How to gather content for a website

Content is king in digital marketing, but what if the king is nowhere to be found? 

It's a common issue for digital agencies because most clients are too slow to provide website content. This often creates tension, and it can throw off your entire project timeline. But here’s the good thing — we’ll show you how to gather content for a website on time. 

In this post, we’ll explain:

• The basics of the content gathering process
• The best content gathering tools
• The types of web content you should get from your clients
• The benefits of gathering content for a website on time

The content gathering process: A brief overview

The content gathering process is a well-planned procedure for collecting content for a client’s website. That includes everything that will appear on the website, including text, images, videos, and other types of media.

Content elements you must collect vary from one website project to another. For example, an e-commerce site requires product descriptions and images, while a blog mostly needs articles and other types of written content.

Gathering content for new vs. existing active websites 

The process also differs depending on whether the website is new or already active. When you design a new website, it’s important to work closely with clients to identify the types of content they want. That involves conducting market research and defining the overall purpose of the site. 

When gathering content for an existing website, the process starts with the content inventory. You should review the current content to determine what’s working and what needs to be updated. It’s necessary to do the following:

• Perform a content audit
• Identify pages that perform well using Google Analytics or similar tools
• Analyze social media platforms to pinpoint the most popular posts
• Find pages with high bounce rates
• Discover pages that require further optimization for search engines

After that, you can start collecting website content from your client.

Streamline the process with content gathering tools

If you don’t know how to get content for a website, we suggest using content gathering tools instead of relying on phone calls and in-person meetings. Here are some of the usual options for digital agencies:

1. Gather web content using email

The first option is simple — use email for gathering content from your clients. The advantage of this solution is that everybody uses email in daily communication, so you can start working right away. On the other hand, you’ll probably end up with a series of time-consuming back-and-forth emails, so we don’t really recommend this solution. It almost always turns into a mess, which probably led you to this post.

2. Use online forms

Online forms like Google Forms can be a practical solution for agencies that build simple websites for their clients. Your clients have likely filled out forms before, so they shouldn’t get confused. They can fill out the form in minutes and provide the necessary information with ease. 

On the downside, Google Forms struggles with complex requests. The platform has limited functionalities, especially if you’re using it to gather files and information for bigger websites. In that case, Google Forms will slow down your web design process. 

3. Use Content Snare for data collection

Content Snare is a dedicated data gathering tool for digital agencies. Thanks to our website design questionnaire, you can request content and get information from your client in record time. This content gathering template will help you to maximize efficiency and meet client expectations.  

So, how does it work?

The system enables you to get content in a step-by-step manner. Content Snare keeps everything together in one place, so you can approve and/or reject client inputs within our platform. The process is simple:

• Create requests for your client
• Manage requests through approvals or rejections without email 
• Start a conversation and support your clients if they get stuck
• Send automated content reminders 
• Monitor progress in real-time
• Download content or export it to cloud storage

Content Snare offers templates for starter websites, landing pages, complex web design projects, and many more. The best thing is that you can customize questionnaires by removing or adding elements or requests. 

Types of content you should get from clients

You’ll have to gather different types of content based on the clients’ requirements, but some elements are the same for all websites. Here’s a brief overview:

Text content

Text content includes everything from the main copy on the homepage and product pages to blog posts and FAQs. A big thing about textual forms is that they must align with the overall brand values and messaging. 

Visual content

Visual content is versatile, but most websites stick to the usual suspects — images, videos, infographics, and illustrations. Some clients may also deliver GIFs, charts, memes, and other formats. In each case, you need to check whether these files are high-quality and optimized for the web.

Optimization elements

Optimization elements make websites visible and easily discoverable by search engines. That’s why you need to gather elements like meta descriptions, page headings, image alt tags, internal links, and keywords for optimization. You should also obtain keyworded URLs and outbound links.

Streamlining content gathering once and for all

Gathering content for your clients’ websites is always challenging, but you can streamline the process by using a dedicated tool. With Content Snare, you’ll save lots of time on all future projects. 

Our readymade templates are easy to use and customize, so you can quickly obtain files and information. Content Snare gives you a stress-free way to simplify a website’s production lifecycle. Give it a try, and you’ll streamline content gathering once and for all.