This document outlines a 5-step process for assessing and improving the quality of website content: 1. Take stock - inventory all website content to understand what exists. 2. Plan - determine what elements of quality will be assessed, set scope and establish baselines. 3. Assess - evaluate content based on the predetermined elements and identify issues. 4. Prioritize - determine which issues are most important to address based on urgency and ROI. 5. Execute - outline tasks, set deadlines, review changes, and publish updates to address prioritized issues. The goal is to improve content quality for both machines and people through structure, presentation, clarity, use of keywords, voice

1. The Ultimate Super Duper Guide To
CONTENT QUALITY
Courtney Clark @circlish
Managing Director of UX
Kristina Bjoran @bjoran_identity
Senior Creative Strategist

3. My name is Courtney.
I woke up like this.

4. My name is
Kristina. Some
kind of hybrid.

6. What is
content?

7. QUALITY
for machines
and people
MATTERS

8. OUTDATED
POORLY
WRITTEN
UNMANAGEABLEOVERGROWN
TOO MANY
COOKS
NO
OVERSIGHT
NOT ON
BRAND OR
MESSAGE
Quality
Probs

9. What is
quality?

10. elements
6
of quality

11. StructureMACHINES & PEOPLE LOVE IT
1

12. How content is marked up.
The code behind it.
WHAT

15. STRUCTURE
When you correctly structure your
content, both humans and machines
can easily read it.
Ultimately, you’re improving accessibility and SEO.
Do this!
So that...
1

16. Presentation
LOOKS MATTER
2

17. Look and feel
Line length, colors, typography
WHAT

18. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
Setophaga coronata
Four closely related North American bird forms—the eastern myrtle
warbler (ssp coronata), its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler
(ssp group auduboni), the northwest Mexican black-fronted
warbler (ssp nigrifrons), and the Guatemalan Goldman's warbler
(ssp goldmani)—are periodically lumped as the yellow-rumped
warbler (Setophaga coronata).

19. PRESENTATION
When your content is clearly
presented, it’s easier and more
enjoyable to read.
Ultimately, you’re improving legibility and experience.
So that...
2
Do this!

20. ClarityDO YOU UNDERSTAND?
3

21. Ease of understanding
Reading level, relevant imagery
WHAT

22. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
Setophaga coronata
Four closely related North American bird forms—the eastern myrtle
warbler (ssp coronata), its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler
(ssp group auduboni), the northwest Mexican black-fronted
warbler (ssp nigrifrons), and the Guatemalan Goldman's warbler
(ssp goldmani)—are periodically lumped as the yellow-rumped
warbler (Setophaga coronata).
Four closely related North American
birds forms—the eastern myrtle
warbler (ssp coronata), its western
counterpart, Audubon's warbler (ssp
group auduboni), the northwest
Mexican black-fronted warbler (ssp
nigrifrons), and the Guatemalan
Goldman's warbler (ssp goldmani)—
are periodically sometimes lumped
grouped as the yellow-rumped
warbler (Setophaga coronata).

23. CLARITY
When your content is clear and
readable, people can actually
understand it.
Ultimately, you’re improving comprehension.
So that...
3
Do this!

24. KeywordsUSE THE RIGHT TERMS, OFTEN.
4

25. Right words, right time
What visitors came for
WHAT

26. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
Setophaga coronata
Four closely-related North American birds —the eastern myrtle
warbler, its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler, the
northwest Mexican black-fronted warbler, and the Guatemalan
Goldman's warbler—are sometimes grouped as the yellow-
rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata).

27. KEYWORDS
When you consistently use smart and
appropriate keywords, people find you
more easily and get the message.
Ultimately, you’re improving SEO and brand messaging.
So that...
4
Do this!

28. VoiceMAKE IT YOUR OWN!
5

29. What makes it unique
Character. Personality.
WHAT

30. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
Setophaga coronata
Flashing its trademark yellow rump
patch as it flies away, calling check for
confirmation, this is one of our best-
known warblers. While most of its
relatives migrate to the tropics in fall,
the Yellow-rump, able to live on
berries, commonly remains as far north
as New England and Seattle; it is the
main winter warbler in North America.
Included in this species are two
different-looking forms, the eastern
"Myrtle" Warbler and western
"Audubon's" Warbler.
Four closely-related North American birds —the eastern myrtle
warbler, its western counterpart, Audubon's warbler, the
northwest Mexican black-fronted warbler, and the Guatemalan
Goldman's warbler—are sometimes grouped as the yellow-
rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata).

31. VOICE
When your content has a clear and
consistent voice, Google values your
perspective (and people do too).
Ultimately, you’re improving SEO and brand messaging.
So that...
5
Do this!

32. Organization
THE BIG PICTURE
6

33. Where it fits
Findability
WHAT

35. ORGANIZATION
When your content is smartly
organized, people can find what
they came for and more!
Ultimately, you’re improving usability and findability.
So that...
6
Do this!

