# Presentation: 195615

## Web Content Reviews:What They Are and How We’re Using Them 

**InterLab 2007**
**Marsha Luevane**
**National Renewable Energy Laboratory**

## What this presentation covers

- Background: content challenges
- What Web content reviews are
- How NREL is using them
- Key benefits
- Tips for conducting content reviews

## Background: content challenges

- Large, complex sites
- Sites have changed since they were developed
- Sites have added lots of content since they were developed, often willy-nilly
- Some sites never delete content and are turning into repositories

## Content challenges [2]

- Browse and search are gummed up
- We’re struggling to maintain sites
- We need help scaling down sites
- We need detailed info for maintenance and redesigns
- Basic content inventories don’t provide enough or detailed info

## What content reviews are

- Web site content analysis
- Go through sites section by section, page by page
- Review content

## What content reviews are [2]

- Identify content issues, problems, areas for improvement, and opportunities
- Make detailed notes on your findings
- End product is a document
- E.g., _[www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/](http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/)_

## Slide 7

## Slide 9

## Review content 

- With an eye to
- Content standards and best practices
- E.g., is content written for the Web
- Date created, last reviewed, last updated
- Outdated content
- Content “archives”
- Are we posting conference proceedings, newsletters, etc., going back to day one

## Review content [2]

- With an eye to
- Content gaps
- Collocation/consolidation
- Is content about the same topic located in one area
- Contradictory content

## Review content [3]

- With an eye to
- Content posted elsewhere on your site – duplicate content
- Content posted elsewhere you could link to
- Related content/additional info
- Are there links to related content
- Can we help users learn more about this topic
- Calls to action
- Can we help users take action

## Review content [4]

- With an eye to
- Context
- Does page/content make sense when found via searches, links, bookmarks
- PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint docs can be dead ends; they don’t have navigation or context when found via searches or links
- Format
- Is this the best format for this content

## Review content [5]

- With an eye to
- Value
- Does this content add value
- Is this content necessary
- Key content
- Is this important content for users or clients
- Does it require special attention or treatment
- Popular content
- Does it require special attention or treatment

## Review content [6]

- With an eye to
- Standard terminology
- E.g., publications not documents
- Standard treatment
- Treatment – and message – for similar content is the same across sites
- E.g., energy basics, financial opportunities, policies and procedures, publications, working with us

## Review content [7]

- With an eye to
- Search optimization
- Is content optimized for searches
- Is this important or popular content that requires special attention

## Review content [8]

- With an eye to
-  Information architecture
- Is the site organization valid
- Do content bins work
- Are there new or different bins the site should be using
- Is the navigation system appropriate for the content
- Is navigation wording to standard; is the site using approved labels

## End product

- Document with detailed info on content issues, problems, areas for improvement, and opportunities

## How we’re using content reviews

- Maintenance
- Redesigns
- Help make decisions
- Retire or update content
- Create new content
- Consolidate content
- Link to content posted elsewhere

## How we’re using reviews [2]

- Site level
- E.g., _[www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/](http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/)_
- Mothership level
- What is treatment across sites
- E.g., treatment across sites on _[www.nrel.gov](http://www.nrel.gov/)__ for content on facilities, publications, working with us_

## Key Benefits

- Improve content
- Reduce/consolidate content
- Make it easier and cheaper to maintain sites
- Improve browse and search
- Make it easier for users to accomplish tasks
- Improve overall user experience

## Tips for conducting reviews

- Do your homework
- Site goals and purpose
- Standards and best practices
- Important content for users and clients
- Key tasks for users
- Popular content per statistics and search logs

## Tips [2]

- Do your homework
- Content on mothership sites
- Content on other sites in your subject area
- Topics of frequent webmaster inquiries
- Topics of site feedback

## Tips [3]

- Create a checklist
- Establish a process
- Incorporate content reviews in maintenance plans
- Conduct content reviews annually
- Make/keep notes in between reviews

## Tips [4]

- Combine content reviews with other site analyses, e.g., statistics, search logs, and search results
- Use stats, search logs, and search results
- Help support decisions to retire content, update content, etc.
- Help prioritize content to review

## Tips [5]

- Hire the right people
- Detail-oriented people who’ve done their homework
- Site managers and writers are more familiar with content and may be faster
- Outsiders provide a fresh set of eyes, have less ownership/baggage, and see content more like visitors

## Tips [6]

- Use content reviews as a tool to engage your clients in content discussions
- Keep track of recurring issues – you might want to address them in standards and best practices
- Content – and budget – will drive the nature and depth of reviews

- Questions?
- Comments from other folks doing content reviews?
- _[marsha_luevane@nrel.gov](mailto:marsha_luevane@nrel.gov)_