Information architecture before voice

Teams love to argue tone while the URL tree is still a junk drawer. Voice cannot rescue a site that hides the three pages people actually need.

Name the objects

List the content objects your staff will publish weekly: posts, landing pages, FAQs, destination guides, product blurbs. If an object will not be updated on a rhythm, maybe it is not an object — it is a one-off page.

One URL, one job

If two pages can swap titles without anyone noticing, merge them. If a page needs four menus to explain itself, split it. Navigation should describe destinations, not org charts.

Schema is kindness

In a CMS, fields are instructions. Title, excerpt, body, and image are enough for most posts. Every optional field you add is another decision for an editor at 4pm. Prefer fewer fields filled well over a baroque form filled with placeholders.

Then write the house voice

Once structure is boring and predictable, personality can be sharp. That is the ContentMine bias: chassis first, personality second, copy last — so staff never fight the site to say something clear.