Treating Content as an Essential Part of Web Design Process

When they start on a new website building project, most web designers in Regina do focus on functionality and aesthetics in their work. However, some of them tend to push the content development task to the client. The most common outcome of such choices is that the platform’s content does not get published in time. It may also lack a proper format, or simply turn out to be poor in quality. And such factors affect the website’s overall value, no matter how well-designed it is.

How is design different from content?

Business owners who hire services for custom web design Regina often fail to understand that design and content are not the same in web design processes.

Essentially, content is the material that visitors cognitively consume on a website. It may be in forms of text, images, videos and audio clips. On the other hand, design is the layout of such content formats and it impacts how people feel while they are reading or listening to the content. Although they are synergetic, they are also unique in their setups.

For the true success of any website design project, it is essential to place relevant content in different segments of the website and make it easy to access.

Strategies to weave content and web design together

To create a website that meets the marketing objectives specified by the client, and does not lead to problems in sourcing content later, a digital marketing agency must give copywriting the attention it deserves.

Here are some steps to go about it:

Running a discussion with the client

By spending an hour or two in discussing the content that will make a website richer and more purposeful, website developers and designers can eliminate the obstacles that delay the completion of their project.

The team should involve the client in this discussion by asking particular questions like:

• What might a visitor expect on the homepage?
• Who would find your website’s content valuable?
• How do you want the visitor to proceed after reading a page?

The conversation should consciously proceed from “how things might appear” to the messages conveyed by each page and how the business owner expects the target audience to feel.

Incorporating real content as soon as possible

Digital marketing companies that still design web platform layouts with dummy text or Lorem Ipsum placeholder copy delay the success of the entire website building project.

The point here to understand is that design will not take any concrete form unless it has some sort of content to support it. It is difficult to enliven a piece of web design unless its objective is embedded in a real-world use case. The idea therefore should be to use actual content on a page as early possible. To achieve this, digital marketing agencies should have in-house copywriters to be involved in the project, or should hire the services of a consultant writer, if the client cannot provide content on their own.

Understanding the business and brand

The client’s business mission and values offer a treasure trove of content strategies that web designers often fail to leverage. By understanding the brand before they build a website for it, they can proceed on their creative and technical work more efficiently. Within this context, the key points to focus on are:

• The reasons why a business exists and what does it aim to offer in its market
• How can its products or services make a customer’s life better?
• How would existing and potential customers describe the brand?
• Who are its top competitors and how does the brand differentiate itself from them?

Conclusion

Website designers in Regina know that their job is about building an application and optimizing user experience. However, they should not remain stuck in new design trends, programming, CSS animations and evolving frameworks. They also need optimal content on the platform they design, and that demands extra efforts.