Of the many tasks that a client will need to do when building a website, none is more important than getting content planned out, organized, and authored. I suggest that this should be prioritized above the style, look and feel, and features of the new site. We often find that clients get excited about such details early in design discussions, which is great for the energy of the project, but problems and delays in schedule arise when trying to shoehorn content into features or scramble to author content from the ground up. Even when much of the content is just being adapted from an existing site, it will invariably be organized differently or need to be updated and expanded.

I'd like to discuss in a few posts aspects of content conception, organization, and authoring that can help a client to stay on task and deliver on reasonably set timetables. With clear milestones and delivery dates, the client will be more engaged and motivated by the process, and find themselves well on the way to a successful product release.

Part 1: Create a Content Plan and set Reasonable Milestones.

When gathering the specs for a new site, it is natural to jump into discussions of features and page layout. Newsletters, blogs, and widgets for visitors to interact with are essential for a successful site. Focusing too much on features, however, can cause the content for these features to be overlooked, along the time and other resources necessary to author that content. Blogs and articles need regular submissions. Products need thorough descriptions and details, and careful thought as to how they will be presented for customer accessibility. Pages of information about the company or organization, staff, mission statement, etc. need to be authored. If this is the client's first site, they need Terms of Use or Privacy Policy pages, which in turn require legal advice.

All of this content development takes time, and most clients will be surprised at just how much. The job also tends to be assigned to client staff for their "spare time." Instead, we recommend that the job goes to a specific person who works directly with the development team, and ideally who has a chunk of time early in the project to list and author content items. This person should be involved in the design phase of the project so that they have input in how the content will integrate with features.

This dedicated content person should be involved in setting the timelines for when specific content will be available and delivered. Break up large content tasks into units small enough to be accomplished on a short, regular schedule. This helps prevent the client from being overwhelmed by large deliverables and vague deadlines, a combination that often results in missed milestones.

Questions to ask the client:

1. What do you like / not like about your current site?
2. How much time is spent updating content currently?
3. Is someone available to work on content, and how much time can they be available?
4. What content items are new, and is thus likely to take the most time to author?

- Sunny Lewallen, Quality Assurance Manager