Website Content Checklist — What to Prepare Before Building Your Site

Content inventory table

A content inventory is the single most useful document you can create before a web design project starts. It lists every page on the planned site, what content is needed for each one, the target word count, and whether that content is ready, in progress, or missing.

Share this with your design agency at kick-off so they can structure layouts around your actual content, not placeholder text that gets rewritten later.

Copy this table into a spreadsheet and add columns for the person responsible and the deadline. Update the status weekly and share it in your project meeting. It is the single best tool for keeping a website launch on schedule.

Writing tips that speed up the project

Website copy is different from brochure copy. People scan, they do not read. Follow these principles to produce content that works on the web:

• Write for scanning. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and descriptive headings. Readers decide in seconds whether to stay; make it easy for them.
• Lead with benefit, not feature. Instead of "we use cloud servers", say "your site stays up even during traffic spikes". Features support benefits, they do not replace them.
• One message per page. A service page should answer one question: what is in it for the visitor? Do not try to sell everything on every page.
• Write your headlines first. If you cannot summarise a page in one headline, you do not know what the page is about yet. Headlines force clarity.
• Avoid jargon. Your grandmother and your investor should both understand your homepage. If they cannot, simplify.

Image and media preparation

Images are the second biggest content delay after copy. Gather these assets before the design phase begins:

• Logo files — SVG preferred, then PNG with transparent background, then the original design source file if available. You need at least a horizontal and stacked version.
• Brand guidelines — colour hex codes, fonts, tone of voice notes, icon style. Without this the designer is guessing.
• Team photos — high-resolution, consistent style (same background, lighting, framing). Professional headshots are worth the investment.
• Product or office shots — real photos of your space, your team, or your product outperform stock photography in conversion tests consistently.
• Stock photography — if you must use stock, buy a licence for a cohesive set rather than mixing free images from different sources. Inconsistent visual style makes a site look untrustworthy.

Legal pages you cannot skip

Bahraini law requires certain disclosures on commercial websites. Even if your business is small, the following pages are not optional:

• Privacy policy — explains what data you collect, how you use it, and whether you share it with third parties. Required if you collect any user data at all.
• Terms of service — the legal contract between you and your site visitors. Covers liability, payment terms (if applicable), and acceptable use.
• Cookie policy — describes what cookies your site uses and gives users a way to consent. Required under the Bahrain Data Protection Law.
• Returns and refunds policy — mandatory for any site that takes payments, whether for products or services. Consumer protection regulations in Bahrain require clear terms.

Do not copy legal pages from another site. Have yours drafted by a Bahraini legal professional who understands local regulations. The cost of getting it wrong is far higher than the legal fee.

Bilingual content strategy for Bahrain

Most Bahrain businesses serve both Arabic-speaking and English-speaking audiences. A bilingual strategy means more than translating text. It requires planning from the start:

• Primary language first. Decide which language is primary and write in that language natively. Translation into the secondary language always loses nuance, so the primary version must carry the core message.
• Separate URLs per language. Use /en/ and /ar/ subdirectories or separate domains. This allows Google to index each language independently and serve the right version to users.
• Design for expansion. Arabic text is typically 25–30% longer than English. Wireframes need flexible containers that accommodate both languages without breaking layouts.
• Right-to-left support. The design must handle right-to-left text direction from day one. Retrofitting RTL support after launch is expensive and often buggy.

How to organise it all

Keeping content organised during a website project is the difference between a smooth launch and a chaotic one. Use a shared folder structure and a single source of truth:

• Google Drive or Dropbox folder with subfolders per page. Every piece of content has one home and one version.
• Naming convention — use page names, not vague labels like "final-v3". Include the date in filenames so you always know which version is current.
• Content spreadsheet as described above, shared with the whole project team and updated weekly.
• Review cycle — content is drafted by the writer, reviewed by the business owner, checked by the designer for layout fit, and signed off before development begins.

When content is organised this way, the design and build phases run in parallel rather than sequentially. Your agency can start building pages as soon as individual sections are approved, rather than waiting for everything to be finished.

Frequently asked questions