Planning Your Website's Content
Posted on 09/05/2018 at 10:08 AM
Planning content for your website creation or redesign can be daunting, but Global Reach has a few pointers to help you break that process down.
Let’s define what we mean by content. According to technopedia:
Web content refers to the textual, aural, or visual content published on a website. Content means any creative element, for example, text, applications, images, archived e-mail messages, data, e-services, audio and video files, and so on.
Now, let’s discuss some key considerations which your team should make as you embark on the process!
Plan on spending a lot of time with content creation.
One common mistake people make in the content-planning process is misjudging the time it takes to create, plan, edit, retrieve, or even approve your content! Get started early and don’t procrastinate content generation with the idea that you’ll be able to crank out superb content in the final hour!
Recycle your old content.
You know the saying: “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!”
If you are working on a redesign, as opposed to starting from scratch, you have the option to reevaluate, revise, and reuse your old content! Don’t feel as though you have to reinvent the wheel just to get better results from your webpage. Sure, there may need to be considerable revisions, but that is better than having to start brainstorming new content from scratch.
Define your audience.
This seems like a no-brainer, but few really take the time to consider their audience’s specific needs as they go about their content planning. However, if you are able to put yourself in your audience’s shoes, and write content that meets their specific needs, you will better achieve your goals, whether that’s sales, leads, or pageviews. For instance, you would not use the same template for a webpage meant for kindergarteners that you would for a 40-year-old prospective client. This plays into word choice, animated/interactive features, menus, and even color schemes.
Determine your goals.
This is a huge step that may not receive much thought initially. Goals tend to be monitored throughout, and towards the end of a project or mission. Achieving goals can be very rewarding, but you must set them first!
Do you want your users to make a transaction on your website? Do you want your users to download songs or images? Do you want your users to spend a lot of time reading and interacting with blog posts? These are all things you may want to consider when sitting down to plan content.
Compose with Google in mind.
If you want to perform well in the search engine machine, you need to start thinking like one. If your content doesn’t match your business, Google will penalize you and your rankings will go down; making your website obsolete.
Be sure that your services are clearly outlined. Google is similar to a human in the sense that if it cannot find what it is looking for, it will stop searching at a certain point. Your goal in content generation is to not reach that point. In addition to services, be sure to outline certain products, who you are as a business, your location, and/or how to contact you, if applicable.
There are a plethora of other elements you need to consider when planning your content, but we hope these pointers give you a boost for your planning process.
Content planning can be a beast, but we are here to help! Global Reach has teams qualified to assist you on this endeavor. Reach out today to begin the content planning process for your next project.
Categories: Content Marketing and Sales