Rustam K. Lead Designer

Website content value

Website design should be tailored to the user, their needs and the desired result of visiting the website. It should be focused on the user's problems and the website's ability to solve those problems.

It should not be focused on coding trends and pre-made templates. Design trends come and go, but you should focus on the user.

Website owners are passionate about design trends, their competitors' websites, and what they consider to be modern and up-to-date design elements. In doing so, they lose sight of the actual website visitor.

Too often, people choose a website template or blog theme and get carried away by the graphical presentation or fancy bells and whistles it offers. This is an emotional purchase that replaces the desire to help real site visitors.

By purchasing a standard theme, they force their content to fit into the template's available content blocks. Or, even worse, they force a custom design to adhere to the same style and presentation of a major competitor's website.

In most cases, this leads to disappointment and remorse for the buyer.

The reason why this happens is because this process follows through buying, design, development and finally content. This path is in the wrong order. The process goes backwards and leads to disappointment.

Content leads to informed design decisions first

Documenting the desired user flow, visitor paths, and calls to action is usually done after the graphic design is complete. Unfortunately, this is the wrong approach because it forces you to match the content with the theme or design of the website. It should be just the opposite.

Before you fall in love with a competitor's website, want to use a standard WordPress template, or hire a graphic designer, you need to think about the goals and objectives of your website or blog.

You need to document the identity of your users, their individual problems, the solutions you offer, and the paths these visitors should take on the website.

While graphic design is very important, it must be done at the right time within a project to truly allow you to showcase your website, content, and offers in the best possible light.

Messaging and content are the building blocks and foundation of a website. This means that they should be carefully considered and documented before any colors, fonts, and layouts are considered.

Design elements should complement, highlight and showcase key messages and most important content.

Focus on the right content

While I'm saying that you need to write content before you start designing, I'm not saying that you should write all of your content. This would be a daunting task for most website owners and businesses.

I encourage clients to focus on the main sections and pages of the website. During the sales process, I usually browse their website and look for areas that I think would benefit from using custom design templates. These will vary by client, industry, and target demographic.

Here are a few common areas that can benefit the most from a content-driven strategy:

- Domain

- Home page about a company or a company

- Main page of services and separate pages of services

- Main showcase and individual product pages

- Resource section, categories and/or resource elements

- Persons

- Landing page templates

- Main blog page and individual blog posts

- Contact page

As the project progresses with the client, we like to get as much information as possible about the main elements and how they can be changed depending on the different areas of the website.

Content elements that are important in content before approaching website design:

- Headings and subheadings

- Basic messaging

- Paragraph text

- User personas and visitor paths

- Call to action

- Images

- Video

- Navigation

- Social media accounts

- Search Engine Optimization

In search of balance

Not all the situations allow you to approach the content before the design of the website. You must find a balance and choose battles.

If this approach is difficult, I suggest starting with universal elements such as navigation, SEO, and calls to action. Then start narrowing down your focus by looking at user personas and the visitor journeys.

Get a creative brand asset as a bonus