Creating a Simple Website Content Inventory Before Your WordPress Build

Learn how to create a clear, non-technical content inventory so your WordPress website project starts organized, accurate, and on schedule.

Why a Content Inventory Matters Before You Build

Before a single WordPress page is designed, your project will move faster and smoother if you know what content you already have and what you still need. This is the job of a content inventory.

A content inventory is a structured list of all the text, images, documents, and media you plan to use on your website. It helps you:

• See what can be reused, updated, or safely deleted
• Avoid missing pages or legal content at launch
• Give your web team clear inputs so they can design around real content
• Estimate project scope and timeline more accurately

Professional content strategists often start with a content inventory before any redesign or migration, because it reduces surprises later in the build.Source

Step 1: Decide What You’re Inventorying

First, decide the scope of your inventory. For a new or redesigned WordPress site, you’ll usually track:

• Core pages – Home, About, Services, Contact, Blog, etc.
• Blog or news posts – Existing articles that might be migrated
• Media – Logos, photos, graphics, videos, PDFs
• Legal and policy content – Privacy policy, terms, disclaimers
• Conversion assets – Lead magnets, forms, checkouts, calendars

If you already have a live site, your inventory will be part audit, part planning. If you’re starting from scratch, it will be more of a content plan with placeholders.

Step 2: Choose a Simple Inventory Format

You don’t need special software. A spreadsheet is usually enough and is easy to share with your web team.

Create a new spreadsheet in your preferred tool (Google Sheets, Excel, or similar) with columns like:

• Page / Item Name – e.g., “About Us”
• URL or Planned URL – e.g., /about/
• Type – Page, Post, Image, PDF, Video, Form, etc.
• Status – Existing, Needs Update, New, Remove
• Owner – Who is responsible for providing or approving content
• Source / Location – Where the current file or text lives now
• Notes – Requirements, issues, or questions

This mirrors how many teams track content for site migrations and redesigns.Source

Step 3: Collect URLs and Files from Your Existing Site

If you already have a website, start by listing what’s there now.

Option A: Manually list key pages

For small sites (under ~20 pages), you can simply browse your existing site and add each page to your spreadsheet:

1. Open your current site in a browser.
2. Click through the main navigation and any important subpages.
3. For each page, add a row with the current URL, title, and type “Page” or “Post”.

Option B: Export a list from your current CMS (if available)

If your existing site already runs on WordPress, you can export a list of posts and pages:

1. Log in to your current WordPress admin.
2. Go to Tools ? Export.
3. Choose Pages and export, then repeat for Posts.
4. Open the exported file or share it with your web team so they can help convert it into an inventory.

WordPress’s built-in export tool is designed for moving content between sites and is safe to use.Source

Step 4: Add Non-Page Content (Media, PDFs, and Forms)

Next, capture the supporting content that often gets forgotten.

Media and documents

Look through your shared drives, brand folders, or current site for:

• Logos and brand graphics
• Team photos and product images
• Downloadable PDFs (guides, menus, brochures, whitepapers)
• Embedded videos hosted on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo

Add each important asset to your spreadsheet with its file name, current location, and how you expect it to be used on the new site (e.g., “Homepage hero image”, “Pricing PDF on Services page”).

Forms and integrations

List any existing or planned forms and integrations, such as:

• Contact forms
• Newsletter signups
• Quote or booking forms
• Donation or checkout flows

For each, note what fields you collect, where submissions should go (email, CRM, spreadsheet), and any compliance requirements (e.g., consent checkboxes).

Step 5: Mark Each Item’s Status and Priority

Now that you have a list, decide what happens to each item in the new WordPress site.

Use consistent values in your Status column:

• Keep as-is – No major changes needed
• Update – Needs edits, new photos, or refreshed copy
• Rewrite – Needs to be fully rewritten
• New – Doesn’t exist yet, must be created
• Remove – Won’t be used on the new site

You can also add a Priority column (High, Medium, Low) so your team knows which content must be ready before design and development can move forward.

Step 6: Map Content to Your Future WordPress Structure

Next, connect your inventory to how WordPress will actually organize content.

At a basic level, WordPress separates content into Pages (static content like About, Services) and Posts (blog or news entries).Source In your spreadsheet, make sure each row has a clear type and planned URL, such as:

• / – Home – Page
• /about/ – About – Page
• /services/ – Services Overview – Page
• /blog/ – Blog Index – Page (shows Posts)
• /blog/how-we-work/ – Blog Post – Post

This mapping helps your web team set up menus, templates, and Elementor layouts correctly from the start.

Step 7: Prepare Content Files for Your Web Team

Once your inventory is filled in, gather the actual content into a shared location that mirrors your spreadsheet.

Organize text content

For each page or post, create a document (or use a row in your spreadsheet) that includes:

• Page title and short description
• Headings and subheadings (H1, H2, H3)
• Body copy, bullet lists, and any call-to-action buttons
• Notes about layout ideas (e.g., “two-column section with image on right”)

Using headings and structured text now will make it easier to build accessible, SEO-friendly pages later.Source

Organize media files

Create folders that match your inventory, for example:

• 01 Home
• 02 About
• 03 Services
• Media ? Logos
• Media ? Team Photos

Use clear, descriptive file names (e.g., team-jordan-smith-headshot.jpg instead of IMG_1234.jpg). This helps with accessibility and search engines when those files are uploaded to the WordPress Media Library.Source

Step 8: Share the Inventory and Confirm Responsibilities

Finally, share your content inventory and file folders with your web team or agency. In a project kickoff meeting, review:

• Which content is ready now vs. still in progress
• Who is responsible for writing, editing, and approving each item
• Any dependencies (e.g., photography session scheduled next month)
• Deadlines for delivering content so design and development can stay on track

What You Should See Once You Start Building in WordPress

When your content inventory is complete and you begin working in WordPress, you should notice:

• Your Pages list in Dashboard ? Pages ? All Pages closely matches the rows in your inventory.
• Your Posts (if you have a blog or news section) follow the planned categories and URLs.
• Your Media Library is populated with clearly named images and documents that match your spreadsheet.
• When you or your designer open a page in Elementor, the layout decisions are guided by the content you’ve already prepared, not guesswork.

At this point, your website project is no longer guessing what content will exist. Instead, you’re implementing a clear, agreed-upon content plan—making the entire build more predictable, efficient, and launch-ready.