Website Content

Every website has a number of pages. Typically these include a home page, a number of pages about the services or products being sold, possibly some informational pages and a contact details page. These form the 'content' of the website; in other words the information which a visitor to the website sees.

Much of the context is simply text. For example, a page describing the business or listing contact information. In addition to this, the content may include:

  • A database. For example, if one is selling property, one may want to store the advertisements in a database so that advertisements can be quickly added and changed. Also, by storing it in a database rather than as a text file, it becomes possible for people to search what is on offer.

  • Various forms. This include search forms (e.g. to search for a specific product or property), a contact-us form, perhaps various calculators (e.g. a bank may have a mortgage calculator form).

  • Shopping Cart. A shopping cart allows visitors to select, buy, arrange shipment and pay for items. By totally automating the purchase process, business costs are greatly reduced.

Content Design Process

The content of the website is the heart of an internet business. If done well, the website will attract visitors and convert them to paying customers with minimal effort. Based on the websites and clients we've worked with over the years, we find that a systematic approach not only produces the best web sites, but also produces them in the shortest time. Although some clients are eager for the website to be active as soon as possible, lack of careful planning tends to delay rather than speed up the production process.

  • Objectives. Carefully consider the possible benefits and objectives of your website. A website is more than an on-line shop, it is an entire business with an image, brand and reputation. If you can't write down exactly what the website should achieve, then you almost certainly postpone design until you have decided.

  • Elements. Having decided on design, you then need to choose elements. In addition to text, you may want a database, a shopping cart, various forms and so on. For the latter items you will likely want to either choose one of the freeware products or pay a small fee to purchase a commercial version. The advantage of freeware is that you don't have to pay for it; the advantage of commercial versions is that they tend to have fewer software issues and better technical support. Of course, you can also hire a designer to write a database or shopping cart for you, but for most people this is far too expensive, especially since there are a lot of off-the-shelf products that are immediately available and of good quality.

    • Ensure that the products you choose not only meet your requirements, but that they can be easily and inexpensively maintained. If you need to add or delete products, can this be done easily and cheaply? Ideally, the product database should have a simple user interface so that you can make any changes yourself (no need to pay someone else to do it) with minimal time and effort.

    • Likewise, if you need to change the information of the website (e.g. contact phone number or EMAIL) ensure that either you can do this yourself, or that your designer will do it for you for a fixed price agreed in advance. Beware designers that produce inexpensive sites but charge excessive prices for minor updates at a later date.

  • Site structure. Next element is to decide on the overall site structure. For example, in addition to the home page, what other pages do you need (e.g. a contact-us page, an about-us page, a legal disclaimer page, various information pages, a links page, etc).

  • Page format. The next item to consider is the format of the pages. It is standard for a page to have a header (e.g. a company logo and perhaps a photo) and a footer. Also, a navigation menu (older sites tended to use vertical menus, but more modern designs typically use horizontal menus). The body of the page typically is divided into three columns, with text in the centre and the side columns used for other items. For example, side columns may have product photos, advertising testimonials, etc. If you look at a few sites on-line, you will see what we mean.

    • If you have a very small site (e.g. less than 20 pages), you will likely use the same page format for each page. For larger sites, you may have 2 or 3 different formats (e.g. one format of information pages, another format for product sales pages).

    • In the old days, each page contained software to format the page. More modern designs are based on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which is a method that allows the standard elements of each page (e.g. header, footer, menu) to be defined in a single file, which each individual page references. To see the advantage of this, image that over time your site grows to over a hundred pages and you decide to make a minor change to the page format or layout. With CSS you make a single change to the central file; without it you have to change every single page, a process which is very expensive and prone to errors. Ensure that your designer uses CSS; it should not cost any more and can save a lot of time and money in the long run.

  • First Draft. Your designer should now be able to produce a demo of your site, so that you can see what it looks like. At this point the pages won't have much information on them, but you can see the page layout and navigation. This allows you to get a feel of what the site will look like, and to make any structural changes before the detailed work begins.

  • Information. You can now provide your designer with the information to go on each page. For example, the contact details that should go on the 'contact-us' page, and the business description that you would like to go on the home page. The designer will take this information and add it to the site.

  • Second Draft. At this point you should have a complete and working website. You can then play with it to make sure that it does everything that you wanted it to do. Of course, looking at a live website you may decide to change the content somewhat. This can be easily done by your designer, until you are happy with the site.

  • Active. Once you are happy with your site, you can start promoting the site to obtain visitors to buy your products.

  • Maintenance. A website is like any business; it changes over time. You may add or delete products, which needs to be reflected on the database. Your phone number or other contact details might also change, requiring your database to be changed. If you have followed the design principles discussed above, these changes should be easy and inexpensive (or free).

Content Design Principles

Your website design should ensure that:

  • Objectives. The website must meet all your business objectives

  • Appearance. The website must project an attractive and professional appearance. You, your business and your products may well be judged largely on the appearance of the website, as the visitor may have little else on which to form an opinon.

  • Maintainability. Areas that change frequently (e.g. products) must have a simple user interface that allows you or your staff to quickly make any changes without technical expertise. For areas that change less frequently (e.g. phone numbers), you should have a fixed-price facility to have the changes made for you. As part of this, your website layout should be CSS based.