Content for the site: better in advance than never
Many studios say that the content for the site needs to be worked out even before the project development stage, but even the majority of market players do not pay any attention to this stage. Why? Probably due to the fact that most developers and their customers are not aware of the real risks.
The problem of preparing content for the site is concerned with those studios that are trying to systematize their production processes, taking care of the high quality of their work. This topic also worries customers who are faced with the management of the site development process, because often they have a heavy burden of preparing materials on their shoulders.
The state of affairs regarding this issue practically does not change at all. Many step on the same rake over and over again, not understanding the root cause. I want to tell you that the studio and the customer may lose if they do not take care of the preparation of the content prior to the site development process.
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When preparing a design layout, a studio that does not have ready content for the entire project places information on the site’s pages (in particular on the main page) as it sees fit, comfortable and beautiful. It turns out a good layout, he likes the customer and even claim it. But a month later, in the process of preparing the content, the customer suddenly found out that instead of three teasers denoting advantages, he needed to place a text list of 8 items, and the site menu contains not 5 sections that look so well in the horizontal block, but 9, and with long names, and more ... Another customer turned out to be the most important section in the company's services, and he should be on the main page! This disaster for the studio occurs at a time when the site is already laid out and installed a control system. To place this content you have to seriously change the design, which was in no way ready for such a turn of events. The chances that the studio will come out of such a situation with a good design eventually approach zero. This development entails the following item.
Most likely, the studio will not publish the warped work in its portfolio. And if the studio is thinking about its future development, every missed opportunity to publish a quality work seriously reduces its competitiveness. When selecting a contractor, customers carefully study the results of the work of the studio and, if such results are very few and their quality is poor, the studios should not rely on interesting orders.
I will give a simple example: under the definition of “a detailed description of the goods in the catalog,” the studio and the customer meant different things. The studio decided that it was just a large text field in the product card, the customer meant both text and download files, 3D-view, etc. If the studio immediately received all the content from the customer, the issue would have been resolved before the work began, and the corresponding items would appear in the TK.
It often happens that when everything is built up and installed the content management system, it turns out that the customer somehow does not get along with the content ... He doesn’t have time, he just doesn’t know what to write. Often these are customers who are just taking their first steps in business. But even with large companies, there are delays, but mainly because of the complexity of the approvals. In such cases, the studio either receives a visor and from time to time receives crumbs of content from the customer, which is squeaked, or the customer disappears altogether.
The situation described in the previous paragraph makes it either impossible for the studio to receive the final surcharge for its work, or indefinitely postpones this point. Few customers agree to pay for an empty site. For a small, narrowly specialized studio, not to receive a surcharge or to postpone it is a disaster. In the case when the customer for a long time from time to time sends information that often contradicts the intended structure, the studio spends large resources to adjust their own work under the new realities. Performing this additional amount of work, the studio does not receive additional payment from the customer for it, thus working at a loss.
It is unlikely that the studio and the customer will maintain good relations, when the customer demands to place “important information” on one page, then instead of a small additional block of text of three lines on the inner page, put a gallery of completed projects, etc. The studio is likely to think that the customer has gotten so bad and will resist requests by any means, which is likely to lead to conflict. After all, everyone will be sure that the opponent is guilty.
Moreover, the customer himself will be extremely unhappy:
Do you think the customer will recommend such a studio to someone? A good sarafanka is sometimes the main thing on which studios live.
With a long waiting period for the content and its appearance uncontrolled by the studio in small fragments (most often the customer likes to read content as they are ready), the studio cannot plan its work activity well. At any moment, another piece of text may come in, which may require long work by both the designer and the programmer. Most often this leads to poor work organization, reduced productivity and overload of certain specialists. As a result, employee satisfaction and quality of work decreases.
The inevitable aggravation of relations with the studio due to the additional work that has fallen on it is likely to end with a break. Initiator in this case can be any of the parties - it all depends on the actual situation in which the companies are located. In this case, the customer is left with a half-finished site with which it is difficult to do something.
