A project is scheduled for eight weeks. Six weeks in, the design is approved, the build is done and the site is sitting there with placeholder text because the client has not written the about page.
Four months later it launches. The studio looks slow, the client feels let down, and neither of them did anything wrong except fail to write one sentence in a contract.
What clients ask
They usually ask whether copy is included, whether images are provided, whether existing content can be reused, who writes product descriptions, whether the studio can write it instead, what it costs, when content is needed, what happens if they are late and whether they can add pages later.
Say plainly who writes what
Page by page, or at least section by section. Homepage, about, services, product descriptions, blog posts, legal pages and image captions. Vagueness here is the whole problem.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a studio might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Client: Do you write the words as well? Assistant: The process page explains what is included as standard and what copywriting costs as an option, including per page and for a full site. It also explains what the studio needs from you if you are writing it yourself. Could you tell me roughly how many pages you have in mind?
Client: Can you use what is on our current site? Assistant: The page explains how existing content is handled, including reviewing and reworking it for the new structure and what that costs. It also explains what usually needs rewriting, such as pages that do not map onto the new layout.
Client: When do you need everything by? Assistant: The page shows the content deadline in the project schedule and explains what happens to the timeline if content arrives later, including how the project is rescheduled. It also explains the format the studio needs it in.
Set a content deadline in the schedule
A date, not a stage. Clients treat content as something to do when the design is ready, and by then the build is waiting.
Explain what happens when content is late
Whether the project pauses, whether it is rescheduled behind other work and whether any charge applies. Saying so in advance is what makes the deadline real.
Offer copywriting as a priced option
Many clients would rather pay than write, and they only discover this after struggling for a month. Publishing a per page price captures that decision early and removes the delay entirely.
Specify the format
A document with headings, not scattered emails and messages. Publishing a template makes the client's job easier and yours considerably easier.
Images and assets need the same treatment
Logos in usable formats, photographs at adequate resolution, brand guidelines and licensing for any stock. Missing assets delay launch as reliably as missing copy.
Placeholder content is a trap
A site that goes live with placeholder text because the deadline arrived is worse than a delay. Agreeing what happens instead protects both reputations.
Timelines depend on this entirely
It is covered in how long a website takes and other timeline questions and timeline questions from clients who needed it yesterday.
Scope and revisions are the other half
They are covered in scope and revision questions before a website project.
Real questions make better copy
What visitors actually ask should shape what gets written, which is the point of how chat questions improve website copy.
Getting started
Publish who writes what, your content deadline, the format needed and your copywriting prices, then capture project details at any hour. SpideyChat for web studios answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.