How to Create A Website Content Plan

A website content plan is crucial for captivating your audience, increasing engagement, and enhancing your online presence. It serves as the foundation for success in the digital space.

At Publish Profitably, we’ve created website content plans for SaaS companies, entrepreneur personal brands, non-profits, and a variety of other industries.

In this article, we'll go over the necessary steps for developing a website content plan that aligns with your business goals and provides your website visitors with valuable experiences. Whether you're launching a new website or updating an old one, this guide will equip you with the knowledge needed to create a solid content plan.

“Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing but costs 62% less.” — Content Marketing Institute

By the time you’re done reading our blog, you will be prepared to release content that ranks, can be scaled, and provides real value to your audience.

So without further ado, let’s go into depth and help you take action confidently.

What is a website content plan?

A website content plan is a document that lays out the objectives, game plan, and methods for producing and handling content for a website. It's an essential resource for any company looking to leverage its website to attain its business targets.

To create an effective website content plan, you should consider these elements:

Goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your website content
Audience: Identify your target audience and their needs and interests
Content formats: Decide on the types of content you will create, such as blog posts, articles, infographics, or videos
Content calendar: Plan when you will publish your content
Promotions: Consider how you will promote your content, such as using social media, email marketing, or paid advertising
Measurement: Determine how you will measure the impact of your website's content marketing.

To align your website content with your business goals and reach your target audience, it is advisable to create a content plan for your website. This will enable you to monitor the outcome of your content marketing strategy and make necessary changes accordingly.

Benefits of a website content plan

Creating a website content plan provides numerous benefits. Some of the most significant ones are outlined below:

Attract more visitors to your site by offering them useful information.
Enhance your website's ranking on search engines by providing content that is relevant to your target audience.
Establish your company as a thought leader in your industry, thereby increasing brand awareness.
Encourage visitors to contact you for more information and to generate leads.
Increase sales by positioning yourself as a trusted advisor through thought leadership.

What content should I include on my website?

The website content you need to include will depend on your business and audience. Nevertheless, there are some essential types of content that every website should have, including:

Home is the initial page that visitors will land on when they visit your website. Therefore, it should create a favorable first impression. It should contain a brief but definite summary of your business, testimonials, and links to other significant pages on your website.
The About Us page should furnish more details about your business, such as your past, your objective, and your principles.
The Contact Us page is where site visitors can add their contact information, including their address, phone number, and email address. Additionally, you can consider incorporating a contact form for ease of communication (it’s a good idea to also feature an info field to gather the purpose of the communication).
The Services page is to showcase your products or services. It is recommended to have a page that provides a comprehensive list of them. The page should contain details about each product or service, such as its price, unique features, and benefits.
The Blog is an excellent place to share updates and information about your business while also engaging with your audience. You can leverage your blog to discuss industry happenings, provide recommendations and guidance, or narrate stories about your business.
A Portfolio is recommended to display your work, especially if you are a professional creative. The page should consist of high-quality images or videos of your work, along with brief descriptions of each piece.

In addition to these pages, you might also want to include a variety of other content types, such as:

Case studies are an excellent way to demonstrate to potential customers and clients how your products or services have helped other businesses.
eBooks are another ideal medium to share your experience and expertise and to engage your audience with informative yet strong storytelling.
White papers are in-depth reports that offer valuable insights and information about a specific topic.

To create effective website content, consider your target audience and their interests. Providing them with valuable and high-quality content can help attract new customers, build relationships with existing ones, and grow your business.

How to create a website content plan

This section will guide you through the essential steps of creating a well-structured content calendar for your website. These steps include conducting audience research, aligning content with business goals, and mapping out themes and topics. By following these steps, you can ensure consistency, organization, and strategic content distribution on your website.

