You’ve launched your nonprofit’s new website. The team is proud of the work, stakeholders are happy, and it’s tempting to shift your attention to the next big priority. The finish line feeling is real, but in reality, launch day is just the beginning.
A website is one of your nonprofit’s most important communication tools, and like any program, it requires ongoing attention to perform at its best. That’s where content testing comes in. Content testing can help reveal where users are getting stuck, where messaging isn’t quite landing, and where small changes can reduce friction and drive action.
In this Constructively Curated, we’ve gathered resources to help your organization strengthen your content testing practice and, in turn, optimize your website to better meet your goals and advance your mission.
1. Get an Introduction to Content Testing
If you’re new to content testing, there are a few resources that we recommend starting off with. Erica Jorgensen’s book on Strategic Content Design is written for a business and product design audience, but it’s a great foundation for understanding where to invest in content testing to achieve real impact. In this handy article from the UX Content Collective, Patrick Stafford makes a compelling case for why content testing should be woven throughout the design process, not tacked on at the end. And if you want to go back to basics, this article from A List Apart (yes, it’s from 2010, but it holds up) remains an accessible explainer of what content testing is and why it matters.
2. Align on the Right Test(s)
Once you’re ready to start testing your website content, the hardest part is often knowing where to begin. Should you try A/B tests, card sorting, cloze tests, or highlighter tests? In our experience, the right test depends on which insights you’re hoping to glean. This resource from Smashing Magazine includes a few questions to consider when identifying the right tests for your content needs. This guide from Maze is a solid overview of how testing content and copy can improve conversions through donations, newsletter signups, volunteer registrations, etc. It walks through how smarter content testing translates directly into action. For another comprehensive overview, Looppanel covers a range of testing methods to make sure your content actually works.
3. Uncover Where Users are Getting Stuck
Google Analytics tells you a lot about how people find your website and which pages they visit when they get there, but it doesn’t tell you much about on-page activity. At Constructive, we use Crazy Egg to track our clients’ website data to improve content, design, and overall UX. For example, you can review heatmaps and scrollmaps to see how far down the page users read before abandoning your content. Running A/B tests on headlines and page copy can also identify areas for optimization and improvement across your site.
4. Don’t Abandon Accessibility Testing
Accessible experiences are table stakes for truly reaching and engaging your audience. In a previous Constructively Curated roundup, we explored a combination of both automated and non-automated testing solutions to ensure your website meets WCAG standards. Accessibility testing and content testing shouldn’t be separate workflows. Optimizing one without considering the other can leave gaps. If your stakeholders are pushing back for any reason, you can remind them that accessible content is more visible content, which makes your website better indexed for traditional SEO or AEO/GEO/whatever we’re calling AI search this week.
5. Test Content With Real Humans
No AI or predictive model can replace the “aha” moments that come from direct conversations with your audience. While it may seem convenient to rely on synthetic user insights to expedite the research process, doing so risks missing the emotion and context that can only be gained from speaking with people. This article from IDEO makes the case against AI-generated users and captures what you’ll lose by not involving humans in your design research and testing. You can also find more resources on ethical user research and testing in our previous Curated roundup.
6. Make Your Content More User-Friendly: Test for Readability
Your audience is far more likely to scroll through and scan a website rather than read it word for word, so structure matters. Short paragraphs, bullets, subheads, and legible font choices aid in readability across device types. Best practices that make content easier to consume create better brand experiences and increase the likelihood that people will return to read more. Here are three places to start: Nielsen Norman Group’s classic research on web readability remains relevant; Siteimprove shares seven readability tests to evaluate content; and one of our favorites, Hemingway, is a great writing tool to improve content clarity and concision.
7. Avoid Over-Optimization
The same testing and optimization work that improves your site can actually start to work against you if taken too far. Running too many tests, creating duplicative content, or keyword-stuffing your content for search can actually hurt your SEO and UX, rather than help them. HubSpot offers a helpful resource on understanding if your website is suffering from over-optimization. Semrush also offers best practices for optimizing content without overdoing it.
More Constructively Curated
- 10 Resources for Designing Accessible and Inclusive Nonprofit Websites
- Earth Month Resources for Sustainable Nonprofit Web Design & Development
- Beyond Web: Resources for Building a Cohesive Brand Experience Across Channels
- Designing for Stress: Resources to Support User Clarity in High-Stakes Moments
- 8 Best Practices for Crafting Effective Nonprofit Annual Reports
- Nonprofit Data Visualization: Resources for Effective & Ethical Data-Driven Storytelling
- 8 Ways to Build Lasting Trust in Your Nonprofit Brand
- Ethical User Research & Testing: 6 Practical Resources for Nonprofits
- Building Resilience: 7 Strategies for Nonprofits Navigating Uncertainty
- Ethical AI: 9 Resources & Best Practices for Nonprofits
