Content types

Last updated: 19 May 2025

We use several content types across our websites. For example homepages for navigation and single pages for written content.

Using a set of content types is crucial for:

a consistent and predictable structure – this helps guide a user’s eye towards important information, making content easier to read and navigate
better user engagement – using consistent patterns and types can make content more engaging by providing a familiar structure that users can easily follow. This can lead to longer visit durations and higher interaction rates
trust – well designed content types can make a website look more professional and credible, which helps to build trust. This is especially important for a local authority
enhanced SEO – using repetitive and structured content types means search engines can better understand and index our content
efficiency in content creation – reusable content types streamline the design process. They provide a template that can be reused, which is useful for maintaining consistency and saving time.

Homepages

We use homepages (or landing pages) to group information for a particular topic or service.

This includes the main homepage of a website as well as any sub-homepages.

Homepages serve as a central hub for navigation, guiding users to the most relevant and important information on a website. This helps users to find what they need quickly and efficiently.

Homepages:

appear in breadcrumbs to help users navigate around a website
are usually more visual
will display content and links grouped by topic
can highlight top tasks, important announcements, news and updates.

The number of sections on a homepage will be monitored. The more sections there are, the harder the homepage is to navigate on mobile as sections stack on top of each other.

Top tasks

Most homepages contain links at the top that give users quick access to high priority tasks.

We call these links ‘top tasks’.

Top tasks are identified through:

conversation with the subject matter expert(s)
website traffic (page visits and keyword searches)
call volumes
seasonal trends.

We monitor top tasks over time and change them according to user needs.

We will use 4 or less top tasks at any one time. More than this can push other important information and navigation further down the page, especially on mobile.

Medway.gov.uk homepage objective

One part of our strategy to improve user experience on medway.gov.uk is to redevelop our homepages.

We aim to simplify our homepages by:

reviewing top tasks
reviewing how we group information and links
reducing images that do not help users to navigate
limiting the number of banners to reduce cognitive burden
testing our designs with users.

Single pages

We use single pages of content (also known as document pages) to create content that:

addresses a user need
is information or task based
is displayed in one column, broken up by headings and chunks of content.

This type of page gives a user the information they need in one place in an accessible way.

It is suitable for most types of content we need to share, however we will also look at using either:

guide pages - if there is a large quantity of content that’s relative to a subject or task completion
step by step pages – if the content needs to follow a sequential process.

Guide pages

Guide pages (also known as multi-document pages) are a collection of webpages that contain content which is closely related and has a shared user need.

Guide pages are good for giving a range of information on one subject. For example, we use them to help a user fully understand a topic or complete a task. The user can use the ‘Next’ button to move through each page within the guide.

Some examples of guide pages on medway.gov.uk are:

We should not use guide pages to group pages of content that have varying audiences or user needs.

Step by step pages

We use step-by-step pages to create content where the user has a sequential process to follow. For example, the steps involved in applying for something.

One example of this is our step-by-step page for registering a birth.

The pages within a step-by-step must be numbered to show the correct order.

We include ‘step by step’ within the title of our page to make it clear to the user that there is a process to follow.

Directories

Directories are an online catalogue of services. They are used to group content together, such as contact and location information, to meet a particular user need.

For example, we have a directory to find a car park in Medway. This directory allows the user to filter or search by location or other criteria such as if the car park is long stay or short stay. Each car park record includes a map and important content such as number of spaces and pricing.

The categories a directory can be filtered by and the content included in directory records will differ depending on the nature of the directory.

Each directory has introductory text to explain what it includes and any additional information a service wants to provide.

Before we create a new directory, we’ll make sure we do not already have one similar. We try to avoid too many overlaps and may suggest your content fits into existing directory.

Downloadable documents

We can publish documents to our websites, such as PDF and Word, for users to download when there is not another way to share the information.

We avoid publishing documents where possible. This is because they are less accessible than HTML content and sometimes require a user to have a specific programme on their device to open them.

Instead, a document could be:

a webpage or series of webpages
an online form
a website directory
a social media post
an e-newsletter.

We do not publish the following documents on the medway.gov.uk website:

flyers, posters or newsletters because they have been designed for print and not an online experience
terms and conditions as they should be integrated into webpage content
paper forms, if there can be an online form that is more usable and convenient.

There are times we need to publish documents. For example, when we have a statutory duty, or a document is too long to be converted into an alternative format.

If we agree to publish a document it must pass accessibility checks.

Documents are uploaded into an area called a ‘download’. A document will be placed in the most relevant category on the website. For example, a document related to Council Tax will be placed under ‘Council Tax and benefits’. Each document will be given a short, clear title.

Events

Our events content type lets us create and manage a calendar of events on our website. It includes functionality such as setting up recurring events and featuring an event.

Users can search for events by date or location.

As a minimum each event contains:

a title
start date
end date
location
time
cost
description of the event (including a link to book if needed).

Events can also contain:

duration (for example if the event occurs every week)
a map
images.

News

The news section is where we publish time sensitive articles.

Our press office publishes council news on the medway.gov.uk website. The articles are managed and published in a dedicated area so users can see them all in one place. We promote the top 3 news stories on the homepage and update them regularly.

Users can filter news by category, such as ‘waste and recycling’ or ‘sport centres’.

Users can also look back at news for previous months and years using our archive. We publish news articles for a maximum of 2 years. After this time, we take the articles offline, because they become outdated and can confuse users when they appear in search results.

Announcements

Announcements are intended to inform our users of any emergency or essential information.

For example, we use an announcement on medway.gov.uk to inform people of:

technical problems, for example if our phone lines or forms are down
planned maintenance work, for example if the website or online services are going to be unavailable for a period
if a council venue is closed or event cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances or weather disruption
if there’s a large service change that will affect many customers
if we want to point users to information following a significant event, for example Covid-19 or the death of a royal family member.

When we make an announcement, it appears as a yellow banner with black text at the header of every webpage.

An announcement includes:

a title
a short description (maximum of 200 characters)
a call to action button that links to a webpage with further information.

You can read samples of the text we may include in announcements on medway.gov.uk.