Digital Service Guideline 6: Publish Open, Sharable Content

• Use Standard Metadata

Apply standard metadata to help the public and other federal agencies locate and use your agency’s information and services more effectively and efficiently.

• Syndicate Content

APIs and RSS are both effective ways to meet this Digital Strategy requirement.

• Learn more about APIs
• Learn more about RSS

• Follow Best Practices for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Optimize digital services for search engines. For websites, use robots.txt and XML sitemap to help structure your content for search engines.

• Allow Customers to Search

If appropriate, include a search function on your digital product. For websites, USASearch is free for federal agencies.

• Use Third-Party Sites/Services to Broadly Distribute Content

Third-party sites such as social media sites can help you distribute and repurpose content to large and diverse audiences and more effectively engage with your customers.

• Make Government Services Mobile

Develop applications to make customer-facing services available though mobile devices.

• Use Proven Gaming Techniques to Help People Learn

Consider using gamification to improve your customers’ experience.

• Reward Your Top Content Producers (accessible to federal employees on the OMB MAX wiki)

Offer incentives to encourage your content creators to produce the highest quality products.

» Guideline 7: Ensure Usable and Accessible Digital Products

Content Lead: Mike Kruger
Page Reviewed/Updated: December 6, 2012