Building Websites for Clients - Getting the Content

15 replies
Hi everyone, I am new here and already loving the amazing learning curve just visiting this part of the forum

I am planning to offer my website design services to local clients in my area, what I want to offer them is just a simple, basic website - 5 pages - nothing hectic.

The way that I am going to pull them in is that I am going to charge a very low fee, but this means that the maximum amount of time building the site needs to be around 5 hours.

I am going to use Wordpress, but I am stuck on the process of getting the content from the clients.

I need the clients to write out their content such as the Home page, Services page etc and then simply give me the information and pictures so that all I do is put the website together.

What would be the most effective way to get the content from them? Should I try set up a form where they submit the images and content online? Or rather get them to fill in a form?

If anyone has tried this approach then please help me by adding some feedback, I would really appreciate it

Thank you!!
#building #clients #cotent #websites
  • Profile picture of the author baly
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    • Profile picture of the author niles
      You could write it for them or hire a writer. But, they will often provide it for you.
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      • Profile picture of the author Melissa Welsh
        Originally Posted by niles View Post

        You could write it for them or hire a writer. But, they will often provide it for you.
        Thank you for your reply, I would most often let them write it as it is about their business, the problem is I am unsure how to get it from them?

        What form is best? Word Document, Submit it via an online form?

        I just need the process to work as smooth as possible to save time
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        • Profile picture of the author BestSEO
          Originally Posted by Melissa Welsh View Post

          Thank you for your reply, I would most often let them write it as it is about their business, the problem is I am unsure how to get it from them?

          What form is best? Word Document, Submit it via an online form?

          I just need the process to work as smooth as possible to save time
          It is a lot harder then just getting content! People want SEO and that is more then just a plugin... Please keep that in mind and you will go far--- Forget it and you will surely fail!!! I hope the best...
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  • Profile picture of the author Supernatural_fan
    filling out a form is an idea, but might get you confused since you won't be able to picture everything in the exact same way that they did; although it might be weird, i would honestly ask them to send me a sketch ( made by hand or in Photoshop) and to explain me where they want the images to be submitted, what kind of tables and paragraph lining and spacing etc

    or i could simply ask them what they want, communicate all the time with them, and delivering them my work bits by bits so they could offer their feedback or tell me what to edit
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    • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
      Originally Posted by Supernatural_fan View Post

      f, i would honestly ask them to send me a sketch ( made by hand or in Photoshop) and to explain me where they want the images to be submitted, what kind of tables and paragraph lining and spacing etc
      That's a complete nonsense!

      Is the business owner the designer or you?
      Why should a butcher be able to do a sketch in Photoshop just because you have no idea what a professional service offer is...?
      Paragraph lining and spacing - my a**

      YOU have to come up with all that after carefully listening/asking/learning about their business, their audience, their goals. Otherwise why would they need you? :p
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      • Profile picture of the author Supernatural_fan
        Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

        That's a complete nonsense!

        Is the business owner the designer or you?
        Why should a butcher be able to do a sketch in Photoshop just because you have no idea what a professional service offer is...?
        Paragraph lining and spacing - my a**

        YOU have to come up with all that after carefully listening/asking/learning about their business, their audience, their goals. Otherwise why would they need you? :p
        to do their "dirty work" i don't think that what i said is nonsense because i, as a client, would actually do that to make sure everything is 100% the way I like it; some clients are extremely picky and perfectionists and might just do whatever they can in order to have the right design for their site; but that's my opinion
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    email? lol

    Word doc or open office should work fine. You can include a form also where they can upload their word docs or whatever. However, most might not be to tech savy so you can always just have them snail mail it to you as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      I would suggest that you do some sample layouts. As you are, in effect, providing an "off the shelf" site rather than a bespoke one, include a set number of photos and/or logos and a set amount of text for each page.

      Ask them to send you the text as a Word document and the pictures/logos as jpgs.

      Some will get confused and add the pictures into the Word document.

