The Content is the Hardest Part
There are a lot of things that go into building a website. Choosing a domain name and hosting provider. Documenting business and technology requirements. Mapping out the Information architecture. Developing wireframes and user flows. Creating design systems and mockups. QA and staging and production.
But the piece that’s almost universally overlooked and underestimated in the website design process is the content. The information. The key messages. The images. The links. The videos. The calls to action. You know – the stuff that people actually go to your website for.
Seems crazy, right? But it happens Every. Single. Time. The result? Projects often go over budget and past due as everyone scrambles to figure out how to get the content ready for production. So why does content always get the short end of the stick?
Well, content seems easy. It’s just a bunch of words and images, right? How hard can it be?
Very hard.
In fact, it’s the hardest part.
Content is Who You Are
Most organizations think they know exactly who they are and what they stand for – until you ask them to put it into words. Ok, maybe they have a tagline or a mission statement or a past campaign they can point too. But rarely, if ever, have they gone through the difficult work of fleshing out their key marketing messages and RTBs and how they map to their different audience segments and products.
“But we have a one-sheeter that lists out all of the features and uses of our product. That should suffice, right?”
Wrong. A list of 20 features and use cases isn’t a messaging strategy, it’s just a list. Strategy is as much about figuring out what you don’t want to say as it is what you do want to say. Do they know their customers’ pain points? Do they really understand how their customers benefit from using their product or service? Do they know which features matter to which personas? Are they able to whittle down your key messages to 3-4 primary points?
If not, they’ve got work to do.
Content is a Team Sport
While the number of cooks in your content kitchen may vary depending on the project, there’s no getting around the reality that the words (and images and videos) will likely have to be reviewed and approved by multiple parties before they go live.
From marketing specialists and brand managers to legal staff, medical supervisors, and compliance personnel, you may end up with 4 or 5 people responsible for reviewing and rubber stamping the content before it gets approved. Not only can that become a logistical nightmare, it can also expose the internal conflicts and priorities that inevitably come from siloed departments that rarely communicate.
“Don’t worry. The client is going to handle all of the internal approvals. You don’t need to worry.” – the point at which I start worrying. How many projects have I been on where the only thing holding up a launch date is the approved copy from the client? More than a few.
Clients need help. They need guidance. They need a content workflow that makes it easy to review the latest work and pass it along to the next in line. They need tools that automate all the grunt work and allow them to collaborate in real time using a single source of truth. And they need someone to keep them honest and to moderate conflicts and to always point them back to the strategy.
It ain’t easy, folks.
Content is Hard
Sure, everyone can write. But not everyone can write well – especially when it comes to digital copywriting. That’s not a dig at anyone’s education or skillset, it’s just the truth.
Writing for digital is hard. You need to be well versed in web writing best practices (and how readers consume content online) and you need to understand the language and messages that will resonate with your audience. And if you’re working with a client in a specialized or niche industry, you’re going to have to spend time immersing yourself in the concepts and terminology of their business. All of that takes time and experience.
Another challenge when it comes to writing for websites is that you often have to write within the parameters and restrictions of the wireframes or designs that have been created. Sure, in a perfect “content-first” world we’d have copy fully approved and ready to go before developing the look and feel of the page. But, in my experience, that’s rarely the case.
At the end of the day, there’s more to writing than just the writing part. If you don’t give your writers the time and budget to really dig in and do their best work, you’re going to end up with subpart copy and endless rounds of revisions.
Content Needs Experts
Now that doesn’t mean that you have to be a great writer to contribute to the content. In fact, some of the most important people in the process may not have any formal writing experience at all. They’re often called subject matter experts – and they can make or break your project as much as any line of code. If you really want your content to be as accurate as possible, you’re going to need to call in the SMEs.
The first challenge is to find the right subject matter experts. Sounds easy, right? Well, if you’re working on a website with multiple product or service lines, you may need to track down multiple SMEs. You’ll need to explain to them what you’re doing and why you need their help. And then you’ll need to schedule their time and interview them to get at their knowledge and expertise.
And the toughest part of the whole thing? You may not even have the right subject matter experts. I can’t tell you how many projects I’ve worked on where the right subject matter expert didn’t show up until the project was almost complete.
The moral of the story? Make sure you’ve identified the right SMEs upfront and make sure you’ve baked in enough time for them to be involved in the process.
Content Takes Time
“So, how much time will you need to write all the content?” – someone asking the wrong question.
In most cases, doing the actual writing of the content is simply the final piece of the puzzle. Making sure that you’re delivering accurate, compelling, and effective content requires a well-thought out strategy and game plan – so your copywriters aren’t just shooting in the dark.
Have your provided them with an editorial style guide so they understand the tone of voice of the brand and how the content should reflect that?
Have you made sure they’ve seen all the user research you’ve collected or at least a summary of the informational and emotional needs of your target personas?
Do they know the purpose of each page they’re working on and what information users need to take action?
Do they understand where customers are in their journey when interacting with each piece of content?
All of this strategy work takes time. Unfortunately, many teams don’t account for all the time that goes into creating truly strategic content. Ironically, that often means more time spent at the end of the project trying to figure out why everything isn’t fitting neatly into the designs that are already approved.
At the end of the day, if all you’re giving your copywriters is a bunch of boxes to fill in with words, you aren’t setting them up for success.
Content Deserves Better
I get it. I really do. Content strategy is just one of those things that’s doesn’t fit neatly into the design process of most teams. It’s not a single deliverable or document that can be easily measured and scoped for. There’s a lot of ambiguity involved in the whole thing. But that’s all the more reason to spend the time up front getting it right.
Because your content deserves better.
