A website content strategy focuses on the planning, creation, delivery and governance of useful, usable web content. Having a strong content strategy will ensure that the University Libraries' website provides the right content, to the right people, at the right times, for the right reasons.
Purpose statement
The University Libraries' website will offer a user-friendly, accessible and appealing gateway to help students, faculty, staff and other researchers find our materials and services and take action to get the help they need.
Guiding principles
All University Libraries’ digital communication initiatives are guided by the following three principles:
Put users first.
Align with our strategic plan.
Be consistent with the WMU brand.
Target audiences
WMU undergraduate students
Undergraduate students make up 81% of the total student population at WMU. They have varying levels of experience and information skills. Undergraduate students need help to become more effective researchers. They typically use the website to look for general information like library hours and places to study and collaborate, find sources for their papers and classwork, and search for course reserves.
WMU graduate students
Graduate students make up 19% of the total student population at WMU. They usually have some experience using library services and resources. Graduate students need help to sharpen their research and writing skills. They typically use the website to find primary sources and use advanced search, request help for subject-specific research, and find sources and research tools tailored to their discipline.
WMU faculty and staff
This target audience includes Western Michigan University faculty and staff outside of University Libraries. They typically use the website to help design curriculum, develop resource lists, request library instruction, connect with librarians to find materials and resources to help their students, and request materials.
Other researchers
This target audience includes members of the public who use Libraries' services and resources to do research. They typically use the website to look for general information like library hours, access online resources, and borrow items.
Secondary audiences
Libraries faculty and staff, WMU alumni, prospective WMU students, other higher education institutions, and guest users.
Objectives and strategies
To help the Libraries reach the goal of designing and implementing an intuitive, user-friendly online library experience that promotes discovery and learning, the website will meet the objectives and use the strategies outlined below:
Objective 1: The website is user-centered.
- Meet the needs of our primary audience.
- Focus on benefits to the user, not just features of the Libraries.
- Base website on user testing.
- Anticipate user needs.
- Continually test and iteratively design the website.
- Provide users with a simple way to provide feedback.
Objective 2: Users can quickly and easily understand content.
- Keep copy simple and clear.
- Don't make users read a lot of text to know what to do next.
- Employ best practices for writing for the web.
- Write in a conversational tone. Address the reader directly and write in second person. Second person writing involves using pronouns "you", "your" and "yours."
- Avoid library jargon.
- Don't use happy talk or unnecessary information, such as welcome messages or info about the design of the website.
- Keep content current.
- Follow Web Style Guide, Content Style Guide and WMU Writing Style Guide.
Objective 3: Users can easily find and access resources.
- Users know where to start to conduct their research.
- Users know how to find a specific resource.
- Users know how to find resources on a topic.
- Accessing e-resources from home is as seamless as possible.
- Users know what they are searching when they use the Library Search box on the homepage.
- Improve visibility of new resources.
Objective 4: Users are aware of and can easily find the services they need.
- Users know where to get help, online and in person.
- Users understand what services are available to them from University Libraries.
- Users know how to find a specific service.
- Users don’t need to know who offers a service to find it.
- Users can easily find the right contact person at University Libraries.
- Users can easily find out what’s happening in the libraries.
Objective 5: Users can easily navigate to their destination.
- The home page addresses three main things most users want to do.
- Navigation is self-evident.
- Sections of the site have useful, context-specific navigation.
- The structure of the website is self-explanatory to users.
Objective 6: The website is accessible.
- Site is readable and functional on all devices.
- Site avoids the use of tables.
- Site uses CMS pages instead of PDFs and other documents whenever possible.
- Site meets W3C's WCAG 2.1 requirements.
Style guide
A website style guide helps us to write clear and consistent content across all website pages. Providing our audience with a cohesive experience helps build loyalty and trust.
Governance
Website governance ensures we are meeting the needs of our users and our organization. It includes the roles, responsibilities, relationships, rules and review process that are put in place to maintain our website.