Client: Augusta Health
Web UX Copy, Content Strategy
Overview
Augusta Health is a major health system nestled in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Convoy, a design-forward web development agency, was tasked with a complete overhaul of the Augusta health site, upgrading both design and content. Mutti joined the team to provide content strategy and copywriting services.
Goals
In addition to giving the site a new look and feel, Augusta Health also wanted to update the copy to better articulate what makes them unique—the combination of world-class care and small-town hospitality. They also wanted to ensure all copy would be readable and accessible to best serve their local communities.
Content goals included the following:
Ensure content is clear, well-organized, and informative
Write for a 5th-grade reading level
Infuse copy with Augusta Health’s brand voice–warm, compassionate, and community-oriented
Discovery
An audit of the Augusta Health site quickly revealed some key issues:
Inconsistent voice and tone
Overly complex and technical copy
Redundancies and outdated content
Unclear navigation and information hierarchy
Long strings of sub-pages added ad hoc
Samples from old site:
Approach
Augusta Health is located in a rural area of Virginia primarily populated by blue-collar, low- and middle-class families. Considering the needs of this community was essential throughout the content development process. That included reworking and contextualizing complex, technical copy and making information more easily accessible.
We created a number of user stories to guide the content creation process and keep audience needs at the forefront. For example:
As a member of the community dealing with a health issue, I want to be able to quickly and easily make an appointment, so that I can see a doctor and get better soon.
As an existing patient, I want to better understand my condition and treatments so that I feel less anxious and more empowered.
Content Development
All copy docs were created using Google Docs. This allowed the client to easily review drafts and route questions to subject matter experts, as needed. We used Readable to regularly assess the reading level of our drafts. We used Google Sheets to track the overall content development process. Convoy handled content entry.
Sample Copy from Site
Helping you get back to doing what you love.
Pain management is an on-going process, and we can’t do it without you. We look forward to working closely with you to reduce your pain and help you return to the activities you have been missing.
Providing around-the-clock care during your stay.
Hospitalists are physicians who devote their practice to caring for hospitalized patients. Patients are typically referred by primary care providers, Emergency Department doctors, or other physicians at the hospital. We provide care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (including holidays).
Results
The project was highly successful. Mutti provided over 265 pages of copy for the Augusta Health website and was able to achieve the following:
Ensured the Augusta Health brand voice was consistent throughout, adding positivity, warmth, and compassion to the copy
Broke up long blocks of copy with headers, bullets, and call-outs to make pages scannable
Wrote in plain English, used shorter sentences, and contextualized technical information about conditions and treatments to be more easily accessible
Introduced a clear hierarchy of information with the most important information towards the top of the screen
Added clear CTAs (calls-to-action)
Flagged outdated content for removal
Reduced copy and page counts overall