Content is everywhere. It’s very often the first way your users will engage with your product.
You want your content to stand out for the right reasons, and for users to find (and understand) your content first-time round. If they’re re-reading, you’re doing it wrong.
So, what’s the key to ensuring the content on your site meets user needs? Content testing.
In this article, we’ll cover the what, why, and how of content testing—complete with a step-by-step guide to running your own content tests. Plus, we'll share some insights from industry experts: Vaida Pakulyte, UX Lead at Technigo, Steve Howe, Content Designer, and Nicole Michaelis, Content Design Lead at Wolt for their expert insights throughout.
What is content testing?
Content testing is a research method that helps understand if users can find and understand your content. With content testing, you can check if the content you create resonates with users, speaks directly to their pain points, and provides enough context to help users complete tasks successfully.
Content testing is widely used during user research to test product, app, or website content, and can be conducted at any stage in product development.
Why should you test content?
Content testing is important as a preemptive tool to prevent bad content. Bad content can completely disrupt a user’s experience of a product and leave them confused or unengaged, which may drive them away from using your product altogether.
Content testing helps you:
- Identify which content works, which doesn’t, and why
- Create accessible products and experiences
- Build an intuitive user experience (UX) for your audience
- Choose effective keywords and language
- Prioritize content development efforts
- Prevent users from becoming confused or disrupted
Put simply, content testing helps ensure good content makes it into the product, and bad content never makes it out of the testing process.