How do I start a site: with content, a site map?

My First Information Site

[flobaby]

I'm preparing to do my first info site and I'm very excited by the prospect (I enjoy the subject), but I have a lot to write, the subjectmatter is wide and my role is teacher.

Just wondering (in a curious comparison sort of way) when you do a high content site, how many pages do you crank out at a time? If it's your own site, do you publish a content framework or a fully completed site?

I just ask because I have a sh*tload of pages to write, which I'm excited about, but am also intimidated by.

[Livenomadic]

For my own site:

1. Write a site "roadmap" with all my articles and categories listed.

2. Setup the CMS and make a good template.

3. Write 50 articles to get your site started.

4. Go Live.

5. Write all the articles in a category and publish an entire category at a time. (I normally have 5-15 articles in a category)

This system is nice for me because after weekend of coding all I need to do is write write write write write write write. I'm not a big fan of coding BTW.

[flobaby]

Very nice answer, thank you.

Funny,I had been thinking of spreading out a first layer across the board, but your way of finishing a category at a time is sound.

[rogerd]

I think setting up your major categories and writing a small amount of content for each one could be a valid approach, too. One advantage is that you can establish your primary navigation links and also get your major categories spidered and indexed early in the game.

Filling out one category in depth gives you the advantage of having a body of content on that topic - a good thing from a ranking standpoint.

Either way, I'd get some content out sooner rather than later. This will give you a chance to start link development and get the spiders familiar with your site.

[Livenomadic]

The method you were planning on works well too.

For my topic I have to do a lot of research, so it is just easier to do all the research for "red widgets" and then write all the articles. After that I can return all the books, throw away all the printed articles, and move on to "blue widgets".

[ccDan]

I would second Livenomadic's advice.

Get your structure up, then get some content in each category. But, then focus on one category at a time until you have them all filled.

After that, you can put up articles in the appropriate category as you finish them.

By finishing one category at a time, it also allows you to begin marketing your site to a particular niche. For example, if your site is about gadgets, widgets, and gizmos, you can start target marketing to the widget audience as soon as you complete that category. Just be certain to target that audience; you don't want to umbrella market the site and have people looking for gadgets and gizmos to be disappointed by the sparcity of content.

[webmastertexas]

You should probably start now since it'll take a while for your site to get indexed and appear in search engines anyway.

[flobaby]

Funny you should say that...
The day after I made the initial post I bit the bullet and started writing, and writing and writing.

It was pretty cool, I came up with about 20 pages (they need editing, but the main body is there). I also designed the layout and maybe next week, I might actually have something ready to fly.

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom. It was a great help and gave me confidence to open up Word and begin. Now all I have to do is finish...