For a strategic and thorough design.
The majority of websites on the web today have very minimal content, while focusing on the main message of that content. This is why many web designers are probably more used to designing for little to a medium amount of content. Yet, there are many websites out there with large amounts of content - news sites, certain blogs, online shops, communities, and more. When a website will require heavy content, and a large amount of content on one page, then special planning is required.
Get All of the Content Up Front
For a website that will require a lot of content, the design will have to be specifically designed around that content. It will need to be a part of the design phase. In other web designs, filler content is sufficient while the client is getting content put together, and this is because many content areas in a design can be flexible in text length. However, with a content-heavy design, with so many content pieces on a page, it can be incredibly helpful to know how long blurbs, introductions, or other pieces of static content are. Also, if there are variables pieces of content, it would be helpful to know the average size of those pieces.
Also, many clients who don't offer the content up front will forget about certain pieces of content that they'll eventually say they need on the front page, or another content-heavy page that will have little adjustment flexibility. In a content-heavy design, things are tightly fitted, organized, and placed properly based on hierarchy and available space. A web design with less content on the page would allow for more room to "squeeze in" an additional piece of content, unlike a content-heavy design.
In the above example, article titles and blurbs are planned appropriately according to the design, and require specific restrictions in content length that are planned ahead. The organization present in the web design would not have been possible with the variation and amount of content without content samples to plan around. If a new piece of content or section would need to be placed on this front page, it would take considerable planning, and wouldn't be a piece of content that could just be dropped in.
Use a Grid
It's nice to break the grid every once in awhile, or allow variation within a grid system. This is what can make web design fun and interesting. With content-heavy web design, though, there's not a lot of room for variety. With possibly a few minor exceptions to your creativity, for content-heavy design, use a grid, and keep to it. Organize margins and padding in detail within the design process, and plan ahead of time for the size of each content area.
Above is a use of the popular 960.gs grid system, but there are many more options, or you can create your own grid on the spot. For content heavy design, it is also often necessary to plan the grid vertically as well, while most pre-made grid systems focus on horizontal alignment only. As changes in text length occur, that means there is a change vertically. Take a look at each boxed section that will hold a piece of content with a grid: based on its width and the content that will go inside, what will be the vertical length required? Does the content need to be cut off at a certain point, or the grid altered?
In our same web design, note above how the length in content was planned according to the grid available. Even with varying content lengths, certain pieces will need to share the same length, only to be continued through a link. In these cases, be sure to communicate with the client (or plan yourself if a personal project) how much content within a blurb should be shown on the page in question. Too short and not enough content may be shown to make the blurb effective, while at the same time, too tall and it could break the design.
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