You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Content is King”. That is applicable to many forms of online media, and your website is no different. Building content-driven, as opposed to application-driven, websites is the first step in designing a high-converting site. When you build a content-driven website, content, not the layout, is the most important success factor.
The process to create a content-driven website consists of four basic steps:
The first two steps are the most critical and difficult, so it’s important to spend as much time as needed on them. Rush the process and pay triple later (your web designer will thank you).
The content-driven approach to web design tends to be easier in the long run, cheaper, and the results will be more attractive, impressive and relevant to your goals. Content-driven websites have many advantages, among them:
Sometimes website design and development start with the physical design in a rush to complete the project. Slap up a design and just cram the “details” in later. Sometimes even the client wants to see the design layout first. When those detailed contents are delivered, it is often discovered that the design doesn’t fit.
Sure, the design can be modified accordingly, but it takes more time and effort to go back and forth to verify and modify the design based on the content. When the content is known up front, the design must accommodate the information from the start.
The design-driven approach costs more money as a result of this additional time and effort. But there is another negative to it, as well. Usually, when designs are submitted to the developers to code, the developers expect to be able to just add the content into the spaces.
Unfortunately, the content details are often such that they don’t easily fit into the boxes, so the end result looks rather disorganized and clunky. Again, costing more time and money later to fix.
The most harmful aspect of the design-driven approach is that it is not engineered to capture and convert visitors. They also struggle to rank on the first page of search engine results. If your goal is to have a flashy digital business card, then congratulations–mission accomplished.
However, If your goal is to turn visitors and prospects into long-term paying clients…if your goal is to rank on the first page of Google for targeted keywords…if your goal is to build domain authority in your niche…if your goal is to build a social media following…if your goal is to attract, engage, and convert, then a strategic content-driven approach is your best chance.
Colorado Springs SEO for Growth believes that designing websites based on content is the most efficient and effective way to strategically design a site. We take the time to dive deep into our client’s sales and marketing process in order to develop content rich, SEO-friendly websites to get them in the top of search-engine results. Contact us today for a complimentary website audit!