Content is king
I have been running many web projects over the past decade and there seems to be one common element that has the potential to delay a project…content!
It doesn’t matter if the client is big or small, many of them seem to under estimate how long content takes to create and then populate.
I’ll often guide my clients to make sure they have their content written up and images prepared either before or while we are going through the website build stage, even if it’s just in a Word document. This helps speed up the content population process.
So here’s a quick check list to help anyone who is tasked with preparing content for a website:
- Work out the base website structure, a sitemap is a useful way of laying this out.
- Think about the main heading and any core sub-headings that clearly define the content page; don’t forget to try and get some keywords in for SEO.
- Draft up the text and proof read it; now spell-check it and make sure the copy is accurate. If possible, have someone else do a final check.
- Once you have the final copy ready, move on to the next page until you are finished.
- Prepare any images that will accompany the text and make sure they are optimised for web.
- You should now be ready to populate your website content once it’s ready for you.
Additionally, if your website is an eCommerce site, then you need to make sure you have all the product images and information ready. This could involve taking photos, editing the photos to have a plain white background, exporting product data from your accounting system, etc.
So make sure you plan these vital parts in your timeline as this is just another element that requires planning and resourcing.
Here’s to your successful web project!