1) Determine your content goals

Without a target, creating a website plan is a bit like shooting an arrow from horseback while blindfolded in the dark. You might hit something, but the odds of hitting the bull’s eye aren’t great without clearly defined content goals. For starters:

Clarify your website's purpose, and identify your business goals. Do you aim to boost brand awareness, generate more leads, or drive sales? Once you have defined your business goals, set content goals that align with them.
When creating content, it's important to think about who you want to reach. Consider your audience's interests and needs, so that your content is relevant and engaging.
Different types of content are available, such as blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, and social media posts. Select the appropriate ones that will be effective in achieving your business goals with your target audience.
To effectively monitor your progress and make necessary changes, ensure your content goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Promote your content through channels such as social media, email marketing, and paid advertising after creating it.

It's important to measure your content marketing results to identify what's working and what's not. This will help you improve your content plan and achieve your business goals. So, make sure you measure your results and set content goals accordingly.

2) Define your audience

To create engaging content, it's important to know your target audience and their needs and interests. This way, you can make sure that your content is relevant to them. To define your audience:

Conduct surveys to gather information on their needs, interests, and pain points.
Follow them on social media to see what topics they are discussing.
Analyze your website's traffic and page views using website analytics.
Create an audience profile that covers their demographics, interests, and challenges. By doing so, you can tailor your content to their specific needs, making it more engaging and relevant.

3) Conduct a content audit

Audits sound intimidating, don’t they? Maybe you think of taxes right away; however, an audit can actually be enjoyable when it comes to conducting a content audit. Here’s how to make it fun and effective:

Begin by clarifying your goals. Do you want to enhance your content marketing strategy, find and remove outdated content, or identify underperforming content?
Next, gather data about your existing content, including its type, format, topics, and performance metrics such as traffic, engagement, and conversions.
After gathering data, it is important to analyze it to find trends and patterns. This will help you understand the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy.
Based on your analysis, you can make recommendations for improvement such as updating or removing outdated content, or creating new content.
To put your recommendations into action, you should update your content calendar, create fresh content, or remove outdated content.
Repeat the content audit process regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy. This will help you pinpoint areas that need improvement and make necessary adjustments.

If you want to conduct a thorough content audit, use content audit tools and look into getting help from content marketing consultants (hint, hint: we’re happy to help).

4) Create a website content map

A content map, also known as a content inventory or site map, is a visual guide that shows how a website's content is organized. It lists all the pages, sections, and sub-sections in a hierarchical structure. The purpose is to help define how different pieces of content relate to each other and improve the user experience. A content map is a useful tool for planning, organizing, and navigating a website's content in a logical and user-friendly way.

A clear content map is important for your website content plan. It helps you organize and structure your content visually, which makes it easier for users to navigate and understand. A well-structured content map can also identify areas for improvement in your website's information architecture.

Additionally, using a content map on your website helps team members who work on content creation, design, and development to collaborate and communicate effectively. It clarifies the website's structure and content hierarchy and ensures a consistent message and coordinated work across the site.

Including a website content map in your content plan enables you to build a user-friendly and well-organized website that engages your target audience, communicates your brand message, and enhances the overall user experience.

5) Develop a content strategy framework

A content strategy framework is a plan that directs content marketing efforts in achieving specific goals and objectives. It involves analyzing the intended audience, setting goals, planning content, selecting appropriate channels, creating content guidelines, deciding on distribution strategies, and measuring performance. The framework aims to align content marketing efforts with overall business objectives, ensure consistency, and enhance the effectiveness of content marketing initiatives.

A content strategy framework helps to:

Strategize content marketing efforts and guide content creation to align with business objectives
Maintain consistent messaging and brand voice, and streamlines content planning and editorial calendar management
Measure performance and ROI, enhancing brand authority and thought leadership,
Support scalability and growth of content efforts, ensuring adaptability to changing market dynamics
Improve efficiency and reduce time spent on unnecessary tasks

For more information about creating a content strategy framework, check out our article aptly titled How to Create A Content Strategy Framework.

