If you are a professional web designer, you probably know how hard it is to collect website content from clients. Although it seems counterintuitive, clients are usually the ones responsible for major web design delays that may even stretch for months.
According to the report, most web design projects should allow for 12 to 16 weeks from the time that the project kicks off to the time that the website launches. But if you add a delay to the calculation, the process could take much more than that.
So, how can you get website content from clients? We will explain why the problem occurs in the first place and discuss seven ways to solve the issue timely and effortlessly. Let’s take a look!
The Website Content Delay Issues
A typical client will always urge you to get the work done as soon as possible, but they often end up being late and unable to deliver the text as agreed. Why are such website content delays so frequent? We can pinpoint three major reasons:
- Your clients are busy: Content creation is probably not the first item on your clients’ to-do lists, so they keep postponing the task and force you to wait.
- Your clients don’t have the necessary writing skills: Let’s be honest about it and admit that your average client is probably not a professional essay writer. Most of them are struggling with copywriting and they simply don’t know how to create meaningful and appealing website content.
- Your clients are not sure about website components: Another problem is that clients don’t understand the structure of a website, which makes it even more difficult to plan and execute content creation.
Only one of these reasons is enough to cause setbacks, while the combination of all three elements can lead to serious delays and major frustrations on both sides.
- Use one channel of communication only
- Choose a reliable communication platform
- Create a checklist
- Give guidance on how to create content
- Suggest hiring a professional writing service
- Maintain communication with the person in charge
- Politely remind your client of the deadline
- The Bottom Line
7 Ways to Encourage a Client to Send Content
The problem in designer-client communication is obvious, but how can you deal with it properly? We present you with seven practical ways to encourage clients to send you website content.
1. Use one channel of communication only
As a web designer, you should only use one channel of communication to interact with clients. It doesn’t have to be the same channel in every situation, but the point is to find the most suitable platform and stick to it all the way to the project completion. That way, you do not need to worry about possible misunderstandings or communication gaps.
2. Choose a reliable communication platform
The second tip goes hand in hand with the previous one. It’s not only important to use one channel of communication but also to select a reliable platform with a simple interface and intuitive messaging, filtering, and search features. The best solution is to avoid emails and opt for a more advanced tool such as Slack or Zoom.
3. Create a checklist
Checklists are an excellent way to keep all copywriting tasks in one place and make sure that your client doesn’t forget anything. A checklist should contain everything from the homepage to other website components such as contact instructions, About Us copy, landing pages, and so on. Another reason why this trick works is that it allows clients to track progress effortlessly.
4. Give guidance on how to create content
If your client is new to content creation, you might as well give him/her initial instructions on how to do it properly. That includes tips such as to:
- Write short and actionable sentences
- Use smaller paragraphs
- Avoid heavy jargon and buzzwords
- Add calls to action
5. Suggest hiring a professional writing service
Sometimes a client is so slow or inexperienced that it threatens to jeopardize the entire project. In this case, the only logical solution is to suggest hiring a professional writing service like bestessays.com. Such agencies employ skilled content creators who can write the whole thing in less than a week.
6. Maintain communication with the person in charge
Another useful tip is to stay up to date with your client’s writing achievements and maintain regular communication with the person in charge of copywriting. It will help you keep an eye on their work and give suggestions if needed. Generally speaking, it would be best to communicate with one person only because it sharpens everyone’s focus and prevents time-waste.
7. Politely remind your client of the deadline
Finally, you should remember to be proactive and keep reminding your client of the coming deadline. The only thing that matters here is to be delicate and polite, thus avoiding unpleasant situations and possible argues with the client. Write a simple and friendly reminder, but feel free to do it consistently as sometimes it’s the only way to complete the job on time.
The Bottom Line
Making an excellent website is difficult, but the task gets harder if your clients don’t do their part of the work in a timely manner. It’s a frustrating experience that ruins your schedule and sometimes even leads to disputes with your clients, so it’s better to stay proactive and prevent the problem.
In this post, we showed you seven ways to get website content from clients. We encourage you to test these tricks, but you can also share your own ideas in the comments – our readers would love to see it!
Author Bio: Justin Osborne is an essay writer, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as a content marketer at bestessays.com.
