I’ve been shopping for some website design talent to help out with a site redesign for my employer this winter. It’s been a blast to check out all kinds of awesome HTML, CSS, and PHP talent that Portland, Oregon has to offer. It’s also unearthed a trend among design firms that specialize in small to medium-sized businesses.

A typical scenario is for me to fill out a firm’s contact sheet, then promptly receive a call back within a day or two. We’ll chit chat and I’ll describe the entirety of the project, as well as how we’re going to roll pretty hard with a solid content strategy before the project even begins.

Each developer that I’ve spoken to is shocked. They are happy to hear that there’s a project out there where they will not have to worry about trying to read the mind of their client. They won’t have to worry about last minute changes, the number and kinds of audiences that their client will speak to via web content, nor which kinds of content and content hubs will need to be deployed– it’ll all be done under the trappings of awesome content strategy.

Of course, there could be client frustrations from other reasons: budgets, timing, vision, etc. But hey– let’s not dilute this content strategy win.

What does this mean? It means that there are web design firms out there who hunger for the ease of working with a project that includes a content strategist and a well-executed plan. It makes everyone’s life easier when web projects have a solid objective, strategy, and fundamentals of content before ground breaks.

So, all of you local businesses out there looking for a web content overhaul– pick up a content strategist to help smooth things out if you haven’t. It most likely will be worth your investment. According to the anecdotes of a few Portland design firms out there, you’ll save yourself a headache or two if a project runs into any content snags.

If you’re a fellow content strategist in the Portland area, drop a line in the comments below. Let me know what kind of reception you’ve received in the area during your adventures.