By Joey Ricard - March 29, 2022
Web content versus web design – the debate between the importance of these two in making a website successful often bothers many. While some wonder which should come first, the design or the content, others think about which plays a more critical role in driving conversion. Well, in this article, we will answer both!
As a website owner, you will want to present your business to the online audience in the best way because it increases your chances of converting your audience into paying customers. But is it possible through only the design of your website? Or, do you need to focus more on the website content?
We all know that words are powerful. But can you deny that looks matter too? Content may be the king, but looks speak louder than words. So what is it, the design of your website or good website content that leads to higher conversion? And, what should be your approach, design-first or content-first?
To help you out from the dilemma, we have assessed the role and importance of both. Read on!
What is website content? Well, it refers to all the textual, visual, and aural content encountered by the audience as a part of the user experience on a website. Among many other things, it usually includes texts, images, animations, sounds, and videos. A perfectly designed website is nothing without its copy. It is the content of your website that helps turn random visitors into regular customers. The website content answers all the questions a user may have throughout his consumer journey.
Creating the content that matters to your end-users first, is the key to your website’s success. Many website designers prefer a content-first-design-later approach when developing a website. Most brands prefer to place content first in the sequence of tasks, followed by web designing to build a website. Why? Check out the reasons here.
What is the importance of content creation? Content for web designing acts like a board of directions. Without it, the imagination of a designer runs wild. And the designer may come up with something completely different than what you expected from him. But once the content is ready, designers understand its essence of it. They design keeping in mind what needs to be delivered to the audience. Hence, when you create the website content first, the design stays within the boundaries of the content scope.
Creating the content first and developing the design second saves time, money, energy, and effort. When you produce the design first and create the content second, if the writer wants to modify or improve their work, designers, too, have to change the source code of their designs. But once the final content is ready after all the enhancements, designing the website becomes a lot easier and more convenient.
The efficiency of the designing process naturally increases when designers get the big picture of your marketing strategy. Content marketing strategy plays a crucial role in the success of a business. When you create content first, designers know the type of media they should produce and prepare accordingly.
Organic traffic is no doubt the best type of traffic for any website. To generate organic traffic, you need an effective SEO strategy. And we all know that SEO is interconnected with website content. Once the content gets created, you know the parts of the post you need to optimize or the keywords you should target. Creating content first helps designers to acknowledge the end goal. Even studies have shown that content improved by design later performs better in search engines.
Creating the content first certainly has its perks. But that doesn’t mean you can’t or should never opt for the design-first approach when developing your website or redesigning it. It’s impossible to plan every bit of content you may need in advance. There can be situations where you need to add a new page for better website navigation. In such scenarios, a design-first approach is what you need.
Remember, you need to keep an open mind and allow your web design to guide the content decisions, whenever appropriate, to create a fantastic website. Just because the content is created before the design, it does not become more important than the design. Sometimes, content and websites demand designing first, too!
Web designing meaning refers to how a website gets displayed to the viewers on the internet. It denotes the look of the website and everything present on it. However, it does not refer to the software aspect of the website but only the user experience aspect of it.
Website design determines the appearance, layout, responsiveness, look, and feel of a website. A website with great content is nothing without the proper presentation. The design of your website affects the entire presence of your site on the internet. Here are the different ways web design plays a crucial role in making a website successful.
In the modern Web design process, putting the content first gets maximum preference. But, without proper design, all becomes futile. Yes, it takes the website design to guide the audience through the path to conversion. If your website is not responsive or takes too much time to load, be prepared to say your visitors adieu despite having good content! So, let us dive into how design complements content and is equally critical for building a solid website!
No matter how great your content is, it will not shine or grab attention without a proper design. And this is probably why visual content trends so much on online platforms these days as one of the solid marketing elements. When a design template or design sketch is done brilliantly, it improves the appeal of the content structure and alignment, boosting the overall quality of the results. The message you want your content to deliver, design strengthens it.
We should not judge the value or worth of something by only its outward appearance. But most of the time, we still do it! Similarly, though the quality of your website content matters, its presentation makes people judge your site! If a website does not look attractive enough, it will not attract people. And if a website fails to attract people, the question of keeping them engaged with content does not arise. Even the best quality content will not have the desired impact if the web design fails to make the right impression.
The website content these days is more visual than ever. Let us take an infographic as an example. An infographic is a graphical visual representation of data that presents information clearly and quickly. It makes people share the content more, which boosts traffic generation. So you see, the design comes into play to make the users realize that the provided information is valuable. It enhances the overall look and feel of a website and lets the users find the information they are looking for easily.
The way you organize content on your website plays a critical role in its success. Sometimes, the content organization becomes way more important than the content itself. For example, imagine a website having a performance-related issue. To sort it out, you must check the navigation and the organization of your website content. Hence organizing the content the right way becomes essential to making the website a success.
When it comes to building trust, studies show that web design elements are more significant than content. In one study, 94% of respondents mentioned web design-related elements as their reason for not trusting a website. The positioning of the call-to-action button on a web page, the color of the texts, size of the images, division of the paragraphs – all these design elements play a significant role in boosting user trust in a website.
Content and design are two valuable assets of a website. They are two distinct aspects of a website that are highly connected. And they both matter very much in digital marketing. You can not have design without content, and the other way around.
Your web design and content need to work together to ensure a better position in the search engine result pages and form a cohesive branding message. Yes, each of the two has unique contributions toward making a website thrive. The way you present your content is as important as your content itself.
Ignore design and focus more on content, and you will fail to attract the audience. Pay more attention to design over the content, and you are not giving your audience a reason to come back again. Yes, a web design can indeed have an immediate impact. But it takes quality content to communicate trust and make the viewers come back to your site long-term.
You will require quality content and a great design to create a website that attracts, stands out, engages, and converts. A happy marriage of content and design in a website is what it takes for high levels of conversion rates, user engagement, and search engine rankings.
Good website content and great web design push and pull with each other and not against each other! The sooner you learn to put content and website design in the same basket, the easier it will be for you to create a productive and beautiful collaboration, i.e., a successful website!
Need a team of professionals who can create content and design in tandem and fasten the pace of your web development process? Then we Klizo Solutions are here to help!
Get in touch with us today for a perfectly balanced and flawlessly performing website with engaging copy and awe-inspiring responsive design. Let our team of expert copywriters and skilled designers give life to a website you have always envisioned, where content and design work together and not independently of one another!
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Joey Ricard
Klizo Solutions was founded by Joseph Ricard, a serial entrepreneur from America who has spent over ten years working in India, developing innovative tech solutions, building good teams, and admirable processes. And today, he has a team of over 50 super-talented people with him and various high-level technologies developed in multiple frameworks to his credit.
