We understand that for the majority of the UL.ie web editor community, being an editor on UL.ie makes up only a part of their busy role.
Finding time to add website editing responsibilities to your already busy to-do list can be difficult. Therefore, we thought suggesting ways to be a proactive and productive UL web editor, might be helpful.
Chat with your colleagues and fellow editors
Your website must be discussed with your team regularly and remember to include all the web editors you work with in these meetings.
It’s not a bad idea to schedule a monthly check-in with the other editors on your team so you are all on the same page regarding the website.
These regular meetings can be a space for collaborating, discussing issues before they arise and identifying areas where the workflow might need tweaking.
It’s more than likely that other editors on your team are experiencing the same issues or you may even be duplicating work. It’s all about communication.
Make sure your website is a key point of discussion in more regular, larger team meetings too. Ensure your manager is aware of the important work you do on the website and that you have a direct line of contact with the Web Team.
But what should I do, and when should I do it?
Weekly checklist:
- Review events: update the website with upcoming events to promote.
- Check the news section: ensure the latest news items are current and relevant.
- Complete general small-scale edits: update information as and when needed.
Monthly checklist:
- Content review: evaluate existing content for accuracy and relevance.
- Plan what’s coming up and how to incorporate it into the website.
- Refresh images and videos: replace outdated visuals with new ones.
- Have a meeting about your website: Discuss ideas and issues.
- Ensure all main pages are up to date with current information.
Quarterly checklist:
- Check for broken links: use tools to identify and fix broken links.
- Update FAQs: address common enquiries and update FAQs as needed.
- Collect analytics: Ask the Web team for an analytics report of your site.
Bi-annual checklist:
- Site navigation review: check website structure for usability and accessibility.
- Review content strategy: align content with overall marketing and communication goals.
Annual checklist:
- Content inventory: conduct a comprehensive content audit for every page on your site. The Web Team can provide you with a list of all the pages on your site.
- Strategic planning: align website goals with the team’s objectives for the upcoming year.
Additional responsibilities
Ensure you’re logging in regularly
This may sound obvious, but our data shows that more than half of all UL.ie web editors are not actively editing their websites and have not logged on in months or even years.
If you are not logging in regularly and updating your site with smaller edits it will be difficult to build up the skills needed to embark on larger-scale edits.
It would be great if the uL.ie community of editors was as active and engaged as possible.
Get trained up
If you have not received training yet, get in touch by logging a TopDesk call requesting training and we can book you into the next training session.
Use the available resources
Be sure to join our Community of Editors Team’s space, if you’re not a member and would like to join please get in touch and we can add you.
It’s a great place to stay up to date with the Web Team, and we run monthly clinics and bi-monthly meet-ups.
We also have a special UL Community of Editors space on UL Connect.
Our Sharepoint space has a list of resources and helpful guides on a wide range of topics including, accessibility, content creation and much more.
Contact the Web Team
We love hearing from our editors. If you are unsure about how best to put content on your site, or think your website needs some work, don’t hesitate to get in contact the Web Team on TopDesk.
Between our User Experience (UX), content and development teams, we have the expertise and know-how to help you with whatever queries you may have.
We are not just a last resort for when things go wrong, but rather a service that can offer consultation and advice on an ongoing basis.