The number one thing clients forget when adding new content.

One of the challenges that web design agencies have with the websites they build is that once they've handed them over to the client, they lose control of the carefully crafted experience. Modern Content Management Systems allow the client to easily add new pages to the website, but all too often, the power that is placed in the clients' hands leaves the web designers wringing their hands in frustration. 

I'm putting aside the tendency for clients to go crazy with all the features of the WYSIWYG editor (although there are enough horror stories there to fill a book), what's much more damaging is when new content is added to the site without taking into consideration the broader information architecture. 

Web designers go through all of your content in painstaking detail in order to craft a simple, easy-to-navigate structure that appeals to the average end user. Each page is carefully considered to understand its context, what types of users are looking for it, and where in the information hierarchy it should sit. What a lot of people don't understand however is how much time is spent on determining what content to leave OUT. 

More content is not always a good thing! The analogy I like to use is Where's Wally - if Wally is drawn alone on a single white page of paper, you'll find him in an instant. If he's drawn amongst 10,000 other people, you can end up staring at it for hours! 

This is why it's so important to consider not just the content you're adding to the site, but WHERE you are going to add it. Does it fit within the current information architecture? Is it included at the right level, or should it be deeper? Does it need to be available from the front page, or can it be hidden until you have navigated to a particular section? All too often this is overlooked by clients, and after 10 or so such ill-conceived additions to their website, they're complaining that their website is once again "hard to navigate"... 

My advice with this one is simple - don't be afraid to go back to your agency and discuss where the content you're adding should be located. You never know, they might have some great ideas about how it could work! 

Assembler is a web design agency based in Perth, Western Australia. This blog is intended to be an informal, behind the scenes look into the web design and development industry. If you like our content, please follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook!