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Your Law Firm’s Web Site is Out of Control: Part 2, Content is King

By Virginia Bisek, BASF Bulletin Contributor

Is your Web site out of control? Can your users find the information they need? Can you?

Last month I introduced the secret to cleaning up your Web site. In today’s 21st century, content is king.

Content is everything your users see: informational and instructional copy, PDFs, navigation and design elements, contextual includes, internal and offsite links, pictures, advertisements, etc.

Recap: The Secret
You know your Web site needs some work. But where do you begin?

• Make a commitment to the web, implement known processes and stick to them.
• Everyone in your firm who owns web content, including decision makers, has to be on board.
• The first tangible step is the creation of a content inventory.

Create a Content Inventory
You develop a content inventory by creating a list of all the content on your Web site. When you know what you have, it’s easier to get where you’re going. How do you do this?
Review your Web site, log the content in a spreadsheet, and assign a unique code to each piece of content. Your attention to this process is critical to your success.

Why Bother?
Good question. This is exactly what your audience asks each time they visit your Web site. “What does this Web site offer me, and why should I care?”

Creating a content inventory forces you to focus on a strategy for your redesign needs for internal staff as well as third party vendors. Presenting goals and RFPs with a focus are clear success factors. Also, it helps you find the right Web staff. And once you begin copy development, the value of creating a content inventory will become apparent.

And finally? When you map out your content it will help your users find what they want from you. And that’s guaranteed success.

Read Part 1: Is Your Web site Out of Control?

The author, Virginia Bisek, is a writer, content developer and user inter- face strategist. You can reach her at ginger@virginiabisek.com.