If there was a work schedule that did not take into account or postpone the preparation of content for the last stage, then because of the possible difficulties in coordinating the texts and further alterations of the site, the customer runs the risk of disrupting the deadline. Do not forget that to collect all the necessary information is unlikely to be from one source. We will have to establish interaction between departments, connect PR and marketing specialists, communicate with top managers and, of course, coordinate the results obtained. Few people will be able to predict in advance how long this process will take, but if you do it in parallel with other stages of work, there are very high chances that the site will be ready faster, which, as we already found out above, you will have to refine the information provided. If you prepare the content in advance, the customer can go through all the stages of collecting and approving information without disrupting the deadlines set for the development of the entire project. After all, a stage of indefinite duration will be excluded, and it is possible to calculate the date of the proposed resource launch much more accurately. It also eliminates the waste of time for processing the finished site for the information received.
Already noticed earlier that the process of fitting the content to the already finished design and structure of the site makes it almost impossible to preserve the original appearance. It is highly likely to be successfully corrupted and is unlikely to solve the task assigned to the site. Most likely the site will turn into a set of weakly related information elements, devoid of location logic. If the studio does not have pre-finished content, it can not think through the design of all pages. She is forced to prepare templates for all occasions, and they can not be taken into account. The customer is guaranteed to lose the design of the internal pages and the correct prioritization on the main page.
As you know, the Yandex search algorithm takes into account the user's behavioral characteristics on the site and tries to evaluate the usability and accuracy of the resource. The chaotic presentation of content and the frightening user appearance of the site can negatively affect the performance of the site.
Content preparation is one of the most time consuming and lengthy stages of the entire site development process. Neglect of this fact jeopardizes the success of the entire project and in general its feasibility. The customer and the contractor must understand their risks that arise when the algorithm of work is incorrectly constructed. We need to remember one simple thing: the site and design in particular is just a means of information design, i.e. a kind of shell that simplifies working with it. And if this information is not, then what to make out?
The problem of preparing content for the site is concerned with those studios that are trying to systematize their production processes, taking care of the high quality of their work. This topic also worries customers who are faced with the management of the site development process, because often they have a heavy burden of preparing materials on their shoulders.
The state of affairs regarding this issue practically does not change at all. Many step on the same rake over and over again, not understanding the root cause. I want to tell you that the studio and the customer may lose if they do not take care of the preparation of the content prior to the site development process.
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Studio risks
Spoil your design
When preparing a design layout, a studio that does not have ready content for the entire project places information on the site’s pages (in particular on the main page) as it sees fit, comfortable and beautiful. It turns out a good layout, he likes the customer and even claim it. But a month later, in the process of preparing the content, the customer suddenly found out that instead of three teasers denoting advantages, he needed to place a text list of 8 items, and the site menu contains not 5 sections that look so well in the horizontal block, but 9, and with long names, and more ... Another customer turned out to be the most important section in the company's services, and he should be on the main page! This disaster for the studio occurs at a time when the site is already laid out and installed a control system. To place this content you have to seriously change the design, which was in no way ready for such a turn of events. The chances that the studio will come out of such a situation with a good design eventually approach zero. This development entails the following item.
Do not put work in the portfolio
Most likely, the studio will not publish the warped work in its portfolio. And if the studio is thinking about its future development, every missed opportunity to publish a quality work seriously reduces its competitiveness. When selecting a contractor, customers carefully study the results of the work of the studio and, if such results are very few and their quality is poor, the studios should not rely on interesting orders.
To miss the additional functionality that is not included in the TK
I will give a simple example: under the definition of “a detailed description of the goods in the catalog,” the studio and the customer meant different things. The studio decided that it was just a large text field in the product card, the customer meant both text and download files, 3D-view, etc. If the studio immediately received all the content from the customer, the issue would have been resolved before the work began, and the corresponding items would appear in the TK.
Do not finish the site or get a sign
It often happens that when everything is built up and installed the content management system, it turns out that the customer somehow does not get along with the content ... He doesn’t have time, he just doesn’t know what to write. Often these are customers who are just taking their first steps in business. But even with large companies, there are delays, but mainly because of the complexity of the approvals. In such cases, the studio either receives a visor and from time to time receives crumbs of content from the customer, which is squeaked, or the customer disappears altogether.
