You need a website redesign, but when and where do you start?
Should you get all your content together first and then give that to the design team? Or is it better to let the design team come up with a new look and feel first, and then fit your content into the new design layout? The answer is a bit of both.
Lead with your messaging.
The first thing to understand, is that your current content is probably out of date. Ask yourself:
- Does it accurately represent your brand and who you are?
- Does it highlight your main product or service offerings?
- Does it speak to the most important market segments?
Most clients’ content needs to be updated first, but it needs to be updated from a marketing perspective. You shouldn’t update your content until you acknowledge your current marketing goals, who you’re marketing to, and what they want and need to hear.
Different types of content
Content doesn’t just apply to copywriting. It also includes images, videos, document resources, charts, diagrams, and animations. When planned out properly, they all help tell the right story and can do so in a complementary way.
The design challenge.
Most clients come to us looking for a visual refresh. But the designer really needs to understand the following things.
- What is the intent of the page, who it is targeting, and what are the calls-to-action?
- What types of content will be on the page (paragraphs, images, testimonials, diagrams, bulleted lists, comparison tables), and how much content will be in each area?
While making a website look better without understanding these things is possible, it’s more important to make it work better. When the copy is too dense, it tends to get ignored. When it’s too light, the message gets lost and misunderstood. The designer can balance sizes, colors, and white space to ensure that the right content gets noticed in the right order.
A collaborative workflow
Designers and content-creators should work together to make sure everything fits the layout, and the intent of the page. A good designer understands how important it is to get accurate content and messaging on the page, and the writer understands that the right design will get their story read, and understood. Together, a marketing symphony can be created that communicates your message perfectly to your audience in an interesting and compelling way. If you can do this well, your website visitors will be drawn to action by clicking on a product or filling out a lead-capture form for more information.