The Essential Team for a Successful Redesign Project: Content Strategy and Content Entry
In our ongoing series about the essential team members for a successful website redesign project, we now turn our focus to the Content Strategy and Content Entry Phase. This phase is crucial for ensuring that your website's content is engaging, consistent, and ready for launch. Planning early and starting this phase shortly after the requirements phase kickoff can prevent common delays and ensure a smooth project timeline.
The Importance of Early Planning in Content Strategy
Content is the backbone of any website. It informs, engages, and converts visitors. Therefore, planning your content strategy early in the project is vital. Here are some key aspects to consider:
1. Consistent Voice and Quality Writing
Purpose: To ensure that all content on the website reflects a unified voice and meets high-quality standards.
Key Roles:
- Content Strategists: Develop the overall content strategy, including tone, style, and voice guidelines.
- Content Writers: Skilled writers who can create engaging and consistent content across the website.
- Editors: Ensure all content is polished, free of errors, and aligned with the content strategy.
Responsibilities:
- Developing Guidelines: Content strategists create detailed guidelines for writers to follow, ensuring a consistent voice.
- Content Creation: Writers produce new content or revise existing content based on the guidelines.
- Quality Control: Editors review the content to maintain quality and consistency.
2. Early Content Creation and Migration
Purpose: To avoid delays in the project timeline by starting content creation and migration early.
Key Roles:
- Project Managers: Oversee the content creation and migration process, ensuring deadlines are met.
- Content Migration Specialists: Handle the technical aspects of migrating existing content to the new platform.
- CMS Specialists: Ensure that the content is correctly entered and formatted within the CMS (e.g., Umbraco).
Responsibilities:
- Content Inventory: Conduct an inventory of existing content to identify what needs to be migrated, updated, or created from scratch.
- Content Creation: Begin creating new content as soon as the requirements phase kicks off.
- Content Migration: Migrate existing content to the new CMS, ensuring it is correctly formatted and aligned with the new design.
The Process of Content Strategy and Entry
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Kickoff and Planning
- Initial Meeting: Conduct a kickoff meeting with all key participants to review the content strategy and plan the content creation and migration process.
- Timeline Development: Create a detailed timeline for content creation and migration, ensuring it aligns with the overall project timeline.
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Content Creation and Review
- Develop Guidelines: Content strategists develop guidelines for tone, style, and voice.
- Write Content: Writers create content based on these guidelines.
- Review and Edit: Editors review the content for quality and consistency.
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Content Migration and Entry
- Inventory Existing Content: Identify all existing content that needs to be migrated.
- Migrate Content: Use content migration specialists to transfer existing content to the new CMS.
- Enter New Content: CMS specialists ensure that new content is correctly entered and formatted within the CMS.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
- Starting Late: Delaying the start of content creation and migration can lead to significant project delays. Begin this phase as soon as possible.
- Lack of Coordination: Ensure clear communication and coordination between content creators, strategists, and developers to avoid misalignment.
- Inconsistent Voice: Use detailed guidelines and consistent review processes to maintain a unified voice across all content.
Conclusion
The Content Strategy and Content Entry Phase is crucial for a successful website redesign. By planning early and starting content creation and migration shortly after the requirements phase kickoff, you can avoid common delays and ensure that your website’s content is engaging, consistent, and ready for launch. Skilled content strategists, writers, editors, and migration specialists are essential for this phase, ensuring that the content aligns with the overall project goals and user needs.
In our next article, we will explore the Post-Launch and Maintenance Phase, discussing the roles and strategies needed to keep your website running smoothly after it goes live. Stay tuned as we continue to outline the roles and skills needed at each stage of a successful website redesign project.
