Why does development stall on the texts, even though they seem to be there already: in correspondence with a manager, in a presentation for partners, on the old site, in a commercial proposal?
Because “we have them” and “ready for the site” — are different states. The texts in these sources were written at different times and for different tasks. The presentation has one set of figures, the proposal has others, the terms on the old site are out of date, and part of what matters exists only in the owner’s head. Until this information is brought into one place and checked, there is nothing to write the pages from, even if the overall volume of texts is large.
Why scattered texts slow the work down
Each source on its own seems clear. The problems begin when they are placed side by side. The deadline in the presentation does not match the deadline in the contract, the list of services on the old site is shorter than in the price list, and an advantage from the advertising booklet is one the company no longer offers.
The developer cannot decide which version is the right one. So each such case turns into a question to the client, the answer to it — into waiting, and the page stands still. If there are many such questions, the waiting adds up into a noticeable pause.
Correspondence in messengers adds a difficulty of its own. An important clarification sent as a voice message a month ago is hard to find. A decision made in one chat is not seen by the participants of another. And you can never be sure that the last message on the topic really is the last one.
What information the main pages need
Ready texts from the client are not required. What is needed are the facts from which the texts are then written. It is convenient to collect them by page.
Home page
Who you are and what you do, in one or two sentences. Who you work for. The main directions or categories. How you differ from others and what confirms that. What action you want from the visitor: to call, to leave a request, to book, to buy.
Service pages
For each service: what is included and what is not, who it suits, how the work goes, how much it costs or what the price depends on, what the deadlines are. Separately — the questions clients ask most often, and the answers to them. The most useful blocks on the page come from these questions.
About the company page
When and how the company appeared, if that matters to clients. Who is on the team and what each person is responsible for. Documents, certificates, membership in associations — what can be shown. For a personal brand, the specialist’s experience and approach go here as well. On a business-card site or portfolio the section about yourself is often read more carefully than the rest, so the information for it is worth collecting in more detail.
Cases and reviews
A case needs the client’s task, what was done, the result and permission to publish. For a review — the text in the form in which the client wrote it, and consent to publish with a name or without one. I do not invent reviews, figures and facts about the company: the site has only what you can confirm.
Contacts
Addresses, phone numbers, messengers, email, opening hours, directions if they are needed, company details. Accuracy matters here: a typo in a phone number costs requests.
How to gather the source information in one place
The simplest working way — one document in which each page has its own section with a heading. A Google Doc will do: in it, it is convenient to leave comments and to see who changed what.
In each section it is worth writing the current wording, not a retelling. If the information is not yet agreed, it is better to mark that right in the text: “price to be confirmed”, “deadline in the contract — check”. If two sources diverge, state both versions and mark which one is correct, or that the decision has not yet been made.
The sources from which something was taken can be listed at the end of the section: the old site, the presentation, the price list. This helps, where there is a dispute, to find quickly where a wording came from.
And last: the document must have an owner on the client’s side. One person who answers for the information in the document being current, and to whom you can come with a question.
If a copywriter or an AI agent writes the texts
It seems that if a professional copywriter or an AI agent writes the finished text, collecting the information is unnecessary. In fact they need the same facts, only in an even clearer form.
A copywriter knows how to ask questions and turn information into clear text, but does not know how much your service costs and what guarantee applies to it. The copywriter learns this from you, and if the information is scattered, the interview stretches out.
An AI agent writes quickly, but will not recover the facts about the business on its own. If there is not enough information, the model will fill the gaps with plausible but invented details: advantages that do not exist, figures from nowhere, reviews from clients who do not exist. So everything written with the help of AI has to be checked against the source data. The fuller the document with the information, the less of this checking there is.
In both cases the document with the information — is your way of controlling that what ends up on the site is true.
How much text a page needs
There is no exact norm, and I would not invent one. The volume is set by what a person needs to find out in order to make a decision. For a simple service with a clear price, a few paragraphs are enough. For an expensive or complex service, the stages of the work, what is included, answers to doubts and examples will be needed.
It is more practical to think not about the number of characters, but about the questions. Write down what clients ask before buying, and check whether the information for the page has an answer to each question. If there is no answer, it is worth adding. If the information answers none of the client’s questions, it can most likely be removed.
It is also worth thinking about those who look for you in search or ask a neural-network assistant. They need the same answers, only stated plainly: what you do, where, for whom, on what terms. A page on which this information is present in plain form is clearer both to people and to search systems.
How to check the document before sending it
Before you hand the document to the developer or the copywriter, it is useful to reread it with a few questions:
- is there a section for every page of the agreed structure;
- are there two different prices, deadlines or lists of services in the document;
- are the places where the information is still being clarified marked;
- are there permissions to publish the reviews and the cases;
- have the phone numbers, the addresses and the company details been checked.
This takes little time, and it removes most of the questions that would otherwise have come already during the work on the pages.
Texts and design: which comes first
Design and texts depend on each other. If a layout is drawn on placeholder text and then the real text turns out twice as long, the blocks have to be rebuilt. If the final texts are waited for before the design starts, the project stands idle.
What usually works is a middle way: the structure and the information by page are ready before the design, and the finished wording is written in parallel with the layout. Then the design is built around the real volume and the real points of emphasis, not around a placeholder. For a landing page on Tilda this is especially convenient: the page is assembled on standard blocks, and the texts can later be changed in the ordinary editor without a programmer.
If there is nobody to gather the information, or help is needed with the texts themselves, this can be included in the work; the volume is simply counted in the estimate. To understand what will be needed in your case, describe the task in the quiz on the site: I will reply in person and say which information is missing for the start.