Content Design Is Crucial For Websites

content design visualHave you ever wondered what should come first, your content or your design?

A Content Design approach to creating your website is your answer. Because designing a website without copy is like creating a book cover before writing the book. It helps you launch a well-functioning website with highly effective content and encompasses content strategy and UX/UI writing.

Content designers gather each content element to establish the correct content flow. They decide, for example, whether information needs to be placed in a sidebar to stick out; whether content can be left out/added when accessing a site on mobile devices; whether the content would be more effective as an infographic, video, bulleted list, or as a separate site element. And whether a piece of information is crucial to users and merits a separate page with straightforward navigation.

 

Content Design is a new content-first mindset that encompasses content strategy and UX/UI writing. Click To Tweet

 

content design visualThese content assessments are examples of Content Design at work. You create and evaluate your content to display it most effectively. In the end, your content dictates the design and ensures that your readers get all the information they need, when and where they expect it — and that it is easy to find and consume. It shows that you respect your readers and focus on them — not on yourself.

So, content designers are designers and writers. Designing and writing are more alike than you think. Both are about storytelling, forming ideas and giving ideas form. They are compatible languages and inquiries that reinforce each other.

This content-first approach…
  • is not a technique but a way of thinking.
  • puts the audience first and offers user-centered content and design.
  • is about finding the best-suited content (words, visuals, media, charts, maps, infographics etc.) to work within a site’s structure.
  • anticipates and answers the users’ needs or goals and finds the best way for them to consume the content.
  • analyzes and prioritizes user research data and evidence.
  • respects users’ expectations and goals.
  • is a form of digital ethnography.
  • ensures that design and information work together and are accessible.
  • guarantees that each word fulfills a purpose.
  • is part of the product creation process from the get-go.

Designing content-first is an essential approach to reaching your site visitors and respecting your readers.

Your Content and the Semantic Web

Should Reading Behavior Affect Your Design?

Newsletter Signup   

 

I’ll be in your inbox periodically with actionable content + design tips and tricks, checklists and tools that you can apply immediately. I’ll share with you links to relevant blog posts (mine and curated recommended must reads) and other engaging content that will help you amplify your message and find the right site design. 

 

 

Copyright © Tekla Szymanski Content + Design LLC. All rights reserved. Please share/quote with attribution.

 

About the author

Content Designer, Editor, Writer and Web Developer for content-rich websites with a global reach. Founder of Content+Design™ LLC. Helping you focus on your content to get your message out.

Why Content + Design™ LLC?

This is your one-stop shop for content-rich websites: content strategy, content design, site care.
Why me, you ask? Most web designers and developers don’t have a content-creating background. And many content designers don’t have creative experience.
I have both.
Together, we’ll amplify your message and adapt the right design to it.

FREEBIES DOWNLOAD

Newsletter

30-Minute Consultation Call

CTA Call widgetLet’s brainstorm how you can improve your site’s content + design with actionable steps.

Certifications

NYS-certified woman-owned business

Google-certified Project Management

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Yoast Structured Data

Yoast Keyword Research

Memberships

NYWICI Award-winning member

 

EFA Member

 

Ellevate Member

 

Society of Professional Journalists
Freelancer Union

 

National Writers Union

 

PEN Editors Network

 

Pen America

Copyright

Creative Commons License

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Please share and attribute. Don’t copy. Thank you.

error: All content © Tekla Szymanski. Copying disabled. Please share instead. Thank you.