Content model

A content model has three layers. Types are the kinds of thing you publish, such as a post, a person or a product. Fields are what each type holds, each with a format and any rules it has to pass. References connect the types, so a post can point at its author rather than repeating the name.

The test of a good model is what survives a redesign. If the page layout changes and the content does not need touching, the model describes content. If every field has to be renamed, it described the old design.

Why it matters for a marketing site

The model decides what marketing can change without a developer. One shaped like today's pages breaks the first time a page changes, and one with too many open fields lets every editor invent a new layout. It is cheap to change before content is imported and expensive afterward.

How I handle it

The content model is designed before the site is rebuilt as components, and it is in every migration band. I start from the old platform's collections to see what exists, then model what the content is. Your team reviews it before import, because the people who will publish in it are the ones who know where the old one hurt.

Example

Say a Webflow site has a Case Studies collection with fields called Hero Heading and Section 2 Body. Those fields describe a layout. In the new model the case study holds the client, the problem, the work and the result, and sections draw from them. A redesign then changes the components and leaves the content alone.

Common mistakes

• Copying the collections one to one. It carries the old platform's limits and workarounds into a system that does not have them.
• Putting layout in content fields. A field called Left Column Text stops making sense the day the column moves.
• Leaving no owner. Someone has to decide when a new field is warranted, or the model fills with near-duplicates.