      I would think that would be the easiest way. A form might work, but I know from experience that some will get confused - just make sure you include a contact email and phone number so they can contact you.
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  • Profile picture of the author iDevSpot
    Are you hoping to do everything via the internet? Would you be willing to meet them for a coffee in person for an initial meeting to find out their initial needs for the design?\

    Maybe before the meeting you could send them a form to fill out with all the questions you want to know. (ie. text, graphics, pages etc).

    Then based on the initial information, you could have 3-4 basic templates that you go over with them in person.

    If you are willing, I think the 'in person' availability would really set you apart from a lot of other web designers, since most people only want to work from home nowadays.

    Just a thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author ej2012
    I agree with rosetrees. Samples layouts are great way to help your client get a clear picture of the options they have so they can better understand what "box" to fit into.

    Use email to get the content or open up a ftp site where your clients can upload the information, create a folder on the ftp for each client to upload to.

    I used to manage 250 websites, each project I would start, I would have a phone conversation with them first, tell them what was needed and by when, but before I made that call I would send them sample sites/templates by email. This would give us both something to talk to and eliminate a lot of guessing, it can really get confusing at times so knowing what you are willing to do and then getting the client to fit within that is SO important.

    Have a timeline ready before hand and layout your expectations of them, like their availability to talk etc.,

    Doing it in steps works as well, get the words up, then plan a time to review, then place images etc., then review, continue this until both parties are happy with the finished product.
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  • Profile picture of the author lukemeister
    You're going to find that the seemingly simple task of getting content from clients can turn rather tricky.

    After working on many web site projects over the years, the one thing that I found that repeatedly hampered many projects was the fact that the clients did not deliver adequate content or they would take a long time to send something for page content.

    If you have clients that are good about providing you with content, it's probably best to let them deliver it in a fashion that works best for them. Once again the reason for this is because if you don't make it easy, they probably won't do it. If you ask for page content, and the client says "can I send a Word doc?", then say yes and let them send a Word doc. Just as long as you can open the file and get to the content, that's all the matters.

    I personally find it best to sit down with the client and develop the content with them. One page at a time. It keeps them focused and actually helps the process along. Far too often the client will just sit there and make excuses over and over again as to why they don't have any content ready for you yet. Try to eliminate the possibility of them being able to do that.
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  • Profile picture of the author DivaOnline
    To add.....maybe have them send you any company literature they may already have (brochures (sp?) flyers, pictures, menus, etc.) If a company is already in business, more than likely they have some documents lying around that have information you can use on it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Schwenk
    If you like wordpress and are using it as part of your own private resources, you could get ahold of a copy of Gravity Forms.

    Personally, why not keep things simple and have them e-mail you the content?

    The format doesn't really matter, as long as you are able to open it. Even so, you can find a number of free resources to convert files between different platforms if necessary.

    If you check into Gravity Forms for wordpress, you could simply setup a form within your dashboard, use it to create a page (documentation shows how, it's very easy) and then if you e-mail them a payment link...you could have it redirect to that form after checkout.

    It allows for file attachments, not just text...I like it.

    Still, e-mail seems to be the most obvious option.

    Hope that helps,
    Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author jeskola
      You shouldn't really be designing till you know what the content is!

      Remember the website is the content, not a nice design with some content stuck in as an afterthought.
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      Don't look to MAKE money - look to HELP people and you will make all the money you can ever want.

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    • Profile picture of the author Vanessa Reece
      A suggestion that a local company to me uses is having the clients fill in what they call a 'dump form'

      These are targeted questions which allow a writer to quickly do copy.

      This dump form also includes little questions about them as people just to give some personal edge to any copy written.

      Now this company I know only do a one page splash for each business owner but to be honest I feel sites like this are too cluttered.

      They use a basic set of templates which they customize to suit each client so no two look exactly the same.

      PM me if you like I can send you a sample dump form to give you an idea. I'm not associated with this company in any way but they did approach me to write copy for them - hence why I had this dump form to see.

      In the end it does save time and for what you're charging I don't think you need the extra time constraints of writing copy. There are members of the forum here who are article / copy writers who work for very good rates.

      V
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