Do not get the rest of the payment or work with a big loss
The situation described in the previous paragraph makes it either impossible for the studio to receive the final surcharge for its work, or indefinitely postpones this point. Few customers agree to pay for an empty site. For a small, narrowly specialized studio, not to receive a surcharge or to postpone it is a disaster. In the case when the customer for a long time from time to time sends information that often contradicts the intended structure, the studio spends large resources to adjust their own work under the new realities. Performing this additional amount of work, the studio does not receive additional payment from the customer for it, thus working at a loss.
Get a displeased customer
It is unlikely that the studio and the customer will maintain good relations, when the customer demands to place “important information” on one page, then instead of a small additional block of text of three lines on the inner page, put a gallery of completed projects, etc. The studio is likely to think that the customer has gotten so bad and will resist requests by any means, which is likely to lead to conflict. After all, everyone will be sure that the opponent is guilty.
Moreover, the customer himself will be extremely unhappy:
- website design (it is unlikely that its visitors will appreciate the mess that was formed there);
- site functionality (in most cases, additional functionality appears that has to be done in a hurry and make mistakes);
- terms of development (even despite the fact that they were delayed due to his fault).
Do you think the customer will recommend such a studio to someone? A good sarafanka is sometimes the main thing on which studios live.
Poor organization of labor and overload of studio staff
With a long waiting period for the content and its appearance uncontrolled by the studio in small fragments (most often the customer likes to read content as they are ready), the studio cannot plan its work activity well. At any moment, another piece of text may come in, which may require long work by both the designer and the programmer. Most often this leads to poor work organization, reduced productivity and overload of certain specialists. As a result, employee satisfaction and quality of work decreases.
Customer Risks
Do not get ready site
The inevitable aggravation of relations with the studio due to the additional work that has fallen on it is likely to end with a break. Initiator in this case can be any of the parties - it all depends on the actual situation in which the companies are located. In this case, the customer is left with a half-finished site with which it is difficult to do something.
Disrupt project development timeline
If there was a work schedule that did not take into account or postpone the preparation of content for the last stage, then because of the possible difficulties in coordinating the texts and further alterations of the site, the customer runs the risk of disrupting the deadline. Do not forget that to collect all the necessary information is unlikely to be from one source. We will have to establish interaction between departments, connect PR and marketing specialists, communicate with top managers and, of course, coordinate the results obtained. Few people will be able to predict in advance how long this process will take, but if you do it in parallel with other stages of work, there are very high chances that the site will be ready faster, which, as we already found out above, you will have to refine the information provided. If you prepare the content in advance, the customer can go through all the stages of collecting and approving information without disrupting the deadlines set for the development of the entire project. After all, a stage of indefinite duration will be excluded, and it is possible to calculate the date of the proposed resource launch much more accurately. It also eliminates the waste of time for processing the finished site for the information received.
Get a poor quality result and not reach the goal set before the new site
Already noticed earlier that the process of fitting the content to the already finished design and structure of the site makes it almost impossible to preserve the original appearance. It is highly likely to be successfully corrupted and is unlikely to solve the task assigned to the site. Most likely the site will turn into a set of weakly related information elements, devoid of location logic. If the studio does not have pre-finished content, it can not think through the design of all pages. She is forced to prepare templates for all occasions, and they can not be taken into account. The customer is guaranteed to lose the design of the internal pages and the correct prioritization on the main page.
Negative attitude of search engines
As you know, the Yandex search algorithm takes into account the user's behavioral characteristics on the site and tries to evaluate the usability and accuracy of the resource. The chaotic presentation of content and the frightening user appearance of the site can negatively affect the performance of the site.
Conclusion
Content preparation is one of the most time consuming and lengthy stages of the entire site development process. Neglect of this fact jeopardizes the success of the entire project and in general its feasibility. The customer and the contractor must understand their risks that arise when the algorithm of work is incorrectly constructed. We need to remember one simple thing: the site and design in particular is just a means of information design, i.e. a kind of shell that simplifies working with it. And if this information is not, then what to make out?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/137943/
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