Website content updates

Content that commonly goes out of date

A simple review routine

A quarterly read-through of the main pages catches many problems before customers do. Check prices, services, team members, contact details and anything time-sensitive. Ask whoever deals with customers which questions they keep answering; those often point to missing or unclear content. Keeping a short list of pages and their owners makes the review quick.

Big changes, such as a new service or a price rise, should trigger an immediate update rather than waiting for the next review.

Editing without breaking things

Who should make updates?

• Simple text changes

  Often easiest for the business to make, with brief training.

• New pages

  May need layout, images and links checked by someone familiar with the site.

• Structural changes

  Menus, page addresses and templates benefit from experienced help.

• Legal pages

  Wording should be reviewed by someone qualified; publishing is the easy part.

Handling a content update request

1. 01

   Request

   What to change, where and why, with any new text or images.

   Output: Clear brief

2. 02

   Edit

   Changes made using the site's existing styles.

   Output: Updated page

3. 03

   Check

   Phone and desktop views, links and forms checked.

   Output: Verified change

4. 04

   Record

   Change noted, with redirects if addresses changed.

   Output: Update log

Accessible content

Content updates are where accessibility often slips. Headings used just to make text bigger, images without descriptions, links labelled 'click here' and text colours chosen by eye all make pages harder to use for some visitors. Following the site's built-in styles and adding short, meaningful image descriptions keeps updated pages as accessible as the original design intended.

Changing page addresses safely

Renaming a page often changes its address. Links from other websites, bookmarks, search results and your own menus may still point to the old address, leading visitors to an error page. A permanent redirect from the old address to the new one keeps those visitors, and updating internal links avoids unnecessary redirects. Where possible, keep existing addresses and change only the visible title.

Keeping a simple list of redirects helps if the site is later rebuilt or moved.

Checking on a phone

Many content editors work on a computer, but many visitors read on phones. Long headings, wide tables and large images can look fine on a desktop and awkward on a small screen. Checking every updated page on a phone before considering it finished catches these problems early. Google also states that it uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking, so the mobile view is what search engines assess.

Claims and evidence

When updating service descriptions, avoid claims you cannot support, such as invented statistics, testimonials you do not have permission to use or promises about results. Accurate, specific descriptions of what you do are more convincing and safer.

Giving pages an owner

Assigning each main page to someone in the business, the person who knows that service or policy best, makes reviews faster and more accurate. They are the ones most likely to notice when something has changed.