6) Create website content

The best way to put your website content plan to the test is to push it live and see how it performs. Remember, after all of the above steps are taken, your content should be:

Clear and compelling: Be direct about what the problems your audience faces, the solutions you provide, and proof that you will get the job done.
Consistent and on-brand: To ensure your audience trusts and recognizes your brand, keep your content consistent by following your brand's voice, tone, and style. This way, your website will offer a cohesive brand experience.
Engaging and scannable: Use headings, bullet points, and subheadings to structure your content in a visually appealing way. This will make your content easy to scan and understand. Don't forget to include engaging visuals such as images and videos to improve the user experience.
Relevant and valuable-giving: To become a trustworthy source in your industry, create content that is of excellent quality, provides valuable information, and meets your audience's needs. You can offer solutions, insights, or entertainment to establish meaningful connections with your audience.
CTA-driven: Encourage visitors to take desired actions on your website, such as buying, subscribing, or getting in touch by using clear and persuasive calls-to-action (CTAs) in your content. Ensure that these CTAs are aligned with your website's goals and are easily noticeable to users.
Optimized for search engines: To increase visibility in search engine results and attract more visitors, include relevant keywords, meta tags, and descriptive URLs in your website content to optimize it for search engines.
Mobile-friendly: It's important to make sure your website content is optimized for mobile devices and responsive. This is especially important as more people are using smartphones, so it's necessary to create a smooth browsing experience across all screen sizes.
Regularly updated: Consistently update your website's content to ensure it remains current and relevant. This includes periodically reviewing and revising the information to address evolving customer needs, incorporate industry trends, and maintain accuracy.
User-tested: To better understand how visitors respond to your website content, ask for their feedback and perform usability tests. Use the information gathered to continuously refine and enhance your content strategy.

7) Maintain and grow your website content

To accommodate growth, stay relevant, and improve the user experience on your website, it's important to scale and maintain your content effectively. Consider the following points:

1) Use a strong Content Management System (CMS) that allows for easy scalability and content management.

2) Set up clear content governance guidelines to ensure consistency and quality throughout your website. Establish a process for content review, approval, and version control to maintain accuracy and relevance.

3) To stay organized and keep a consistent publishing schedule, create a content calendar that schedules content updates in advance. This will ensure that fresh and relevant content is added on a regular basis.

4) Regularly assess the effectiveness, relevance, and performance of your existing content through content audits. Identify outdated or underperforming content and make informed decisions about whether to repurpose, update, or remove it.

5) Prompt your users to share their thoughts by leaving comments, reviews, or testimonials. This will bring new viewpoints and social credibility to your content, while also easing the pressure of producing all of it on your own.

6) Optimize your content creation process by leveraging automation tools and templates. Efficiently manage your content and updates by using content management plugins, email automation, or pre-made templates.

7) Conduct regular keyword research, update meta tags, and align your content with SEO best practices. This will help maintain visibility and drive organic traffic.

8) To gain insights into the performance of your content, use analytics data and user feedback. Keep track of metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and bounce rates. This will help you identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

9) Improve collaboration between content creators, designers, and developers by setting up a centralized system for communication and project management. This will ensure smooth coordination and efficient content scaling.

10) Stay up-to-date with industry trends, changes in customer preferences, and emerging technologies. Update your website content regularly to reflect the latest information, address new challenges, and offer valuable insights to your audience.

Conclusion

To succeed online, it's crucial to create a well-organized plan for your website content. This article provides steps to help you do just that. By creating a smart strategy and engaging content plan, you can attract and retain visitors and build a powerful online presence. Don't forget that your website content is a powerful tool that can help you communicate your message, engage your audience, and grow your business.

Looking to improve your website content? Work with our content marketing agency today. Publish Profitably has expertise in creating customized content strategies, generating interesting website content, and optimizing your online presence. Reach out to us now to talk about how we can assist you in developing a successful website content plan.