Content development & why it shouldn't be overlooked

Content Development is a huge part of website creation. Content Development is the process of creating all the information on your website. It can involve everything from research and analysis to the creative design, writing, and editing processes, through formatting, organizing, and publishing the resulting content on your site. So, to say the least, Content Development is important. 

So, why should you care about Content Development?

Content Development is your customer experience, it is your digital front desk. Content Development increases your online visibility through benefiting the website’s SEO. It is easy to throw a visually attractive website together, however, it is challenging to create clear, concise, content. The business’s services must be clearly defined—what is the website’s purpose? Content Development is not a one shot deal either, it has to be updated every few years - or whenever something about the company changes. There is nothing worse than looking into a company you would like to hire and see “Copyright © 2012”. How accurate is that information? Do they still offer the service you are interested in? Has the package changed since then?

Content Development is more than just opening up a word doc and writing what you think your customers should know about your company. But it is so much more than that. Your business buyer persona, mission statement, vision statement, and your brand positioning all play a big role in your Content Development. Remember, the brand’s personality, values and tone must be present in your content.

How could you start the Content Development process? 

Brainstorm

Concepts begin with an idea but also must have purpose. Establish the purpose of your web content development plan. 

Why are you creating a new website?

What information needs to be on your website?

Plan/organize 

This is where the magic happens. Decide what web content you absolutely need in order to achieve your goals, and then build that into a plan. Remember, people don’t go to a service/ecommerce website to read essays. Only include the most important information.

Add to your website

Put your concept and plan into action! This is where you hand the content off to a designer or start imputing your written work onto your site. See how the text leads the viewer through the site. Are there any spaces where the website user might not know where to go next or what to do next? Now is the time to ensure the user experience lines up with what the content is telling the website user.

Launch/Publish

After months of work, review and review again. It’s time to show the world!

Maintain/Update

The work isn’t done yet! Making updates and proactively managing your website content is critical to the success of your site. Make a plan to audit your website (review all pages) once a year. Don’t forget to check your analytics to see how the content is performing. This will tell you what content is working and what content needs to be reworked.

Content Development is the ‘meat and potatoes’ of your website. It is the best way to get your brand’s message out to potential and repeat buyers. It is a big task, but a task that is well worth the effort. Need help with Content Development or would like to hire the pros to do it for you? Contact Sunday Roast!