Keep adding content. How? By developing a content strategy. This is totally a 30,000 foot view of what content strategy really looks like, but there are others who do a much better job of getting down to the gory details. In a nutshell, figure out a plan that answers these questions: How will you let people know you exist? Will you blog? Will you tweet? What will you say? Can you pull this off using one voice? Have one underlying message?

Having a content strategy is good for many reasons. Readers like to know an actual human is involved with the site. They want to know the thing is maintained, and not just stuck online and forgotten about. Google actually feels the same way; as many times as that search results algorithm changes, fresh content has always ranked high in “must-dos.”

I wrote a post a couple years ago called A Million Little Finish Lines, and now I realize it’s relevant to more than just app development. I’ll spare you the philosophical rant about how it’s applicable to every aspect of life, but I will say this: preparing and implementing your content strategy can get really overwhelming. Setting little goals for yourself helps keep your motivation up, and your sense of accomplishment high.

How you implement a content strategy is up to you (and all the actual experts out there). But there is one piece of advice I’ll toss up. Make your goals realistic and don’t be afraid to adjust them. It’s incredibly easy to miss a deadline (even if it’s self-imposed) and continue slipping after that. If your goal is to post new content twice a week, work for it. But if you find that goal harder to reach than you thought, bring it down to once a week. You won’t feel the stress of having to publish something, or the resentment of posting something good that could have been great with a little extra finesse.

When you explain to your client that you work with a content first approach, you might be met with a raised eyebrow. You might feel like you have to defend your process – but you don’t! Instead, educate them. Convince them. Remind them that their project is going to turn out great, and this is why.

When you invite someone to a Jumpchart project, you have the option to include a personal message with the invitation. We have some default content there that explains what Jumpchart is, and I think a variation of it can be used in this situation, too.

Here’s the content as it stands in Jumpchart now:

You’ve probably heard us mention Jumpchart in bits of our conversations- here’s a little more information on it as we move forward.

When putting together your website, there are certain steps we take to make sure we give you the best finished product possible. The first step is figuring out what order your site’s pages will go in, and what content will go on which pages. The next steps include designing and programming. Jumpchart is an online tool we use specifically for the first step of this process. 

It gives us visual access to what the site will look like from a navigational and content point of view. Jumpchart helps us optimize the layout and content of your site: the backbone. It gives us a really solid foundation to build on.  

This is your invitation to the Jumpchart we created for your site. When you accept the invitation you’ll be able to see progress we’ve made, as well as make your own suggestions in the comments section. You can even edit content on the actual pages. It’s like a meeting room between us- but we don’t all have to be there at the same time!

But with a little tweaking, it can be transformed into an elevator pitch you could use in front of a client anytime, on demand.

Check it out:

As we’re building your site, we’ll follow a time-tested, creative process that helps make sure we give you the best finished product possible. The first step is making sure we have a clear picture of the BIG picture. So we start with what pages will exist on your site, and what content will go where. The idea is to provide a really strong foundation to build on so the design and programming phases go smoothly from square one.

The decision to jump on board with the content first approach is an incredibly important one. I think it’s also important that your clients hop on the bandwagon, too. So hold their hand if you must, but try your hardest to make them see things your way. If they don’t believe in your approach, maybe you should take a minute to evaluate the relationship. If they hired you, the expert, to build them something great, but fight you every step of the way, maybe they’re not worth fighting for.

“To ensure that the marketing copy throughout your whole site is aligned, you should first plan out all the pages you are going to have on your website before you start writing copy. This way your messaging throughout your whole site will portray one message.”

Doing this has more advantages than just maintaining one voice, so I want to take it a step further. Plan your architecture first. Then plan what text goes where. Chances are, you’ll realize you don’t have anything concrete to say on a couple pages and end up eliminating what would have only gotten in the way of your core message. You’ll be trimming the fat before your site’s even overweight…

So it doesn’t matter who you are, what industry you’re in, or what you’re selling: planning content first is a sound way to get better results. Simple as that.

Read the whole article in 7 Simple Copywriting Tweaks That’ll Shoot Your Conversion Rate Up.

Content is Still as Important as it Ever Was
Just because the design changes from screen to screen doesn’t mean what’s being said on them is any less important. The user being able to view the website comfortably is only the first step in retention. After they realize the site will work on their tablet or mobile (which people come to expect anyway these days), they get down to the nitty gritty – the content. Information is the whole reason they’re there in the first place, right? That hasn’t changed.

Content Has to Adapt, Too!
As the screen shrinks, the less the user sees. Which means the words they do see have to be strategically placed, and incredibly purposeful. Your headline has to have more punch. Your intro has to get the point across quickly and effectively. When you only have a small amount of space to prove yourself, every character counts. So obviously this changes the way you plan the content for your site. Or at least it should. I’m not saying to write inverted pyramid style, but you might think through the first couple paragraphs on each of your pages more than you would if you knew you had the entire desktop to make your case.

Eliminate Wordiness
Here at Paste, we’re all about including only what is necessary, and leaving out the fluff. Organizing content for a responsive site might help you do the same thing. If you’re okay with content being so far down on a page that nobody gets to it on a smaller screen size, do you even need it?

As fast as technology evolves, the world is still catching up with the absolute best way to do a responsive site. In fact, a lot of what’s being done right now involves taking existing sites and responsifying them. This process is different than creating responsively from scratch – but the foundation for creating a website is still the same. Plan the content well, and the rest will have a much easier time falling into place.

But there’s something else the “content first” theory brings to the table. Something incredibly valuable, but often forgotten. And when it is forgotten, the end result is that you find yourself clicking about frantically inside a website trying like hell to get out.

Flow.

The transition between website pages should be smooth. Seamless. Melodic, even. But what’s more, it should be expected. In a world where the goal of most advertising efforts is to knock you off your feet and commandeer your attention, you should never be shocked at what’s on the webpage in front of you. You clicked because you’re looking for something, and you expect it to be there when you arrive.

Design and content go hand in hand, but design looks to content to lead the way. Be half a step ahead. Maneuver around a steep drop, or a sinkhole. There’s no better time to work out the kinks than at the beginning of a project. Admittedly, the first thing people see when they come to a site is design – but once the awe of beauty wears off (and it will, eventually), they’re going to read the content. That’s where you either retain visitors, or lose them.

Laying out navigation and content first is a surefire way to lead your visitors down the path of your choice. Anticipate the information they’ll want, and the order they’ll want it in. Figure out what’s most important to them, then make it easily accessible. Develop pages and subpages that will quench their thirst but still leave them wanting more … which just happens to be when you point them to the contact page.

It makes sense to me that content should come first when planning a website. The words and tone tend to dictate the design direction, and how can you do one without the other? Plus, what designer doesn’t love swooping in and icing the cake? They can spend their time actually pushing pixels instead of redoing the nav 8 times because it wasn’t figured out before they started designing. Design follows in the footsteps of navigation and content, but they all cross the finish line at the same time.

Getting started the right way when you’re planning a website is crucial. Nobody likes to be behind before the starting gun even goes off. So why would you push pixels before you know what those pixels are gonna reinforce? Plus, getting your content laid out first is a great way to spend less time revising in the end. Who doesn’t want to be more efficient?

Read the whole article on why content should come first here.