Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice of organizing and classifying things in order to define the relationships between them. In the case of a website, this is all about labeling and organizing content so it鈥檚 apparent how things on the site fit together. A well-designed taxonomy is essential for digital content operations.
Brightspot is powered by sections and tags鈥攜ou want a handful of the former and lots of the latter. However, not all tags are equal. We recommend waiting until you have at least three鈥攁nd ideally five鈥攑ieces of content associated with a tag before you publish it. And because remembering all the tags you use can be difficult, Brightspot uses Amazon Comprehend to suggest tags from your unique taxonomy for each article, making the process of categorizing easy.
Pages
An audit should include an accounting of all of your site鈥檚 pages. Does each one have a unique purpose? What should readers do on each page? If they鈥檝e clicked onto a particular page to find something or answer a question, make sure the relevant information is immediately apparent. If you make visitors scroll and search, they鈥檙e much more likely to abandon the page and your site.
URLs
Well-constructed URLs are essential for getting good search rankings. A URL should read like a short descriptive phrase with a clear meaning and some keywords. Since URLs may not carry metadata with them, such as when they鈥檙e shared via copy and paste, they must convey information on their own.
Remember that a URL and the page鈥檚 headline do not have to match exactly, though they should be fairly close. Brightspot automatically creates URLs for new pages and posts based on the page headline, and the built-in taxonomy settings make it easy to include a category in each URL. Brightspot also allows you to create your own URL to optimize for keywords or to allow for redirects when necessary.
Body text
Take a discerning eye to the body text on your pages and posts. Are the paragraphs short? Do you insert bulleted and numbered lists to break up the text? Have you incorporated pull quotes to highlight important points?
The idea is to keep your text scannable. Avoid extraneous instructions, such as 鈥渃lick here鈥濃�攙isitors will readily see where to click. Look to see if your pages are overly crowded. You don鈥檛 want a lot on each page, though it can add interest to include in-line images, graphics and videos. Make sure everything on the page adds value.
Images and videos
Audiences are more likely to click on and engage with content that includes an image. So pay close attention to selecting an image, particularly in thinking about what each one conveys about the content. Every image you publish should include a credit, a caption and descriptive alt text.
Brightspot makes image sourcing and management easy; the CMS uses federated search to connect to photos from online databases and sites like Getty Images and YouTube. The CMS also allows for advanced photo editing with a suite of creative tools built in.
Search functionality
An audit should also include a look at the effectiveness of your on-site search and your back-end search. On-site search is what allows your visitors to find what they鈥檙e looking for. Back-end search helps your editors quickly find the content they need for updating, editing or linking.
Brightspot provides robust search functionality; you are able to view your results in various ways鈥攊n a list or a grid; sorted by date, pageviews or other parameters; or showing a customized set of fields.
Website audits are vital to online success
After you鈥檝e spent time, energy and money building out a beautiful website full of engaging and informative content, it鈥檚 important that it gives your visitors the experience you鈥檝e (and they鈥檝e) imagined.
Audiences are highly sensitive to an online experience鈥攖hey鈥檙e apt to click away from a site at the slightest delay or smallest hurdle. You have precious few chances to interest them, draw them in and establish a relationship of trust. Auditing your website will help ensure your site is an asset instead of a liability.
Contact us for your website audit: Content is key to what we do
Our in-house, full-service content team has performed comprehensive audits for hundreds of customers, from leading media companies to top global brands. Once supported by Brightspot CMS, our partners are empowered to live the lessons learned during the audit, backed by the platform鈥檚 best-in-class editorial tools and robust admin features.
Request a demo to discover how Brightspot鈥檚 functionality can take the pain out of future audits by helping you build a better website from the start.