36. Where it fits.
Findability.
What makes it unique.
Character. Personality.
Right words, right time.
What visitors came for.
Ease of understanding.
Reading level, relevant imagery.
Look and feel.
Line length, colors, typography.
How content is marked up.
The code behind it.
6 ELEMENTS of CONTENT QUALITY
Organization
Voice
Keywords
Clarity
Presentation
Structure

37. 6 ELEMENTS of CONTENT QUALITY
WebAIM - Designing for Screenreader Compatibility
WebAIM - Testing Web Content for Accessibility
WebAIM - Text/Typographical Layout
The Design School Guide to Visual Hierarchy
Readability Score
WebAIM - Writing Clearly and Simply
Moz.com
GoogleRankings.com
VoiceAndTone.com
Voice, Tone, and Style
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Organization
Voice
Keywords
Clarity
Presentation
Structure

38. Higher than
Wikipedia is a good
thing.

39. QUALITY
for machines
and people
MATTERS

40. Content
quality has
consequences !

41. How to Assess Quality
Finally the juicy bits

42. FIRST, LET’S SET
EXPECTATIONS.

43. Content Assessment
1
2
3
4
5
JOURNEY
Take Stock
Plan
Assess
Prioritize
Execute

44. step
5
approach

45. Take
SEE WHATCHA GOT!
1

46. Know what’s there
Setting stage for audit
WHY

47. TAKE STOCK
1
Choose a
METHOD
Automated or Manual
2 Get URLs
Automated - from a tool / crawl
Manual - just you and the spreadsheet
3
Organize into
SECTIONS
Group by content type (events, news, reports)
OR section (About, People, Resources, etc)
4 YAY!
Celebrate and pretend nothing else needs to happen
How to

48. Types of Inventories
Spoiler: they’re all a pain in the ass.

49. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
13,290 pages
2 person team + 1 student employee
30 content authors
Not governed by reason
Site Size
Owners
Authors
Reason

50. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
Specific Content
Top 50 most trafficked pages
Landing pages for all sections
All Content
All the things!
VS

51. Protip
If you auto-generate a list, you will have a
lot of cleanin’ to do.

52. PlanARMED WITH KNOWLEDGE
2

53. Determine level of effort
Setting stage for audit
WHY

54. PLAN
1
CHOOSE
ELEMENTS
We will assess content for clarity, structure, and
tone.
2 DEFINITIONS
Our team agrees that tone means … Here’s an
example.
3 SET SCOPE
We will assess the 50 most visited pages. We will
assess 20 pages within each primary nav section.
4
ESTABLISH
BASELINE
Generate a definitive analytics snapshot before
auditing to track performance improvement.
How to

55. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
1-2 Elements
Check only for 1 or 2 elements of
quality (e.g. proper <h> tag usage,
missing images, can we delete this
page?)
All Elements
Assess for ALL THE THINGS! (e.g. page
structure, tone / voice, design, keyword
usage, broken elements...and so much
more!)
VS

56. Protip
Add conditional logic that turns “Toss”
content bright red.

57. AssessOUT WITH THE OLD...
3

58. Judge your content
Find the problems
WHY

59. ASSESS
1 JUST DO IT
There’s no other way to put it; get clicking, get
auditing.
2
ADJUST
ORGANIZATION
You may see different patterns in the organization of
your content - adjust audit as needed.
3
PATTERN
SPOTTING
Note any patterns, and clearly mark content that
needs to be trashed.
How to

60. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
Low Effort High EffortVS

61. Protip
Split the work, if possible. Also, think
about content in groups when applicable.

62. Prioritize
COMING UP FOR AIR
4

63. Can’t fix everything now
Some content is more important
WHY

64. PRIORITIZE
1
A GOOD BACK
PAT
Good job. You deserve a treat.
2 BRAIN DUMP
Summarize your high-level discoveries.
3 IDENTIFY
What’s most urgent? What’s the best ROI? What can
you realistically do and when?
How to

65. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
One Issue
Plan to tackle only one discovered
issue, and document other issues for a
later time.
All Issues
Prepare detailed plan to tackle all
issues, with a timeline and detailed
approach
VS

66. Protip
Be cutthroat, and involve as few people as
possible.

67. ExecuteMAKE IT SO!
5

68. Because you made it this far!
The end is in sight!
WHY
[INSERT IMAGE]

69. EXECUTE
1
OUTLINE &
ASSIGN TASKS
If you’re working with a team, be sure they know
what to do.
2 SET DEADLINES
Deadlines keep the ball rolling.
3
REVIEW &
PUBLISH
Ultimate content owner should review changes, or
empower others to publish. Mark complete when
done.
4 CELEBRATE!
What comes before part B? PARTAY!
How to

70. BIRD LAW
Kelly School for
Low Effort High EffortVS

71. Protip:
If you divide the work, set clear deadlines
and guidelines.

73. Give It a Try!
Pick 3 pages.
Do a quick review.
Apply to bigger picture.

74. QUALITY
for machines
and people
MATTERS

75. Google Analytics & Sheets
Moz
Screaming Frog - SEO Spider Tool
Content Insights (CAT)
NPR’s Writing Guidelines
Readability Score
Content Audits and Inventories
Content Strategy in 652 Steps
Accessible Design is Good Design
Inventory Tools Content Quality

76. Questions & (Hopefully) Answers
Thank You!
Courtney Clark @circlish
Managing Director of UX
Kristina Bjoran @bjoran_identity
Senior Creative Strategist