Web author checklist

Check you have everything covered before you publish your page.

Page type

• make sure you have selected the correct template for your content

Information about page types and templates

Summary box

• check that the summary will help the user to understand what your page is about, in just one or two short sentences
• keep in mind that this summary can be used on landing pages and in Google search results

Examples and guidance for writing a page summary 

Tagging content page 

• make sure you have tagged the correct area of the site to display your page 
• if you want your page to appear in the ‘popular items banner, make sure the page is tagged as ‘popular’
• have you prioritised your page to display in the correct order on your chosen landing page?

More information about page tagging

Page title 

• the page title should be short, active, and meaningful 
• if your page is transactional (has a call to action), include a verb in the title like ‘Pay for..’
• check page titles start with a capital letter and all following words are in lowercase unless they are a proper noun

Guidance on writing page titles 

Headings

• headings shouldn’t be written as questions
• make sure that bold hasn’t been used for headings
• check headings are in the right order, your first heading should use Heading 1, the subheading should be Heading 2, and so on
• make sure heading levels haven't been skipped 

Information about using headings

Descriptive links

• check that links work properly and the URL is correct
• link text should make sense when taken out of context, don't use 'click here' or 'more...'

Examples of descriptive links 

Lists

• check that you have at least two items to put into the list
• make sure that bullet points haven’t been capitalised, they should always be written in lower case
• check that there are no full stops, commas, or semicolons at the end of each line

Using bullet points to make content easier to read

Tables

• tables should have a heading row
• they should contain tabular data only
• make sure there are at least 2 columns

Accessibility guidance for tables 

Contact details

• email addresses should be written in full
• if email addresses and phone numbers are displayed on their own, put 'Email:' or 'Phone:' in front

More information about adding contact details to a page 

Abbreviations and jargon

• make sure abbreviations are explained once on the page before being used
• remove unnecessary jargon

Guidance for explaining technical terms and using abbreviations

Writing about Sutton Council 

• make sure we refer to ourselves as ‘Sutton Council’
• ‘Council’ is always capitalised and singular
• check that the content refers to the council as ‘we’ or ‘us’

Spelling

Make sure you check spelling and grammar for each page

Reading age

• use Hemingway editor to check you've got as close as possible to 9-year-old reading age
• sense-check your content - perhaps ask a colleague to proof-read it for you

Learn more about the national reading age

Tone 

• be concise 
• use the active voice
• address the user as 'you'
• use contractions such as 'don't' (rather than 'do not')
• write in plain English 

Further guidance for voice and tone