The value of the content before the design of the website

I strongly believe in the preparation of website content before starting graphic design and this applies to both websites and blogs. Some will argue with me, but I will fight this battle and deepen because I know that the content before the design of the website is the right approach.

I believe:

The strong design of the website extends to the colors, fonts and design pictures of the past.

The strong design focuses on the user.

The design of the website should be designed according to the user, their needs and the desired result of a visit to the website. It should focus on the user's challenges and the website's ability to solve these problems.

You should not focus on coding pre-packed templates and trends.

Design trends come and go, but a focus on the user should not

I will receive emails from people who will discuss the design requirements of their website and often these lists will focus on project-specific criteria, such as infinite scrolling, hamburger menus, hero images, video backgrounds and movement.

Rarely do people approach a design company and present data based on their visitors, the user's needs and the final objectives of a visit to the website.

Website owners are entangled with the design trends, the websites of their competitors and what they believe is a modern and current design element. By doing so, they lose track of the actual visitor to the website.

Too often, people select a website template or a blog topic and get caught up in the graphic presentation or the bells and whistles it offers. It is an emotional purchase that replaces the desire to help real visitors to the website.

Once they buy the stock theme, they force their content to fit the available content blocks of the template. Or worse, they force a custom design to adhere to the same style and presentation of the website of a superior competitor.

In most cases, this leads to disappointment and buyer's remorse.

The reason why this happens is that this process follows the path of purchase, design, development and finally content. That road is in the wrong order. The process goes backwards and leads to frustration.

Content first leads to educated design decisions

Documenting the desired user flow, visitor routes and call actions is something that is normally done once the graphic design is complete. Unfortunately, that is the wrong approach because it forces you to match the content with the theme or design of the website. It should be the opposite.

Before falling in love with a competition website, coveting a common WordPress template or contacting a graphic designer, you should think about the goals and objectives of your website or blog.

You must document your user personas, your individual challenges, your offer of solutions and the routes you want these visitors to follow within the website.

While graphic design is very important, it must be carried out at the right time within the project to allow you to actually show the website, content and offer in the best possible way.

One of my favorite quotes on this topic is:

"The content precedes the design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it is decoration ". - Jeffrey Zeldman

Messaging and content are the basic components and the basis of the website. This means that they must be analyzed and documented carefully before considering colors, fonts and designs.

The design elements should complement, highlight and show the key messages and the most important content.

Focus on the right content

While I'm saying that you must have written content before starting the design, I'm not saying you should have all your content written. That would be a difficult task to achieve for most website and business owners.

I encourage clients to focus on the sections and pages of the main website. During the sales process, I usually go through your website and look for areas that I think would benefit from custom design templates. These will vary according to the client, the industry and the demographic objective.

Here are some common areas that can benefit most from a content strategy first:

·         Home

·         Home page or about the company

·         Main services page and individual service pages.

·         Main store and individual product pages.

·         Section of resources, categories and / or elements of resources

·         People

·         Landing page templates

·         Main page of the blog and individual blog posts.

·         Contact page

Sometimes I will suggest just a few custom design templates and others I will suggest fifteen to twenty. It really depends on the complexity of the content and the variations in the flow of content and the call to actions.

As we move forward in a project with a client, we like to have as much information as possible about the central elements and how these can be modified according to the different areas of the website.

Content elements that matter in a content before the website design approach:

·         Headlines and subtitles

·         Basic messages

·         Paragraph text

·         User people and visitor routes

·         Call to actions

·         Images

·         Videos

·         Navigation

·         Social network accounts

·         Search engine positioning

The more you know and have your graphic designer available, the more exclusive and specific your design will be.

Find balance

Not all situations will allow content before the website design approach. You have to find the balance and you have to choose and choose your battles.

If this approach is going to be difficult, I suggest starting with universal elements such as navigation, SEO and the call to actions. Then begin to reduce the focus by checking the people of the users and their visitor routes.

Focus on the known elements and convert them into a design starting with the home page and then allow the design to be constructed from its central center. As you progress through this process, stay focused on the visitor, what you need and the action you ultimately want them to take.

The process may seem overwhelming, but like everything in life, you need to divide it into parts and evaluate the big list little by little.

We can help?

If you are preparing for the redesign of a website or to launch a new site, we would love to help you. We will provide a combined approach of user intention, professional web developer and SEO.

But be prepared for questions and many of them. The more we know about you and your visitor, the more we can help you achieve your marketing goals and objectives.