In order for users to get the most out of your WordPress site, it is important for your content to be clearly and thoughtfully organized. Making sure your content is well edited and up to date will result in a user-friendly site that communicates your message to the widest possible audience.

There are simple steps you can take to ensure your site provides an accessible, user-friendly experience and that visitors can easily find the information they are looking for. Follow the links below for information to help optimize your WordPress site.

• Content Management
• Page Layout
• Images & Videos
• Documents
• Links
• Forms
• Migration Guidelines
• Content Review Checklist
• Resources

Know Your Audience

• Who will be visiting your page? Why do they come? What questions and needs do they have? Structure your content to address these questions. Think about who will be visiting your site and try to see the pages from their point of view.
• Prioritize the information your users need most and keep overall content to a minimum. If you need to include information that may be useful only to a portion of your site’s visitors, consider placing it on a lower level page that is specifically directed toward these users.

Be Clear and Succinct

• The less content there is for users to sift through, the more likely they are to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
• Use language that anyone can understand. If it’s necessary to use jargon or reproduce complicated language, consider placing this content on a lower level page.
• Avoid duplicating content on multiple pages. If content is relevant to more than one page, place it on a single page and link from the others.
• Try to get your message across in as few words as possible. Web users tend to skim and scan text content. If you include large blocks of text, readers may skip over important information.

Get Peer Review

Ask someone who is familiar with your content to read over your site and give you suggestions before you go live. Make sure to choose someone who will be honest with you about their experience. Obvious mistakes can often go unnoticed without a fresh set of eyes to review a site’s content.

Make Plans for Future Content Review

Your site is only as good as the content on it. Information that is out-of-date, broken links, and other stale resources will make your site less valuable – or worse – confusing and wrong. Set calendar reminders or use other tools to help remind you and other content owners to review your content at least once a year.

In addition to meeting NC State Brand guidelines, it is important that your pages are uncluttered and easy to navigate. Efficient page layouts employ active space in the main content areas so that content can be easily scanned by visitors who are likely to be in a hurry. In order to maximize the efficiency of your layouts:

Use headings.

This not only helps organize your information so that users can quickly find what they’re looking for, it also makes your site accessible to those using screen readers and other assistive technology.  Make sure to use headings in order, with larger headings higher up on the page. Try not to skip a heading size as this can confuse assistive devices.

Break text into small chunks

Long blocks of text are difficult to read and users may skip over important information. Keep paragraphs short and put space between them.

Use lists and tables

Converting paragraph content into more visual forms such as lists or tables can be a more appropriate way to display information and helps distill it into an easily readable format. Callout blocks can also be used to break up the monotony of large text blocks.

Manage menus and sidebars

Keep menu items and drop-down menus to a minimum so they don’t crowd the main page content. Try to include each menu item only once, even if it is relevant to multiple categories. Don’t include the same items in both the navigation menu and the sidebar. If you are trying to target a specific group of users, place links to these pages in main page content as this is generally the first place users will look. Use the nav bar menu for more general navigation purposes. In general, keep menu headings succinct. Long titles in the menu crowd the nav bar, making menu items difficult to read.

Other Requirements

Regardless of the content of your site, there are certain considerations to help ensure that users can make the most of what you have to offer. It is also important that all official university websites comply with the NC State brand.

Accessibility

It is crucial that your site is accessible to individuals using screen readers and other assistive technology. You can achieve this by using headings frequently and correctly, by including alternative text with images and other media, and by using descriptive links rather than web cliches such as “click here”.

For more information on accessibility, visit Accessibility @ NC State.

NC State Brand

All official NC State web sites must comply with the NC State brand. In order to comply, sites must observe specific design conventions regarding page layout, color usage and typography. For detailed brand guidelines and downloadable resources, visit NC State Brand.