Principle #5: Establish and maintain credibility

It is important to build and maintain credibility so that your readers trust and value the information on your website. Visitors will be more likely to return if you:

check spelling and factual data for accuracy
proofread your work
- give yourself enough time to write a first draft, have a break and return later
- print out your content to make it easier to make corrections and changes
- get another person to proofread your document
avoid inappropriate language (e.g. bureaucratic, marketing jargon and discriminatory language) and use inclusive communication (Remember that anything you publish online is accessible to an international audience)
provide references and attributions where required
link only to credible websites for supporting or related information
schedule regular link checks to ensure all hyperlinks are correct and working.

Review your content regularly

Set up a timetable to remind you when your content will need updating or reviewing.

Find out what the procedures are for making changes.

Update or remove pages immediately after an event (e.g. after a conference has finished, replace the registration form with an event report or details about next year's conference).

Provide a date when the content was last updated or when it was last reviewed (as per CUE standard section 1.2.9 Content)

Remove or archive content when appropriate so that you do not overload or misinform your readers.

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Last updated 02 August 2005

Principle #5: Establish and maintain credibility

Review your content regularly

Consider hiring a web writing specialist