Content is king. It’s an old cliche amongst website providers…but it is most certainly still true and always will be. A web designer’s job is to effectively and attractively display a website’s content. Too many people place too low a priority on their website’s content when planning a web project.
Having a sleek design or fancy web function is sexy but it is all too easy to place form over function. Very few people will browse your site just to see the pretty design. They come for information. While design can present that information in a way that enhances your brand or image, the information is their purpose in coming. An attractive, well-planned website can help a customer to feel more comfortable with you, but it is moreso the content of the site that will make your phone ring.
It is interesting that the most significant challenge that web designers have is that of obtaining content from their client. Many clients believe it should be the website designer’s job to create the content. You should never let a website designer create your content. No one knows your business better than you do, and that is why you should prepare your own content. We can help polish your content, look at it from a marketing perspective to help you make it more effective, but the meat of the content should come from you. Start with a list of everything you want to present to prospective customers. From there, create an outline so you can identify what information you want on which page. Then develop the sections of content that will be more detailed. Remember, it doesn’t have to be intricate. You want content that be easily scanned and layered.
What do we mean by layered? Well think about the way that you browse the internet. You browse by making decisions in layers. When you arrive at a site, you quickly glance across the screen and you make your first decision…is this site relevant? If not, you leave. If it is, you continue to another layer of decision. You scan what is relevant and look at the material presented. Here you make another decision…is the information being presented helpful and informative? Upon finding the site relevant and the information helpful, some will immediately make contact and seek to gain information in person. Others will want more and will seek another layer of information. This is where detailed content like articles become important…the final layer, the most detailed and intricate part of the content. The part that is both the most work and the least viewed part of the site.
The truth is that few visitors will actually read all of your content. But that doesn’t make it less important. The more content you have, the more relevant you’ll be in the search engines, and the more people will visit your site. Even if they don’t read the content, having it their attracts them to your site.
I also highly recommend that you read my article called Tips for Planning Your Website. You will find some great suggestions on preparing your content and planning you web project.
Finally, don’t let the writing of your content overwhelm you. Invest an appropriate amount of time in pulling it together. If you find that you are having difficulty, or need help polishing it, let us know...we will gladly review it and send you suggestions, revisions, or recommendations. It is also possible to hire professional web content writers to draft your content. If you’d like to utilize such a service, we will be happy to help you.