Content Strategy
What will your new website’s pages and buttons say?
Most of the delays in nonprofit website project timelines is due to delays in content development. So start your content development as soon as you and your vendor have completed #5 Site Map.
Use the information from #1 Know What You Have & What You Want to Have and #4 Discovery to craft relevant, compelling content for your new website.
Refer back to your list of keywords from #4 Discovery and include those words in the content for this website.
Use everyday words when writing your content. Pretend you are writing a letter to your grandmother. Check your content with this tool to see if you are using the most popular words in the English language: http://splasho.com/upgoer5. If you feel the urge to use niche terminology, set it aside and use it in your next grant proposal.
Generate new and personal content by inviting staff, board, volunteers and donors to contribute their stories of why they invest in your organization.
Proofread
Is the content ready to be published?
Consider asking a few trusted colleagues or friends to proofread the site’s content. You and your project team will probably be deep in the trenches at this point in the project and fresh eyes will be a welcome asset.
Transfer
Who will transfer the content to the new website?
Either your project team or your vendor can transfer the content into your new site’s content management system.
If your vendor transfers the content, it will relieve your team of the task. But s/he may miss some key error or opportunities for improvement.
If your project team transfers the content, you will have to do some light website training before starting the task.
Schedule
How much time will you need to transfer content?
Don’t underestimate how much time it will take to create, edit and transfer the site’s content.
Allocate at least a week in the project schedule for content transfer alone.
This is an excerpt from the 2013 version of The Nonprofit Website Project Handbook.
