Skip to content

Web & Digital Platforms

Content platforms: an editorial desk for hundreds of pieces

Past a few dozen pages, publishing turns into a job of its own: several people writing, someone checking the facts, pieces that should link to each other and a search that finds them. A content platform gives that job a desk. Drafts move through review to a schedule, every piece is tagged, and related pieces link themselves when they're published. We build the review and publishing flow around the people who write and check your content.
Talk through your contentSee who does what ↓
draftreviewscheduledpublishedthe office manager reviewsguidefurnacefurnace not heating: 6 checksjob storyfurnace · RiversideRiverside furnace swapFAQfurnacehow long does a furnace last?area pageEastside · furnaceEastsidethe library · related pieces link when publishedRiverside pageguidejob storyFAQEastside page

Who does what

The roles are set once, so nobody has to remember the rules.
Editordrafts guides, job stories and FAQs, and tags thempublish without a review
Office managerchecks facts and terms, approves or sends backchange the templates
Technical leadchanges content types and templatespublish content
The platformlinks related pieces, updates search, keeps every versiondecide what's true

One guide, from draft to the library

Including the part where review catches something.

Step 1 of 5: Drafted

Drafted

Who
editor
What happens
“Furnace not heating: 6 checks before you call”, tagged furnace and no heat.

Today, and with a content platform

A CMS grown by habit

  1. 01New pages copied from old ones
  2. 02No review step, so customers find the mistakes
  3. 03Related links added by hand, when someone remembers
  4. 04Search only finds page titles

Every new page makes the site a little harder to manage.

A content platform

  1. 01Typed pieces with fields
  2. 02Review before anything publishes
  3. 03Tags link related pieces as they're published
  4. 04Search covers guides, job stories and FAQs

The hundredth piece is as easy to manage as the tenth.

The parts it's built from

Each part is built and tested on its own, so you can start with one and add the rest.

  1. Model

    Content Platforms

    • types
    • fields
    • tags

    a piece without tags → held in review

  2. Structure

    UX & Information Architecture

    Sections and navigation from visitors' tasks.

  3. Parts

    Design Systems

    Shared page parts for every type.

  4. Pages

    Application Frontends

    The editors' screens and the public pages.

Underneath every pageWeb PerformanceHundreds of pages, each still fast.

What changes from one business to the next

Content typesWhich types, and their fields
Review rulesWhich changes need a second person
Who publishesRoles for editors, reviewers and admins
MigrationWhat moves from the old site, and how

A common starting point is a headless CMS or structured content files, a Next.js site, and site search that covers every type. These are starting candidates, not requirements.

Is a content platform the right system?

Good fit

  • You publish more than a few dozen pieces, and more every month.
  • Several people write, and facts need checking.
  • Visitors come looking for answers, not just services.

Avoid when

  • A handful of pages that rarely change. A business website will do.
  • The pages come from records, not writers. Look at a programmatic content platform.

How we'd approach it

Most of the early work is listing the content types, the review rules, who publishes and how existing content moves over.

  1. 01

    Understand

    As much as the problem needs

    We map how the work runs today: who does what, which systems hold the records, and where it breaks.

  2. 02

    Design

    Decided before it's built

    Ownership, rules, integrations and exceptions, agreed with you and written down with acceptance criteria.

  3. 03

    Build

    Connected to what you use

    We build the scoped system, connect it to the tools you already run, and test it on the cases that matter.

Related systems

The capabilities underneath

Questions about content platforms

Which CMS do you use?

One that fits who edits and how often: a hosted headless CMS for a busy team, or structured files for a small one. The model matters more than the product.

Can we move our existing content?

Yes. It's inventoried, split into typed pieces and moved, with old addresses redirected. Pieces nobody reads are listed for you to decide.

Can AI help write?

It can draft and suggest tags. Every piece is reviewed by a person before it's published.

How do editors preview changes?

Every draft has a preview showing how it will look on every page that uses it.

Give publishing a desk

Tell us how content is written, checked and published today. We'll show you where it slows down and what we'd build.

Start a project