Plan the sitemap and content
How do I plan a sitemap and content for a small business website?
List the pages the goal needs, gather real content and assets from the client, sketch mobile layouts first and give every page one clear call to action.
What you will be able to do
Turn an approved brief into a sitemap, a content list with owners and due dates, and mobile first page outlines where every page has one clear call to action.
Before you start
- An approved brief from Define the goal before the design.
- The Website specification brief, which has a sitemap and content section.
Why this matters
Content is the number one reason small business sites launch late. The design gets approved in a week, then you wait a month for photos and an "about us" paragraph. Planning content up front, with names and dates, turns that wait into a checklist.
The sitemap is also where scope lives: every page is more copy, testing and upkeep. Since many local visitors arrive on a phone, sketching the phone layout first forces you to choose what really matters.
Step by step
Tick each step as you do it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
List the pages the goal needs, and stop
Ask what a visitor needs to see before taking the primary action. For most local service businesses: a homepage, one page per main service (or one services page), about, contact or booking, and the legal pages. Cross off anything that does not help the action.
Draw the sitemap as a simple tree
Homepage at the top, main pages under it, service details under services. Keep it to two levels. Mark which pages live only in the footer. Five or fewer navigation items keeps phones usable.
Write a one line purpose for each page
"Services / Kids dentistry: reassure parents we see children, answer cost and insurance, push to booking." No purpose, no page.
Build the content list with an owner and a date for each item
For each page list the copy, photos, logos, licences and reviews needed, who provides it and when. Be specific: "6 photos of the real treatment rooms, landscape, from the client, by the 14th."
Collect testimonials only from the client
Ask permission to use specific real reviews, with the name or initials they are happy to show and the source. If they have none, plan a review request process for after launch. Never write placeholder testimonials; they slip into production.
Plan visual assets realistically
Real photos of the team, the place and the work beat stock for local trust. If the client has none, suggest a phone photo session in natural light and give them a shot list. Ask for the logo as SVG if they have one.
Sketch each page on a phone screen first
Draw a tall narrow rectangle. Put the headline, a supporting sentence and the primary button in the first screen. Then stack: proof, services, objections answered, how it works, a second call to action, contact. Only then widen it to desktop.
Place a call to action on every page
Every page ends with the primary action, worded for that page: "Book your child's first visit." For phone first businesses, add a tap to call link in the header on small screens.
Write the headline and button text before design
Draft them in plain words: "Family dentist in South Austin. Same week appointments." and "Book a visit."
Get the sitemap and content list approved
Send both with a short note: "Here is what we are building and what we need from you, with dates." File the approval with the brief.
Example
A sitemap and content plan for the fictional Austin dental clinic from the previous lesson.
SITEMAP
Home
Services
New patient exams and cleanings
Kids dentistry
Emergency appointments
About (team, clinic, insurance taken)
Book a visit (booking form + phone + map)
Footer only: Privacy policy, Cookie notice, Terms of use, Accessibility
CONTENT LIST (excerpt)
Page | Item | Owner | Due
Home | Headline + subheading draft | You | Mon
Home | 3 real reviews + permission | Client | Wed
Services | List of insurance plans accepted | Client | Wed
About | Team photos, natural light | Client | Fri
About | Two sentence bio per dentist | Client | Fri
Book | Which inbox receives bookings | Client | Mon
All | Logo as SVG | Client | Mon
And the phone sketch for the homepage, top to bottom:
[Logo] [Call icon]
Family dentist in South Austin.
Same week appointments for the whole family.
[ Book a visit ]
We take most major insurance plans. See list
---
3 real reviews (client supplied)
---
Our services (3 cards, each links to its page)
---
"Do you see kids? Is there parking?" (short answers)
---
How booking works: pick a time, we confirm by phone
[ Book a visit ]
---
Address, hours, map, phone
The action is reachable without scrolling, and again at the bottom.
Common mistakes
- Copying the client's old sitemap. Start from the goal and justify each page again.
- Content with no owner or date. "We will need some photos" means you will not get photos.
- Designing desktop first and squeezing it down. The phone version ends up with a buried button.
- Ten items in the navigation. On a phone that is a long menu nobody reads. Move secondary pages to the footer.
Try it yourself
Using your brief from the previous lesson, produce a sitemap tree of no more than two levels, a content list with at least ten items (page, item, owner, due date), and a phone sketch of the homepage showing headline, button and section order. Put all three in the sitemap section of your Website specification brief.
Time: about 45 minutes.
Deliverable: a sitemap, a content list and a homepage phone sketch.
Resources
- Website specification brief sitemap and content list sections
- Define the goal before the design the brief this plan builds on
- Build with an AI coding assistant turning the plan into components
- Forms, editing, legal pages and analytics what goes into the footer pages
Finished this lesson?
Mark it complete to track your progress through the course.
Last reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices, laws and tool terms change, so check current terms before you rely on any figure.