Content design
Content design is not copywriting. It is the discipline of structuring information so that residents can find what they need and do what they came to do — without needing to read everything on the page or call the council to ask.Most council websites carry years of accumulated content written for the organisation rather than the resident. Pages are long, structured around internal processes, and written in language that assumes prior knowledge. When a council moves to LocalGov Drupal, there is an opportunity to fix this — but only if the content work is treated as seriously as the technical build.
What this covers
Content audit and rationalisation We assess existing content to understand what is serving residents well, what needs rewriting, and what can be retired. For a typical council website this involves several hundred pages. The audit informs everything that follows — it prevents teams from migrating content that should have been retired years ago.
User behaviour analysis Before rewriting anything we analyse how residents currently use your website — where they arrive, where they drop off, what they search for, and where the friction is. This draws on analytics data, heatmaps, session recordings, and where possible, direct interviews with residents.
Information architecture We map how content should be organised across the new site — which service areas need their own section, how navigation should be structured, and how residents should move between related content. This work happens before build, not after.
Content writing and rewriting We write and rewrite content to plain language standards, following GDS best practice and your council's tone of voice. Content is designed to meet WCAG accessibility standards and is structured for the LocalGov Drupal content types it will live in.
Content governance After go-live, content degrades without a clear ownership and review process. We help councils establish content governance — who owns each section, how content expiry works, and how the editorial team maintains quality over time.
How this connects to the build
Content design and technical delivery are not sequential — they run in parallel. The information architecture decisions inform the Drupal configuration. The content types chosen affect the design. Waiting until build is complete before thinking about content produces worse results and costs more to fix.
In our experience the content work is consistently the most underestimated part of a council website project. Getting it right takes time — but it is the difference between a site that works for residents and one that simply moves the old problems onto a new platform.
