Me: \u201cHey website, I have a question, help me answer it. How do I get to Newcastle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Website: \u201cBefore I do that, why not stay a while, look at our pictures; see how they glide by. We\u2019re showcasing our city, our campus, our staff, our facilities, and our cat (oh, you didn\u2019t stick around for that one).\u201d<\/p>\n
Me (scrolling quickly): \u201cNo really, just directions would do\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Website: \u201cCould I interest you in this video \u2013 it\u2019s actually about the Law School, but you know, it might have a map in it, or perhaps a Virtual Tour? We\u2019ve got a nice one of the Sports Centre: the gym is amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cEr, no thanks, bye.\u201d<\/p>\n
These image galleries, videos and virtual tours have a lot to bring to your web pages.<\/p>\n
They can provide engaging content. They help reinforce reputation and quality. They should act as support for the core content<\/strong> of the page.<\/p>\n Problems occur when they take over and try to be the star of the show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They interrupt the flow of your carefully crafted content. They butt in. They push the priority messages out<\/strong> of the way.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cMost people come to the Web because there\u2019s an information gap. Something has cropped up. There\u2019s something they don\u2019t know, something they need to do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gerry McGovern<\/p>\n We should\u00a0be careful about\u00a0placing too much emphasis on the supporting content in a page.<\/p>\n Stop this from happening by focusing on the priorities for the page.\u00a0 Read our blog post on Structuring Content<\/a> to help you.<\/p>\n All our supporting content flows after the core content. On desktop it floats right or under the core message. On mobile it flows under the core messages.<\/p>\n This means our site users are not interrupted when trying to find the answer to their questions. The supporting content is there if they have time or want to read more, watch or listen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cLet us not focus on getting people to spend time with our content but rather on seeing how we can save them time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gerry McGovern<\/p>\n Supporting web content includes a whole raft of things from images to interactive virtual tours. As long as it\u2019s relevant to the page and its placement is considered: it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n Qualifiers back up our claims. They could be quotes or accolades that reinforce a core message. Partner logos and accreditation can also lend weight to statements within the content.<\/p>\n A picture is worth a thousand words \u2013 this can be true. A good, clear, relevant photo can enhance your core content.<\/p>\n But, too many images can start to bring noise and distraction to the page. Consider displaying these as an image gallery. This can group together similar photography: facilities for example.<\/p>\n Add a video if it supports the content of the page – don\u2019t get sucked into adding videos \u201cjust because they were made\u201d. This all represents clutter to your end user.<\/p>\n These are a great way to showcase facilities and can help engage with your users. Again, make sure they support the context of the page.<\/p>\n Supporting content can also provide a\u00a0next step.<\/p>\n They include calls to action like booking a place at an event. We have styled content buttons for this.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also got a suite of social media icons that can help increase visits to Facebook or Twitter.<\/p>\n Test if it really is supporting content. If you took it away would your reader still leave the page happy that they found out what they needed?<\/p>\n Gerry McGovern. The Challenge for Writers of Web Content<\/a>. New Thinking. 24 May 2015.<\/p>\n Image credit:<\/strong> magic moment<\/a> by\u00a0rvoegtli on Flickr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Me: \u201cHey website, I have a question, help me answer it. How do I get to Newcastle?\u201d Website: \u201cBefore I do that, why not stay a while, look at our pictures; see how they glide by. We\u2019re showcasing our city, … Continue reading Prioritise web page content<\/h2>\n
Supporting content examples<\/h2>\n
Qualifiers<\/h3>\n
Images<\/h3>\n
Video<\/h3>\n
Virtual tours<\/h3>\n
Calls to action<\/h3>\n
Delete it!<\/h2>\n
References<\/h2>\n
Related posts<\/h2>\n
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