Period Three Content Gathering Example Tools for Clients

Problem: Clients don't know where to start with content

Content in web client work can be, and will be the what makes the project a success, or a failure. We've found over time that in many projects, content is talked about at first in order to get a site map for a build - but it can be forgotten about, usually until 2 weeks before the site is due to launch... and then 2 weeks after it was supposed to launch.

So I developed a system for our clients to use to start prepping content on the front end of projects. Sometimes the client does this work by themselves, and then we meet to work through it - sometimes we lead them through everything, and they never see these tools / documents. Either way, we use these tools for each project in some way in order to flesh out the content, to begin and complete the Information Architecture. 

Click on the images below to get a more detailed view of my work.

Website Content Outline


This is a word document that helps the client (and me) organize either current or new copy / content. 

Sitemap Spreadsheet


This is a spreadsheet that that extracts the navigation from the Website Content Outline. Additionally - if needed - this Sitemap Spreadsheet will morph into a Detailed Content Map, pointing out all content elements on each page (that flows from and to wireframes) 

Reference Website


 We realize that our clients don't build websites daily like we do - so I built a quick reference website that shows where each of the major elements from the Content Outline and Sitemap Spreadsheet would fall on a real page. This usually helps the client see the importance of their content in the entire web design process.