As a web developer working with community organizations, agricultural fairs, and various associations, I’ve noticed a recurring challenge that affects nearly every client: the struggle to create and maintain high-quality website content. Time and again, organizations approach me asking for website editor access, believing that technical access will solve their content problems. The reality is far different, and understanding this distinction can transform how your organization approaches digital marketing.
The Real Bottleneck Isn’t Technical
When organizations request WordPress access or other content management system credentials, they typically assume that having someone who can log in and make updates will accelerate their content publishing. This makes intuitive sense – more hands, faster work, right?
However, after years of working with dozens of organizations, I’ve learned that the bottleneck isn’t the technical act of publishing content. The real challenge lies in gathering, organizing, and preparing that content for publication.
Consider the agricultural fair industry, where this challenge is particularly acute. Fair organizers, committee chairs, and convenors spend enormous amounts of time physically preparing grounds, coordinating vendors, managing exhibitors, and ensuring volunteers fulfill their duties. These dedicated individuals are so focused on executing a successful event that they often overlook one crucial element: communicating to the public what they’re creating.
The Content Gathering Challenge
Fair events need to promote themselves through multiple channels, including social media, websites, print advertising, and in-person displays. Of all these channels, website content offers exceptional return on investment. The unique, organic content derived from real events and competitions is exactly what potential visitors want to see. However, here’s the catch: this content must be published well in advance of the event date if you want people to discover and attend this year’s fair.
This timing pressure reveals the true challenge. Content doesn’t magically appear – it requires systematic collection from various stakeholders:
- Prize book information from competition coordinators
- Vendor details from commercial coordinators
- Entertainment schedules from programming chairs
- Sponsorship recognition from fundraising teams
- Safety updates from facility managers
- Schedule changes from multiple department heads
People don’t usually send you content unless you specifically ask for it. And even then, it typically involves multiple follow-ups and persistent outreach to people who are already overwhelmed with their primary responsibilities.
The WordPress Paradox
Here’s where many organizations get stuck. They see the website update process as a technical hurdle and think, “If we just had someone who could log into WordPress, we could update things faster.”
However, WordPress proficiency involves more than just having login credentials. Effective content management requires understanding:
- Proper heading hierarchy (only one H1 per page, cascading structure)
- Image optimization before uploading
- Consistent use of system fonts and style guidelines
- Proper formatting for lists and structured content
- SEO best practices for content organization
- When to edit existing content versus creating new pages
For users who access the system infrequently, there’s a learning curve every single time. I’ve found that specialized tasks like updating multiple prize book pages can be completed about ten times faster by someone who uses the system daily versus a casual user. When mistakes occur – and they often do with infrequent users – fixing them frequently takes more time than doing the original work in the first place.
The AI Content Trap
With artificial intelligence tools becoming ubiquitous, some organizations are turning to AI-generated content as a solution. This approach creates what’s known as “content slop” – generic, formulaic text that lacks the authentic voice and specific details that make content valuable.
Content slop is problematic for several reasons:
SEO Impact: Search engines are increasingly sophisticated at identifying generic, AI-generated content. Google’s algorithms prioritize content that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Content slop typically fails these criteria because it lacks the specific insights and authentic voice that come from real human experience.
User Experience: Visitors can often sense when content is generic or artificially generated. This undermines trust and engagement, which is particularly problematic for community organizations that depend on authentic connections with their audience.
Missed Opportunities: The most valuable content comes from the unique aspects of your organization – specific events, real people’s experiences, and genuine community connections. AI cannot replicate these authentic elements that make your content genuinely useful and findable.
The Solution: The Content Coordinator Role
What most organizations actually need isn’t another WordPress user – it’s a Content Coordinator. This role is fundamentally different from a technical website editor.
A Content Coordinator:
- Is officially recognized by the board and membership as responsible for information gathering
- Proactively contacts committee chairs, department heads, and key stakeholders
- Maintains organized systems for tracking content needs and deadlines
- Follows up persistently until information is received and verified
- Reviews submissions for accuracy and completeness before publication
- Organizes content in accessible formats (Word documents, Google Docs, spreadsheets)
- Manages timelines to ensure content is published well before critical dates
This person doesn’t need to be a WordPress expert. They can compile ready-to-publish content and either learn basic website skills or simply email organized content to a webmaster for quick technical implementation.
Implementing Content Coordination in Your Organization
Step 1: Designate and Empower Choose someone who has board recognition and can officially request information from various departments and committees.
Step 2: Create Systems Develop templates, checklists, and tracking systems for content collection. This might include standardized forms for different types of content (events, vendor information, schedule updates).
Step 3: Establish Timelines Work backward from publication deadlines to create content collection schedules. For seasonal organizations like fairs, this might mean starting content collection months in advance.
Step 4: Build Relationships The Content Coordinator should develop working relationships with all key stakeholders, understanding their schedules and communication preferences.
Step 5: Review and Refine After each major content push (like annual event promotion), evaluate what worked and what didn’t, refining the process for next time.
The Bottom Line
While technical website access has its place, the real solution to content challenges lies in systematic information gathering and organization. Organizations that invest in proper content coordination see dramatic improvements in their digital marketing effectiveness, often with less technical complexity than they initially imagined.
If your organization struggles with creating timely and quality website content, consider whether you’re addressing the right problem. The issue might not be who can log into your website – it might be who’s responsible for gathering the information that makes your website valuable in the first place. Does the role exist? Are they being supported?
Are you looking to improve your organization’s content strategy? We help organizations identify their real content challenges and implement systems that work. Contact us to discuss how content coordination could transform your digital marketing efforts.