audiences. Then schedule time for editing in tandem with that structure. Academic audiences generally work within the same semester and break schedules. By scheduling time around these breaks you can identify the best opportunities to promote information. For example, it’s a good idea to make updates before the new semester starts. When classes begin are when people are most likely visiting your site. You can check the most popular times by reviewing your website analytics report.
If you are new to scheduling time for your website, try creating a meeting for yourself to review the website three times each year. Schedule time before Spring, Fall, and Summer semesters. Even just one hour can be useful. Take time to read through the homepage, about page, and contact information to make sure it’s correct.
Schedule time to learn about your website. Have you ever found yourself with a piece of information to add to the website but you aren’t sure where to put it? If you schedule time for yourself every so often to learn about your website, it gives you a better idea of where to add it. You can spend time reviewing your analytics data, fixing broken links, and reviewing tutorials. When you are aware of how the website works and what information your audience is interested in hearing about, it’s easier to know where to place new information.
Download our web editing checklist to get started!
If you are interested in creating a unique plan for your website, please email websupport@iastate.edu.