Web Content Quality Checklist

Feel free to print this list and keep it next to your computer… these are the things you should be looking at—and fixing—before hitting publish. So we’re going to kick it off with the most obvious:

Edit.

When you’re done playing find and fix the mistakes, get a second opinion. Then edit some more. You don’t have to be a real grammar nazi. Most of the mistakes you find may have more to do with context or information, and it’s much easier to fix before you publish rather than going back later to correct an error.

What’s the point?

We’re going to skip past the attention grabbing headline and the attention keeping first paragraph. You already know that… but the other part of the introduction is that you are promising something and the last thing you want to do is drag it on and on.

Get the point and make it, or risk losing a large percentage of your readers.

Watch your language!

Language, tone, and voice are some of the most important elements that differentiate a fluffy search engine-focused article from a page that will engage.A consistently conversational tone, first person perspective, and sometimes even colorful language are the key to covering almost any topic in style.

Formatting for shorter attention spans.

Shorter pages, shorter paragraphs, shorter sentences. Lists and subheaders. White space. Certain formatting tricks are important for web content because internet users have a shorter attention span, scan more than they actually read, and will remember or retain less information.

Edit. Again.

Now that you’ve gotten all the kinks out, rinse and repeat.