In the previous post, the focus was on the basics of good web design. However, there is one aspect of your web design project that is at least as important as whether or not your design looks good because it governs how well you are able to draw and keep visitors. Your brand’s message is important and this is most clearly communicated in your website’s content. To be perfectly honest with you, creating strong website content can be very challenging. In fact, when I first started out, I was surprised by the number of clients that hadn’t even really given it much thought! Sure, they had a product or service to sell, but they hadn’t really considered what they wanted their audiences to know about them. What was so good about what they had that they should get it from them rather than someone else? Good content creation takes time, effort, and planning, but it’s worth it if it means getting your intended message across effectively. High-quality content sets a website apart from the rest and brings visitors back time and time again.
Here are four things to consider when it comes to the content of your website:
Website Content Drives Traffic
Simply getting visitors to your website requires the right kind of content, let alone convincing them to hang out there for a while! Content is also important to your website’s search engine optimization, or SEO for short. SEO is responsible for improving a site’s rankings on the organic (meaning non-paid) search results. When someone searches for something in Google or any other search engine, the algorithm is optimized to bring them what it thinks is the best result. How it makes this decision is by examining the relevancy of the content. For example, a user searching for IKEA furniture doesn’t want to see results for car parts! The better and more relevant the content, the higher your website’s rank will be in search engines. Of course, the higher the rank, the more easily you can be found by prospective customers, which in turn drives even more traffic.
Website Content Keeps Visitors Engaged
Engaging content keeps visitors on a website longer. It encourages them to explore more pages and to come back again in the future. On the other hand, boring or difficult-to-read content will cause visitors to leave quickly. It sounds so simple, but again, it takes some time to plan and get this particular aspect of content creation right. Nevertheless, content is essential for keeping visitors interested and spending some time thinking about and planning content of your website will be one of the best uses of your time in planning any web design project.
Website Content Helps to Convert Visitors into Customers
The goal of many websites, particularly those marketing a product or service, is to convert visitors into customers or leads. This is more likely to happen when visitors find that the website content satisfactory in terms of addressing their needs. Remember: visitors come to your website because they have a problem and they need to know how you intend to solve it. If after reading your website content they feel confident in the solution you are offering, visitors are more likely to take the desired action, whether it’s buying that product, booking an appointment, etc.
Website Content Builds Trust
Good website content helps to build trust between a business and its visitors. If visitors find enough of your content useful, over time they will come to view you as an expert in your field and you can’t beat the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you are hanging onto the words of and buying from someone that really knows their stuff!
As you go about planning your website, take some time to think about what you want it to convey. What do you want your visitors to know or feel when about your brand? These things will form the basis for your website content. Know what you want to say and exactly how you want to say it and you’ll already be halfway to accomplishing your goals! First Creation Media prides ourselves on being good partners throughout the brainstorming phase, so if you have any questions or need help, we’re here for you!