The Content Audit for Your Utility Web Design Project
What is a content audit?
In one of your first meetings with the Powerful web team, we will review a content audit of your website. The content audit is prepared by a team member from our website content strategy team and helps us determine the scope of your website project so we can properly allocate resources. It will show the total number of pages, the structure and number of elements (images, videos, PDF files, hyperlinks, etc.) of your current website.
During the web design process, we view a website a lot like building a house. Once we build you a beautiful new digital home, your content needs to be moved in (just like furniture would need to be moved in a new home). Just as a moving company would come and do a quick check, reviewing how much furniture needs to be moved, the same is done with the content on your utility website before the re-design takes place.
How is the content audit done?
One of our trusted web experts manually goes through your existing website and grabs the page name and the URLs, compiling them in a spreadsheet. The structure is also captured during the process. It will show the global pages (typically page links listed in your website header, some with dropdown menus of subpages), this is the home page and all of the top-level menu pages.
From there, the audit shows the subpages and any pages under that. For each page, all elements are counted, including linked pages (both internal and external), images, videos, documents, agendas, meeting minutes and anything else that we see on pages. Each link is checked to make sure that they are working correctly, and images are checked for accessibility compliance.
We take note if there are any concerns regarding accessibility issues, broken links, outdated information or any other issues that we feel is important to communicate about the page. If a site contains documents those will be listed along with recommendations for conversions to online applications or webpages.
Why is it important to have a website audit done?
The website audit is what is done to identify the scope of the web design project for your utility. For you, it provides valuable data relating to our recommendations that will be communicated throughout the duration of your web design project.
It also ensures a review of your current site to see if you really need everything moved, if there are key pieces of content that are potentially outdated or missing and where that information is located within your website’s overall structure.
We also assess each page of each document on your current website to see if they can be converted to online applications or web pages.
Online applications make things much easier your site visitor, eliminating the need to download, print and mail applications. Documents that are converted to webpages adhere to our STAR Standard (Searchable, Translatable, Accessible and Responsive). Often times valuable content is buried in PDF files, but it’s essentially hidden for some site visitors. Have you ever tried to read through a PDF file on your phone? It is not a delightful experience to say the least!
You can also use it to make your site fresher and more streamlined by removing old and outdated pages and information. Because it’s currently on your site does not necessarily mean it needs to be there or is adding much value.
In conclusion, the website audit is a tool for your utility website that we create to help set expectations for the work that will be done when we build the new website for your utility organization. We’ll be able to provide you with recommendations based on our experience but in the end, it will be all about what fits you best.
