This is the most predictable failure in web projects and the least discussed. The build finishes on time. Then everything waits, sometimes for months, on copy that somebody at the client was going to write when things quietened down.
The fix is unglamorous. Make content a tracked deliverable with a named owner and a date, exactly like any other part of the project.
The columns you need
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Page | Home, About, Service: Fleet Maintenance |
| URL | The final path, agreed early so links do not break later |
| Purpose | One sentence on what this page is for |
| Primary action | The one thing the visitor should do here |
| Text owner | A person's name, never a department |
| Text status | Not started, drafted, approved |
| Images needed | How many, what of |
| Image owner | A person's name |
| Due date | An actual date |
How to run it
Fill it in before design starts
The page list drives the design, not the other way round.
Name individuals, never teams
Marketing will write it means nobody will write it.
Set dates before the build finishes
Content deadlines must land before the developer needs the content, not after.
Review it weekly, in writing
Five minutes on a call. The sheet is the agenda.
Escalate a slipped date immediately
One slipped content deadline moves the whole launch.
If nobody's name is in the owner column, the content does not have an owner. It has a hope.
If the client cannot write it
Say so early and price for it. Many businesses genuinely do not have anyone who can write good web copy, and pretending otherwise costs everyone months.
An interview based approach works well. An hour of recorded conversation with the owner usually yields better and more honest material than three months of waiting for them to write something themselves.
