Website planning means much more than site architecture and wireframes. There's also the content, and that too must be planned. That's right, behind every good website is some pre-content planning. Just like you should mentally plan a site out before you begin coding, you should also have a process for doing so. If your site is using a CMS platform, that process should include some pre-CMS planning.
Pre-CMS planning is a website planning process that places the content, instead of design, first. Recommended by collaborative teams, this approach helps lead to better organize content. A little planning pre-content goes a long way. Pre-CMS planning leads to better user flow, easier navigation, and a more organized site. This is because the process includes planning the navigation structure, assigning website pages and folders and approving content layouts before finalizing the design. When files are ready to transfer to the designated CMS, (or coded), they arrive pre-organized and ready to go.
Pre-CMS planning can significantly help organize the content of your site, which benefits the end user. Site visitors will find navigation easy and will be more likely to click-through to multiple pages.
Website developers benefit from a little pre-content planning as well because it makes their jobs easier. Pre-CMS planning helps them better understand the website's needs so that they can build it within the guidelines of the CMS platform. No more coding into a corner – with pre-content guidance, there's little worry of doing too much in the wrong direction.
Pre-CMS planning leads to well-organized websites with fewer coding revisions. That means it saves time, money, and frustration while still delivering a superior product.
The Slickplan content planner makes it easy to gather text, media, links and any other information for your site. Store your content in one place, and easily collaborate and edit. The content planner is a critical step for effective pre-CMS planning.
Pre content planning makes getting it right the first time easier. Use Slickplan's feedback tools to collaborate with team members, clients, and company stakeholders and receive feedback within the app. You can share mockups of wireframes, layouts, graphics and more.
Slickplan also saves time after the planning is complete. Import your website navigation, pages, and content directly into many popular CMS platforms. We support WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, ExpressionEngine and concrete5.