A content review should leave an auditable answer to three questions: what was checked, who accepted it and which issues remain. “Looks good” is not a review record. Use the following passes independently so a polished sentence does not distract from a weak source or broken next step.
Pass 1: purpose and audience
- The page answers one named audience question.
- The intended action exists and is described accurately.
- The content does not claim knowledge about an audience that the source material does not support.
- The page fits the approved brief or records why it differs.
Pass 2: claims and sources
Mark every statement that a reader could reasonably challenge: a number, date, comparison, superlative, current status, quotation, result or description of another organisation. Attach a source and review date. Prefer the organisation responsible for the fact. A search result snippet, social post or repeated third-party statement is not automatically reliable evidence.
| Claim | Source owner | Checked | Freshness trigger | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exact statement | Responsible publisher | Date and reviewer | Policy, product or data change | Keep, qualify, remove or block |
Replace unsupported outcome language with an observable fact. If a result is measured, include the metric definition, method, comparison and date. Do not infer causation from a simple before-and-after pattern.
Pass 3: structure and plain language
- The title and opening identify the page’s actual subject.
- Headings describe the sections that follow.
- Paragraphs lead with the important point.
- Links describe their destination instead of saying “click here”.
- Acronyms are expanded on first use.
- Instructions appear in the order a person performs them.
Read the page aloud. Remove filler, hidden conditions and sentences that contain more than one decision. Plain language does not mean removing necessary detail; it means making the relationship between the detail and the task easy to follow.
Pass 4: accessibility and interaction
Check heading order, keyboard navigation, visible focus, link purpose, form labels, error messages, colour contrast and meaningful text alternatives. Verify at a narrow viewport and with text enlarged. Automated tests can identify some defects, but they do not replace a manual task check.
Pass 5: privacy, consent and security
- Only necessary personal data is requested.
- The stated processing purpose matches the actual flow.
- Tracking and consent behaviour matches the documented configuration.
- Keys, internal URLs, personal details and unpublished records are absent.
- Forms have a real owner and tested delivery route.
Do not publish a contact or analytics flow because its interface looks complete. The responsible owner must verify the data route and applicable requirements.
Pass 6: technical and editorial ownership
Open all links, verify the canonical URL, title, description, one primary heading and relevant structured data. Check the page without being signed in. Record the author or content owner, reviewer, approval date, next review trigger and rollback or correction route.
Review record
- Page and version reviewed.
- Brief or purpose.
- Claims checked and sources used.
- Accessibility and interaction checks completed.
- Privacy or specialist review status.
- Open issues and named owners.
- Approval decision, reviewer and date.
- Next review trigger.
After release, use the measurement plan and record any deliberate change in the experiment log.