In his guide, Paul Scanlon provides a comprehensive introduction to building a website using Gatsby and Contentful, focusing primarily on the data sourcing process rather than aesthetic design. The guide emphasizes the importance of starting with a robust data model, guiding users through setting up a Contentful account, creating a space, defining a content model, and adding content. It then explains how to integrate Contentful with Gatsby using the gatsby-source-contentful plugin, detailing the steps required to configure environment variables and utilize GraphQL queries to source and query data. Scanlon also covers the creation of Gatsby pages from Contentful data using collection routes and file system routes, highlighting the use of unique identifiers in GraphQL queries to retrieve specific data. Despite the simplicity of the demo site, the guide aims to deepen the user's understanding of how Gatsby and Contentful can be combined to manage and display content effectively.