Everyone wants to know the secret of on-time, on-budget web development. While I can’t guarantee you’ll miraculously turn around a previous late, over-budget record in one swoop after reading this post, I can tell you that many web projects suffer from a lack of content strategy, and they have the lack of results to show for it.

Ever had something like this happen to you?
Scenario 1:

Everything looked great—the design was beautiful, the programmers turned out some amazing functionality—but in the end we didn’t get near enough conversions to justify the expense. Not sure where we went wrong.

Scenario 2:

We saved a lot of money in the budget by just having our intern write the content for the new website…but then no one noticed the typo on our home page, until the CEO noticed it.

Scenario 3:

Our site has tons of incoming links — it’s been around for 10 years, so it should! — but we don’t see a lot of sales happening online.

Usually, when you have a problem with web development, you don’t have just one problem. But in each of these cases, content strategy can help get things on the right track.

Using content strategy means you’re taking a strategic look at your content and making it work for your business. Content strategists use a number of different tools, depending on the project needs, but in all cases, they can help you focus on your business goals, and ensure you’ve got the content support you need to make it happen.

If you’d like a quick read that provides you with a full overview of how to use content strategy in your organization, I highly recommend Kristina Halvorson’s bible, Content Strategy for the Web. It gives any organization a road map to applying strategic thinking — and concrete tactics — to managing your content.

For the scenarios above, though, I’ll just share a couple of thoughts about what could have happened instead:
Scenario 1: Looks aren’t everything. If you didn’t plan the site to meet a business goal from the outset, it won’t matter how pretty it is or how cool the functionality is. If you’re not meeting your customers’ needs — and making it easy for them — you’re not going to be effective.

Content strategy will demand that you define the business goal at the beginning of your project. Along the way, it will help you tailor your words to meet your customers’ needs, ensuring a successful project in the end.

Scenario 2: Everyone needs an editor. Whether your content budget is $0 or millions, your content process is even more important. Every word [and video, and audio file, and image] on your site needs a plan. Who’s creating it? Who’s reviewing it? Who’s publishing it? Who keeps an eye on it and who do they tell when it seems dated? Who makes sure that the new product line gets its own section of the site, and that all that is ready in time for the sales launch? Plan these things out before they’re an emergency. And for goodness’ sake, proofread everything. Twice.

Scenario 3: “Set it and forget it” isn’t a workable web philosophy. Your content strategy needs to outline when and how your site is updated. Old content should be retired, with an eye toward preserving useful incoming links, but with the customer highest on your list. Even small websites need regular review procedures, and be sure you’ve also got a plan to review content that may seem static and permanent, like your terms of use and privacy policy.