Website content planning - sitemaps and content structure

I do a lot of website content planning work. On many projects, this is the stage we tackle first. Before anyone begins writing copy or designing layouts, we clarify the structure of the site, agree the sitemap, and decide what each page or section needs to do. That includes page hierarchies, key user journeys and the role of each content block on each page.

The aim is to give your site a clear, logical shape, so that visitors can find what they need easily and every page has a defined job to do. Good content planning also gives writers, designers and developers a solid brief to work from, and helps your SEO by making the site easier to understand and index.