Content Approval Workflow: How to Set One Up for Client Websites

A content approval workflow is the agreed path a piece of content takes from draft to approved: who proposes changes, who reviews them, who signs off, and where the record of that approval lives. Most teams have one by accident – a chain of emails, a Google Doc with comments, and a “looks good!” that nobody can find six months later. This guide covers what a working approval workflow needs, and how to run one directly on a live WordPress site.

The five stages every approval workflow needs

1. Draft – the content goes onto the page, in context. Copy approved in a document reads differently once it sits in a real layout.
2. Suggest – reviewers propose specific changes, not vague reactions. “Make this friendlier” stalls a workflow; proposed wording moves it.
3. Review – one person decides on each suggestion: accept, reject or discuss. Decisions are logged against the content itself.
4. Approve – the stakeholder confirms the whole page, not fragments in a thread.
5. Record – a timestamped record of who approved what, and when. This is what settles the “we never agreed to that” conversation.

Why document-based approval breaks for websites

Docs and spreadsheets are fine for long-form copy, but websites fail at the joins: content approved out of context, no link between the approved text and the page it lands on, and a second manual step where someone re-keys the approved wording into the site – which is where errors creep in. The approval also ends in the wrong place: the record lives in a doc, while the thing that was approved is the page.

Running the workflow on the live site instead

The alternative is to run all five stages on the website itself. With Reviso, a WordPress plugin for client feedback and approvals, the loop looks like this:

• Reviewers open a share link – no account or login – and pin comments on the exact element they mean.
• For wording, they use Suggest mode: propose the new text in place, like a tracked change. You accept or reject each suggestion in one click, and accepting can apply the edit straight to the page in Bricks.
• The client approves the page, and you get a timestamped approval record – with a PDF sign-off certificate on Pro.
• Everything – pins, suggestions, approvals – stays in your own WordPress database.

The re-keying step disappears, the approval is attached to the thing that was approved, and each round closes with an explicit sign-off rather than fading out in a thread.

Keeping it lightweight

The most common failure mode is too much process. Two roles – one reviewer who suggests, one owner who decides – cover most client-site work; only add an approver layer when compliance genuinely demands it. Set the expectation that a round ends with a sign-off, and use a repeatable client sign-off checklist so closing a round is a habit, not a negotiation. If you are comparing tools for this job, see how Reviso stacks up against other client feedback and approval tools.