Preparing Your Website Contents
If your organization has already developed a comprehensive brochure or sales literature package, the process of assembling your content could go rather quickly. If, however, your organization has not yet compiled this type of information, you should invest a considerable amount of effort in this process to get the best results from your website.
If you currently have printed materials, I suggest starting there to develop your content. To the extent possible, you will want to begin integrating your marketing message so that your printed materials and web-based materials work well together to present a consistent image for your business.
Drafting new content or additional content requires considerable effort. I typically recommend drafting your materials in an "informal tone". Speak directly to your audience, be brief, easy to understand and "friendly". It's a good idea to review other successful websites prior to starting this process. You'll also want to review your competition.
Finally, you can often find content in the websites of trade organizations and/or suppliers with which you are currently involved. Obviously, you cannot copy materials or otherwise violate copyright protections. However, you should use and review all available Internet resources just as you would with any other reference material in developing what will be your own original work.
Organizing Your Contents
Before you begin, download the Content Organizer by clicking the download link below.
Create separate document for each web page, save the files, use meaningful file names e.g. about.doc, overview.doc etc.
Record the information by using the Content Organizer.
Please do not send drafts. Send me your final version. I'll review your content and will make recommendations for changes (if needed) prior to production. And, it is expected that minor changes are to be made here and there after the web pages are produced. However, if the changes involve inserting brand new text into the entire page, extra changes will be incurred. So, you'll generally want to submit everything at once.
For images, soft copies are always preferred. In absence of soft copies, mail me the hard copy of your photos, which I will scan. If need be, prepare the captions for each photo. You may affix a PostIt Note to the photo to indicate its caption and which web page it goes on.
You may also select and purchase stock images from the web. For best value for your dollars, I recommend istockphoto.com.
Once you have selected the images you want, indicate the image numbers in the content worksheet. I will purchase and download the images on your behalf, and place it on the web page indicated. Purchased images will be billed separately.
If you would like me to find and select photos for you, I can do so at the standard hourly rates.
Submitting Your Contents
Once you are done compiling your website contents, zip up your files and send over by email.
Please check your file size, if it is too large to be sent by email (above 2MB), I can set up an directory on the server for direct upload.
Download
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content_organizer.doc | 80.50 KB |
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