Plan your website content before designing the layout
Map questions, evidence and ownership before writing pages. A content plan reveals missing information and keeps vague promotional copy out of the site.
“We need a homepage, an About page and a Services page” describes a menu. It does not tell you what to publish. Content planning starts with a more useful sentence: someone arrived here because they need to find something out before making a decision.
A simple spreadsheet is enough to begin. You do not need an approved visual identity to establish what needs explaining. Knowing how much real material exists will help you design pages that can actually hold it.
Collect questions that already reach the business
Review customer questions, quote requests and recurring objections. Remove personal details and look for patterns: who the company serves, where it works, what the service includes, what information a quote requires and how support works.
If there is no history, speak to potential customers. Label assumptions as assumptions. The GOV.UK user research guidance distinguishes observed needs from team assumptions, a useful guard against content driven entirely by internal preferences.
Build a five-column content map
| Field | Hypothetical example |
|---|---|
| Question | Does the studio work with small restaurants? |
| Answer | It offers identity and menu design for this audience. |
| Evidence | Service scope and an approved project example. |
| Destination | Service page with a link to request a quote. |
| Owner | The person who confirms the offer is still available. |
The evidence column often reveals missing work. A promised deadline needs conditions; a testimonial needs permission; a project photograph needs to show what was actually delivered. If the material does not exist, narrow the claim instead of filling the space with impressive language.
Write the answer before inventing the headline
Make the first draft direct. “We design menus, organize categories, check readability and prepare print files” explains more than “we transform dining experiences.” Then improve the rhythm, remove repetition and choose a heading that tells readers what comes next.
Include the small pieces of text in the plan: field labels, instructions, confirmation messages and what happens after submission. A page can describe a service clearly and still leave someone wondering whether the form worked.
Google’s helpful content guidance does not prescribe a word count. Let the answer determine the length rather than adding paragraphs to meet an SEO target.
Review through tasks, not just opinions
Show the draft to someone who did not help write it. Ask them to find a condition, describe the service in their own words and identify the next step. Watch for hesitation. “I like it” is less useful than discovering that nobody can find the service area.
Before publishing, assign owners for contact details, prices, conditions and portfolio entries. Record when to review each item and what should trigger a change. A new phone number or discontinued service should not depend on somebody remembering a webpage months later.
With the map ready, decide between one page and several. Then use editorial design to make the material easy to read.
About the author
Tiago F SantiagoComments
No comments yet
Share a question or an experience related to the article.
Related articles
