Web Design Agency Launch Playbook

Who this is for

Web design and development agencies adding a content offer to their site builds.

Before you start

• A site build process with a clear point where content is needed.
• A writer or editor who can own the content side of each project.
• A content questionnaire you can send clients during discovery.
• Your own agency website, to use as the first example.

Step 1

Plan content into the build

Make content a stage of the project, not an afterthought.

1. 01Add content planning to discovery, alongside sitemap and design.
2. 02Define the content package: which pages, how many launch articles, who supplies facts.
3. 03Agree who approves content on the client side and by when.
4. 04Set the content deadline ahead of the design handover, not after it.

Step 2

Create launch content

Write the pages and articles the site launches with.

1. 01Write core page copy from the client’s questionnaire and interviews.
2. 02Plan a small cluster of launch articles around the client’s main service.
3. 03Draft the articles in the client’s voice and send them with the design for review.
4. 04Check every factual claim with the client before launch.

Step 3

Publish with the site

Launch a site that looks finished.

1. 01Load the approved content into the CMS before launch, not after.
2. 02Link launch articles to the service pages they support.
3. 03Hand the client a plan for the articles that should follow.
4. 04Offer ongoing content as a separate, optional service.

Step 4

Measure the offer

Learn whether content makes builds go better.

1. 01Track how often content delays launches, and move the deadline earlier if it does.
2. 02Ask clients after launch whether the content package was useful.
3. 03Report search visibility from the client’s own search console after launch.
4. 04Refine the package based on which pieces clients actually use.

Common pitfalls

• Leaving content until the design is finished, which delays every launch.
• Placeholder text that survives into the live site.
• Selling content to clients as a sure source of leads.

Where Opus Rank helps

Tutorials for the parts of this plan you can do in Opus Rank.

• Build a topical map

  Plan the client’s launch cluster during discovery.

• Create and use brand voices

  Keep each client’s launch content in their own voice.

• Publish an article to your CMS

  Send approved articles to the client’s CMS before launch.

Related playbooks

• SEO Agency Service Launch Playbook
• Content Agency Client Onboarding Playbook
• Agency Niche Repositioning Playbook