If you’re publishing content like a news story, event or blog post, it might not need much user testing. But if you’re writing content that’s part of a longer journey – such as a homepage, registration form or instructions, you should always test it with users.

This will help us understand more about:

• The language used – how well do users understand it?
• The structure of content on the page – do users find everything they need or expected on this page?
• The structure of content across the site – can customers easily find what they need when navigating the site?
• The user journey – where do they get stuck, and could content (including microcopy) be the cause or solution?

Types of user testing

There are lots of different ways to test content.

• A usability test – this is where you get participants to look through the content you’ve created – usually in context of a design or wireframe – to give feedback about what they’re seeing. You can do this in person or by video recording.
• A highlighter test – this is where you get users to read a piece of content and highlight everything that makes them feel more confident about the service in one colour, and everything that makes them feel less confident about the service in another.
• A cloze test – this is where you remove certain words in a piece of content, and get users to fill in the blanks. This tests how well they understand the content and the context.

It’s important to test content with accessibility in mind. This could include testing content with people who don’t speak English as a first language, people who use screen readers and people with cognitive disabilities.