You may think that having a good website relies solely on good coding, amazing landing pages, intelligent design choices and a great user experience.
You’re not wrong, these are the top web design basics – however, content in web design is often overlooked and is an integral element to remember when planning a new website.
A good web designer understands the importance of content concerning the other design elements of the website. You may find that a great piece of content can tie a website together, too!
We’re going to discuss content in web design and how creating great content for websites is a core element of any good website design.
Why is content in web design important?
While we know that top-quality imagery, a smooth navigation experience and clean web design will help bring people to your website, the content is what will provide most of its meaning. Content rich websites allow your visitors to understand what a website is about and what actions to take while visiting a website.
One thing to remember is that content on websites serve a unique purpose. For instance, content in web design may answer customer questions at first glance, and therefore reduce the need for additional contact.
Notably, content creation for websites is key to telling your brand story and sharing your brand purpose. Without content like images, blog posts, web pages and videos that explain your products and services, you won’t have much of a website beyond a bare shell. These elements can be considered different pieces of content that will come together to perfect your brand image.
It’s crucial that, when looking at content creation for websites, the content you use is meaningful and communicates something particular about your brand that works well with its design.
Using content in web design as a foundation
Have you considered the possibility of building your website around content? The importance of content for your website means that it should become a priority.
You may find that creators who pursue content creation for websites will work better with copywriters when sharing a common goal, producing a fantastic website! Joining forces helps improve the quality of work and supports all creative parties in understanding how their content in web design fits together.
If you would like to try this out, an excellent first step would be to understand your website’s end goals. Then, have a look at some of your favourite content rich websites and check out which content you enjoy most. Remember that a rich content website will have a lot of content to choose from – including blog posts, articles, ebooks and guides, videos, infographics, graphic design assets and much more!
Once you know the kind of content pieces you will need, you can start organising your content and design requirements in a structured manner. A popular way of working involves creating a wireframe or sitemap that you can alter and refer to during the web design process. Start with the essential pieces of content first, as you can always add new content for websites later.
You could also try using a project management solution or asking experts to help plan your website and content creation for websites if needed!
Using Content in Web Design for SEO
Did you know that you can boost your SEO rankings by using some creative content?
Content rich websites can help improve your website’s usability. It’s more probable that a user-friendly website will encourage visitors to stay on your pages longer before returning to search engine results pages. Google will recognise this behaviour and reward you with a higher ranking for using content in web design.
Simply put, content creation for websites is undoubtedly necessary to improve your SEO ranking. Throw in a couple of regular blog posts or articles, and you will be well on your way to ranking well for industry-specific keywords that can boost your web traffic even more.
A rich content website will also offer an excellent opportunity to add internal links. An internal link uses a phrase within your content that hyperlinks to a relevant page on your website. Using internal linking is an excellent way to show users extra information that they will enjoy.
Search engines like seeing internal links throughout a website, as they will crawl and index the pages on your website using your internal links. Therefore, having more internal links can help your website be indexed by search engines faster.
Common mistakes to avoid when creating content for your website
While planning content in web design, you may be tempted to hurry your release date to get your website live as soon as possible. Don’t underestimate the importance of content in your web design!
Here are some things you want to avoid when looking at content in web design:
- Don’t design your website before you have planned most of your content. The web design and content should complement each other well. Remember that you will likely add new content as time goes by, so select a design that’s flexible enough for new content.
- Don’t be tempted to launch your website early and start driving traffic to your site before it’s ready.
- Don’t launch your website until you’ve tested your website on all platforms and browsers, including various devices and screen sizes. For instance, check your website on a mobile device, a tablet, and a computer if possible.
- Don’t set unrealistic expectations. You can’t expect your website to become a sensation overnight. Content creation for websites, and web design itself, is a challenging process. However, bringing traffic to a brand new site is even more challenging. If you can show some patience and stick with the process, you will find success in due time.
- Don’t create content for the sake of it. While having lots of content on your website is good, make sure that you’re still producing high-quality content that is useful to your audience. Always focus on quality over quantity when it comes to content for your website.
Here are a few more do’s and don’ts of web design.
Do you have enough strong content on your website?
Content in web design should become an integral element of website planning and production. Content creation for websites involves many vital components, including imagery, videos, articles, blog posts and much more.
Don’t underestimate the importance of content when building a website, as the content you use will play a key role in showcasing your brand story and message to the world.
Some of the best content rich websites understand the importance of content and know that you should build web design with specific pieces of content in mind.
Need help with content in web design, or any component relating to building a brand new website? Get in touch with BigToe Creatives today or check out some of our work!
