Step-by-step guide for creating a new content page from scratch in the CMS.
This guide covers the basics of creating a new page for your website or section page (using the landing page content type) on vic.gov.au.
It covers:
search engine optimisation (SEO) tips
the different content templates in the CMS
the mandatory and optional components of the landing page template
how to format your text
how to add images and documents to your page
what you should do once your page is published.
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If this happens to you, try opening another tab and logging back in on that tab. Then return to the tab you were working on and you may be able to save the page.
Start with search results
The majority of our website traffic comes from search engine results, so if your content is not optimised it won't be found and won't be read.
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Only use acronyms in your title if there is evidence that the acronym is commonly known, such as ranking highly in search results and on Google Trends.
Choose your content template
To create a new web page in the CMS, you can either:
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For specific instructions on when and how to use other content templates, read our guides:
We also have guidelines on 'content types' that don't have a specific CMS template – they would just use the landing page template:
Header tab
Page title
Enter a unique, SEO-focused page title. This will display as the page title on the live website. Your title should be between 30 and 80 characters and contain keywords.
Summary
This is the meta description text that is shown on Google search results as well as on promotion or navigation cards.
Aim for between 10 and 15 words (or a maximum of 150 characters, including spaces)
Make it meaningful – don’t just copy and paste the first sentence from the page content. The summary should describe the content of the page using keywords that will help people find your content.
Use Google Trends to see what keywords people are using most in searches.
Be specific – if the page is about an application, service, form or process, specify which one and what it does.
Introduction text
The text you add in this section appears under your page title on your published page. Use one or 2 sentences to summarise the purpose of the page.
Header links
You can add up to 6 links in this section that the user may find important. They are displayed alongside the page title on the introduction banner.
Feature image
Feature images don't display on the page you're updating. Instead, they appear in any promotion cards or navigation cards linking to the page.Resize the image for your page to be 818 pixels wide x 496 pixels high (keep this dimension proportional)
Before you upload an image, check your image has been resized correctly. Visit: Image ratios, sizes and component use.
Click Select images.
Browse and select your image from the ‘Library’ tab if uploading an existing image.
If you're uploading an image for the first time, click on Add image, then Choose file and browse your computer for your image.
Complete the Name field. Make the name of the file meaningful to the image, so it can be easily found using Media search. If it’s a photo of a well-known person, you should include their name and position in the title.
Complete the Alternative text field for your image. This is a description of the image for users who can’t see the image; it’s an important accessibility requirement. If the image is simply decorative, add 2 double quotes in the alt text field; this tells the screen reader to skip it.
Click Save image.
Page campaign
Create or add a campaign block
If you've already created a campaign block, start typing the name of your custom block component to display your campaign.
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Secondary campaigns display after the content area, just above the page footer. They span the full width of the content area.
Page content
This is where you add the main body copy and components to your page.
Table of contents
Tick the box if you'd like to add a table of contents to the top of your page that includes anchor links that jump to any H2 headings, as well as H3 headings if you select that option.
Content components
Select 'Add Component' to begin adding content.
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Show table of contents
Basic text
Navigation cards
Call to action feature.
Add images and documents
There are some important rules for using images, image galleries and downloadable files.
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only added if they serve a purpose (not merely decorative)
cropped and resized to the appropriate dimensions
named appropriately and descriptively
accompanied by alt text (unless descriptive).
Check our guidelines on adding images, files, audio and videos.
Sidebar
Site-section navigation
Ticking this box displays the site section navigation menu, visible on the right side of the screen on your published page.
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For more information, read our Site-section navigation guide.
Related links and What's next
These will be unticked by default. Keep these unticked if you have no content in them, otherwise a heading will be displayed on the page.
For more information, read our Related link and What's next guide.
Contact
Read the Adding a contact block guide.
Social sharing
This allows users to share the page on social media. It defaults to 'On' but can be turned off. We recommend keeping it on.
Topic
All content is matched to a predefined topic so we can automatically display key information across relevant areas. Topics also help people to discover and browse content that is relevant to their interests.
Check out the 'topics and tags' page to see the list of topics you can choose from.
Tags (content audience)
Tags are not mandatory for most content pages, but they can help users discover and browse content. If you choose to add tags, you can choose 1 to 3 from the tags list. You can select your department as a tag to show the content belongs to your department.
The list of current tags can be found on the 'topics and tags' page.
Customised header tab
Here you select the type of header you want for your page. Unless a variation has been designed or signed-off by a UX designer (in conjunction with the content team), leave this as the default option of 'default appearance.'
Header style
Default appearance: Displays your page with the page title and introduction text.
Full-width background image: Add an image to the top of your page. For instructions on adding a full-with image, visit our Hero banner page.
Corner graphics: Allows you to customise the top and bottom corner graphics of a page. These can only be changed by the content team. The graphical image will not display when a hero image is added.
Call to action banner: Allows you to add a hero banner under the page title and introduction banner.
Logo
This is a small logo that will appear above the page title. Only use this when working with a UX designer or the content team.
Header extras tab
Under this tab you can add an Introduction banner. This banner will appear under the page title and introduction section on the published page. For more information, see our introduction banner guide.
Background colour
White is used for most pages and will be the default option selected. Change this option to grey if your page has a lot of images and navigation links and not much text, such as a homepage.
Department/agency
Your department/agency should be selected by default. If what's showing isn't correct, choose the right one from the available options in the dropdown menu.
Metatags (for translated content)
You won't need to update most of these fields. An exception is if you're publishing a page in a language other than English.
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A list of language codes is available in the Translated content guide.
Sites
Site
The site and/or site sections that you create content for should already be selected, but check if you need to untick any that aren't relevant (such as the CMS training space).
Preview and share draft content
Once you've saved a draft of your page you can preview what it will look like as well as share a link to this preview with others.
For step-by-step instructions read the preview and share draft content guide /wiki/spaces/SHCD/pages/2316108120.
Proofread your page
Before submitting your page for approval, check our publishing checklist page to ensure your content follows best practice.
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search engine optimised (SEO) title and summary
structuring content from most important to least important
linking emails and phone numbers
heading structure on the page
creating HTML content and avoiding PDFs and Word documents
navigation and menus
creating accessible images, documents, video and audio content.
Submit your page for approval
Once you're happy with your content, change the page status to Needs Review, enter comments in the Change request detail field and select Save. Any notes or comments will be saved into the Revisions tab.
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We will publish your page if it meets publishing best practice. Alternatively, we will notify you if further changes are required before the page is published.
How will people find your page?
If you have added a new page to an existing site section, you should consider adding links to your page:
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When you add a link using the automated 'internal link' functionality in the CMS, this means the link won't break if the page is relocated or the title or URL is changed. The internal link option can display options for any page housed in the http://content.vic.gov.au CMS.
Measure, monitor and maintain
Depending on your site and department or organisation, various online tools are available to measure your page's success. For example, DPC uses:
'Was this page helpful?' user feedback
heatmaps and surveys on Hotjar
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Google Search Console.
How to interpret feedback and data
Find out how to action user feedback in our blog post: 3 simple ways to understand your user without talking to them
Refer to our Measure how content performs digital guide
Join a community of practice
All Victorian Government staff can access groups on the Innovation Network.
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WoVG Google Marketing Platform 360
Single Digital Presence Community of Practice
Regular content updates
Pages should be checked and updated at least every 6 months.
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