Web launch delays blamed on lack of content. A survey of digital agencies reveals that website launches are delayed by as much as three months because content isn’t ready or suitable. 

This finding doesn't surprise me at all.  In my experience, many organisations underestimate the significance of content when planning a website.  This can even include websites that are meant to be content-rich!

“Agencies and their clients must put content at the centre of their web strategies,” said Barry Monk, director of Next Communications, the digital marketing content company that conducted the survey.

This survey came from the agency perspective, but the unfortunate truth is that it doesn't get much better post-launch (after the 3 month delay), when the responsibility shifts client-side.  Even if the organisation puts effort and investment into initial content, it is not uncommon for there to be little planning or structure for sustained content.  Websites then end up with stale content, or too little content, or under resourced content professionals within the organisation who are overworked and undervalued, (and possibly underpaid). 

Early 2005, I hosted a roundtable discussion on web content strategy.  I remember it being a lively group - very smart and passionate about web content, but at the same time frustrated.  A common complaint was how organisations viewed web content as an IT issue, (Dispel the Myth that content strategy is an IT ssue).  As a result, web content suffered.  Content professionals were chosen for IT skills, rather than marketing or communications ones.  Web content wasn't integrated with other messages, nor was it aligned with organisational strategy.  Investment was too focused on technical issues.  And so forth....

....Today we have a flourishing digital industry, Web 2.0, the rise of user generated content, etc.  Investment in the web is increasing, as is the recognition of that web does not equal IT.  So, is it possible that organisations still are struggling with how to manage web content and content professionals?  And how can we help change this?

I totally sympathise... I have seen sites delay going live for over 12 months because no one was capable of writing the "about us" page!

In the end I started to just sit down with a senior decision maker and start typing the text on my laptop and say "this is the product details text for the model EX101; just stop me if what I type is wrong in any way" I would ALWAYS make sure that these were billable hours and by the time in the project it came to do this I was so familiar with the companies product range that I could write better content than they ever could!

In EVERY single instance where I have left a company with a perfect, working CMS and also a trained internal member of staff to do the updates I have had to come back in and do the updates myself.  No internal staff get given the job as a priority - - they never get any recognition, time or extra pay to do this extra work, so even if they do the first update they never do the second.

I don't mind; I end up getting paid to do the initial consultation, then to implement the CMS, then to train the internal staff how to use the CMS, then to write the launch content and then to come in and use the CMS to author new content!

Companies ALWAYS mistake content creation as a technical task and not as a marketing / online copy writing task; they ALWAYS find it impossible to add new content - and NEVER delete old or out of date content.

And then they wonder why they never sell anything from their site - and why it is at number 337 at Google....