Websites, once they are online, will often need to be moderated. This means someone will have to update the content, as well as monitor the site’s statistics. For a company with a website that allows for a large amount of user-generated content, site moderation also means having someone make sure that the user content is regulated and inoffensive. However, the Internet is a big place and any website that closes down during the night hours of its home country is not going to be very successful. So there is often a need to outsource web design and site moderation.
Definition
Site moderation, an uncommon offer in terms of IT outsourcing, is basically keeping an eye on a website and “cleaning up” as necessary. The exact details of the task will vary based on the nature of the site. For a website that runs on e-commerce, the moderators are usually responsible for keeping the site operating smoothly so people can place orders without too much hassle. In areas of the site that have a lot of user-generated content, moderators must make sure posts are within the company’s acceptability policy. In most cases, at the very least, this means preventing personal attacks between users and removing anything that might be considered offensive.
Benefits
Companies that outsource services such as site moderation to IT outsourcing companies can bring a client business a wide variety of benefits. One of these is 24-hour regulation of site content. A number of large companies maintain areas of their site that are dedicated to user comments, suggestions, and discussions. Moderators present at all hours can help keep things civil, as well as remove comments that may be deemed unacceptable within the set policy.
In terms of making the site more appealing to consumers, moderators can also help. IT outsourcing firms that have experience in moderation know the common methods of tweaking or adjusting design and content to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. This almost means they have an idea how to make the site look interesting, rather than something that looks dull and easy to ignore. Some firms also know how to structure a site such that search engine optimization techniques and text don’t become disruptive to consumers.
Site moderation is generally a minor addition to an Internet marketing campaign. IT outsourcing companies will remind clients that moderation is usually what comes afterwards, and is part of the maintenance of whatever gains were made by the campaign. It isn’t going to keep the client site in the top ranks by itself, but it is part of the toolset.