How To Create A Content Map For Your Website

There is a saying in marketing that “content is king”. As the internet continues to grow and become more and more saturated with websites and Google becomes increasingly sophisticated with determining which websites are authoritative and should be positioned at the top of the Google search page, quality content is becoming more and more of a key factor.

The Blueprint to Your Website

A content map can be thought of as the blueprint of your website. It allows you and your team to be organized and visualize what the site will become, but it can also be a valuable tool when working with a web design company to produce your website. When designing a website, many people will focus initially on the visual design of the site, but crafting your content map first will help you understand how to architect the navigation but also understand what content element your visual design needs to incorporate. Your content map should also spell out the various types of content your site will house. This could vary from pages, to videos, to photo galleries to case studies, etc. and this information will help guide the development requirements of your website.

Great Content

Sure, sure most businesses would argue that they do have great content but often times businesses are very self-centered when it comes to the content on their website. To have truly effective and quality content, you first must understand that it’s not about you – and it is ALL about the customer, prospective customer, or in this case the web site visitor. This is a difficult comprehension for most businesses to grasp. It’s difficult to get away from talking about ourselves – after all we think we’re pretty good at what we do otherwise we wouldn’t be in business now would we.

Content Map

To begin mapping out the content for your website, we need to go back to the second phase – Defining the target audience for your website. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Refer back to your target audience definition and map out the content that your audience is seeking. Start very top level, but don’t be afraid of getting down into the details – after all it is information that our website visitors are looking for.

Let’s start at the top most level and categorize your sites content. If you’re a retailer your categories are likely your product types or lines. If you’re a service provider your categories are likely the services your consumers are seeking to solve their problems. From there we’ll map out the various sub-topics under each category, and ultimately down to the product, service or detail page level. Additionally you should consider if your consumers are looking for educational pieces, or thought-leadership content, that they can download or share. These elements can be in the format of a “how to guide” or view the “10 things to consider guide” – all information that is educating your prospective clients on how to value your solution or service offering.

A good rule of thumb here is to create the content your consumer is looking for. Make sure you have an answer to any potential question they may be asking about your product or service, and you should have all your bases covered.