How Many Important Content Before Website Design
I’m a believer in preparing website content before initiating graphic design or any development field in the development industry and this applies to both websites and blogs.
Website design should be matched with the user, their needs, and the desired outcome of a website visit. In this present life, all people want to grow in business and also face some issues so due to resolving the issue of these circumstances It should be focused on the user’s challenges and the website’s ability to solve these issues.
I’ll receive emails from people discussing their website design requirements and many times these lists will be focusing on specific project criteria like infinite scroll, hamburger menus, hero images, video backgrounds, and motion.
Rarely do people approach a design firm and present data based on their visitors, the user’s needs, and the ultimate goals of a website visit.
Website owners get caught up in design trends, their competitors’ websites, and what they believe is modern and current design elements. In doing so, they lose track of the actual website visitor.
All too often people select a website template or blog theme and get caught up in the graphical presentation or bells and whistles it offers. It’s an emotional buy that supersedes the desire to help the actual website visitors.
Once they buy the stock theme, they force their content to fit within the template’s available content blocks. Or worse yet, they force a custom design to adhere to the same style and presentation of a top competitor’s website.
In most cases this leads to disappointment and buyer’s remorse.
The reason this occurs is this process follows the path of purchase, design, development, and finally content. That path is in the wrong order. The process is going backwards and it leads to frustration.
Content First Leads to Educated Design Decisions
Documenting your desired user flow, visitor paths, and call to actions is something that is typically done after the graphic design is completed. Unfortunately that’s the wrong approach because it forces you into matching content to the website theme or design. It should be just the opposite.
You need to document your user personas, their individual challenges, your solution offering, and the paths you’d like these visitors to take within the website.
“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.” – Jeffrey Zeldman
Messaging and content are the building blocks and foundation of the website. This means they should be carefully thought through and documented well before any colors, fonts, and layouts are considered.
The design elements should complement, highlight, and showcase the key messaging and most important content.
By doing this, it’s very helpful and also useful for managing the work that we wanna to achieve. Content writing before any project is the backbone of your strategies.
Focus on the Right Content
While I am saying you should have content written before beginning design, I’m not saying that you have to have all your content written. That would be a difficult task to accomplish for most website owners and businesses.
I encourage clients to focus on core website sections and pages. During the sales process I usually go through their website and look for areas I think would benefit from custom design templates. These will vary based on the client, industry, and target demographic.
