Preparing Your Content Before a Website Project

Design and development can only move as fast as the content allows. Waiting for page text, product details or photos is one of the most common reasons website projects stall. Preparing content early makes the whole project faster and the result better.

Make a content inventory

Start with the page list from your plan. For each page, note what content it needs and whether you already have it, need to update it or need to create it from scratch. A simple spreadsheet works well.

Write for your visitors

• Lead with what matters most to the reader, not company history.
• Use plain language and the words your customers use.
• Keep paragraphs short and use headings that describe what follows.
• Give each page one clear next step.

First drafts don’t need to be perfect. Rough text gives the designer real content to work with, which is always better than placeholder text that hides layout problems.

Gather images early

Collect your logo in its original, high-quality format, along with product photos, team or premises photos and any brand guidelines. Make sure you have the right to use every image — photos found online are usually protected by copyright.

For online stores: product data

Product information takes longer than most people expect. For each product, prepare the name, description, price, variants such as size or colour, stock levels and photos. Keeping it in a consistent spreadsheet makes it much easier to import.

The details that are easy to forget

• Contact details, opening hours and addresses.
• Delivery, returns and privacy policies.
• Social media accounts you want linked.
• Who should receive form enquiries.
• Login details for your domain, hosting or existing website.

Decide who owns each piece

Content often stalls because nobody is sure who is responsible for it. Assign each page or item to one person, even in a small team, and agree a date for a first draft. One person should also have the final say on wording, so drafts don’t circle between several reviewers indefinitely.

Organise files so they are easy to hand over

A tidy shared folder saves hours during the build. Name files so their purpose is obvious, keep one folder per page or product group, and remove old versions once a draft is approved.

• Name images descriptively, for example “shop-front-evening.jpg” rather than “IMG_4821.jpg”.
• Keep the final approved text in one document per page.
• Mark anything that still needs approval, so it isn’t published by mistake.