Content Development

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Content Development & Maintenance

Stage 2 of our website development process is when you develop the content for your new website. You mapped the navigation (information architure) of your new site in the site map, based on the template you've chosen. In preparation for the production phase, you must create one Word document of content per web page listed in your final site map.

Your Goal

Your goal is to produce, clean and production-ready, accessible content, meaning content that is complete and ready to be poured into your site when it is turned over to the production team.

Content Development Steps

Follow these high-level steps to do so:

  1. Determine your content development strategy - Decide if one person, a centralized team, or a distributed team will develop your content. If you decide on a distributed team, have one or two people review all of the final content to ensure that the tone, style, and voice are consistent across the content.
  2. Identify the people who will write the content - Ensure they have the time/bandwidth in their schedules to produce content in a timely fashion. The time to launch will depend heavily on the time it takes you to develop your web content.
  3. Attend a our web content workshop/meeting - Ask your web project manager about this workshop/meeting.
  4. Learn and follow the NYC.gov Web Content Development Guidelines - Via them, you will learn:
    • how to brainstorm your content
    • how to compile your content in the format needed for submission
    • how to set up your initial content Word documents
    • best practices to follow when writing web content
    • how to create and format user-friendly, accessible hyperlinks
    • specifications for photos and images
    • which content is required on your site
    • about event calendars, filters, forms, applications, and programs/initatives (when and how they are used)
    • how to check for style, grammar, and punctuation issues to make sure your content is clean
    • how to package your content for production
  5. Learn and follow the Citywide Linking Policy (required)
  6. Document and track the status of your content production 
  7. Submit a few pages of draft content to us - We'll review it to ensure you're on the right track.
  8. Produce all of the final, clean and production-ready content
  9. Package and submit the final content for production
  10. Review the content in the test site - Log any issues to be fixed in the site review template.

Prohibited Content 

Official City website content must not contain:


  • Any content that supports or opposes candidates for office, political campaigns, political parties, referenda, or bills pending before legislatures unless the bill has been introduced, submitted, or formally supported or opposed by the City; 
  • Any content that depicts or describes violence, nudity, or sexual activities in a way that would violate the NYS Penal Law; 
  • Any content that includes hate speech or promotes discrimination based on religion, race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation; 
  • Any content that aids or incites crime; 
  • Any content that would be perceived as an endorsement or advertisement for a commercial entity or product;
  • Any site whose primary content does not advance a City purpose. 

Post-Launch Content Development & Maintenance

After your site is live, continue to follow the guidelines and best practices within this site in order to ensure that your site content remains in good quality, follows best practices, is responsive, and is accessible. Ensure that you review and update your website content on a regular basis to keep it current.