Content draws audiences, shapes layout and dictates design needs. It is impossible to make decisions on how best to present content if you do not first know what it is you are presenting.

Content gathering can be a time consuming and tedious process, if you decide to employ a web designer, they will charge you extra for the hours spent creating and gathering content. It is best if you can gather content yourself, after all who best knows you business but you?

There are a number of steps you can take to make content gathering quicker and a less daunting task. These steps are listed below.Think about the types of information you want to put on the site: consider what a prospective customer may be looking for from your business and why they might need your services. Make a list of all the different things you want to show on your website.

Create a hierarchy: much of the information will be easy sorted into groups, for example, product information, information about your business, contact details, etc. It is usually easy to see which information should go together. The information in each group should be ranked in importance, information that most audiences will find useful or interesting going at the top and less important information at the bottom. Think about what you want to see on the homepage, this is usually information that will draw audiences in.

Pages: Each of these groups of information can be labeled and expanded to create a page or a series of pages. The information on products will become a series of product listings on a page or each product with its own page. The information on your business will become the ‘About Us’ section, and so on. The difficulty can be in deciding how many pages you want.

Gather details: It is time to fill in the blanks. Make sure you include all information like phone numbers, email addresses, prices. Start with the home page and write the text you would like to see there. Work your way through the site being sure to include all information you want to see. If you have a web designer they will be able to help you to ensure you haven’t missed anything important.

Pictures, graphics, logos: do not forget to include any graphics, movies, downloads or database information. This is the time to ensure you have everything ready. If you are including a photo gallery order the photos and any captions or alternative text you want displayed. Think about which graphics will best go with which text and where on the page they will best display.

News and Events: Are you going to include a regularly updated news and events section? You need to create the content and discuss update options with your designer. You will need at initial few articles to start the section off when it is launched.