by Mtn. Dog Media on April 14, 2015 in Web Design
Making a content outline for your upcoming website is an essential step in the organization and development of your project. Your website content outline will help us understand the structure of your site and the importance of your content. We will also identify special elements of functionality and start thinking about images and graphics while developing this outline.
What is a Website Content Outline?
A content outline is simply an organized list of your pages. Here is a common example:
Home
About Us
Services
Portfolio
Contact
Choosing Your Primary & Secondary Pages
Your content outline could include some drop down pages as well. For example, scroll to the menu bar at the top of the Mtn. Dog Media website. When you hold your house over "services" you'll see three drop down menu options appear:
Services
Web Design
Digital Marketing
Graphic Design
Considering Your Website Goals
To conceptualize your website content outline, ask yourself a few important questions about the goal of your website.
What information are my customers looking for when they come to my website? (Prices, testimonials, services, portfolio images, etc.) This information should be easy to find and should include several call-to-action buttons.
What information will convince my customers to engage with my product? (The history of your business, the quality of your product, it's originality, etc.) This information should support the content above.
What functionality do I intend to employ on my website? (Blog functionality, social media integration, newsletter integration, a contact form, event registration, eCommerce functionality, etc.)
Outlining Page Content & Functionality
Once you have answered those questions, start to create an outline that elaborates on pages and content. Here is an example:
Home: (Promote three services with call-to-action text, client testimonial, portfolio samples, about us call-to-action, contact us)
Services:
Web Design: (Promote web design services, portfolio examples, related blog posts)
Digital Marketing: (Promote marketing services, call-to-action text)
Graphic Design: (Promote graphic design services, call-to-action)
About Us: (About the business, about the individual members)
Blog: (Chronological list of recent blog posts, social sharing integration, newsletter integration)
Contact Us: (Short form)
This would be an ideal type of website content outline to develop and discuss with Mtn. Dog Media. We'll talk to your about your page structure, content and overall usability. This content outline will inform the next phase of our development, as we begin to construct your site, and will help you refine your written copy.
Original Post: How to Make a Website Content Outline
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