Use a Content First Strategy

There are many ways to drive a project. It could be through design, data, technology – the list goes on. It’s very easy to spot websites driven by design. They often appear beautiful, flashy and visually stimulating; however, you may find them lacking in purpose, thin or voluminous in text, and challenging to engage with. Using a content-first approach ensures that you create websites that present the information you want to display, rather than content that fills a particular design or technological set of constraints. Layouts, visuals, placements, and pages should all support the content you want to present, not the other way around.

Forget Lorem Ipsum

While this strategy may seem contrary to more traditional web design methods, where the primary focus is on layout, we recommend focusing on content before even sketching the first wireframe. A design-first approach may create something that looks pretty, but it is generally filled with lots of lorem ipsum and media placeholders, regardless of whether or not there is a real need for a particular section; maybe the designer just needed to balance out some columns. When a designer has to work with a real document that includes actual text, images, lists, headers, etc., it forces them to create a purposeful and supportive design.

Design First Focus
“Let’s talk about the visual style, the colours, fonts, and imagery you like. What kind of ‘look and feel’ are you imagining for the website?” (You are focused on aesthetics.)

Web Development Focus:
“We’ll build the functionality you need — integrations, forms, maybe a booking system. Let’s define technical requirements and any must-have features.” (You are focused on technology and structure.)

Emarkable’s Content First Focus:
“Before we get to colours and coding, let’s step back.
Who is your audience?
What are your core messages?
How will content guide visitors to take action?
What will differentiate you from competitors on every page?” (You are focused on strategy, content leadership, and growth outcomes.)

Plan Your Content By Beginning With a Story

For thousands of years, humans have been telling stories in one form or another. There are many things we can expect from a good story, such as a purpose or point, a recognisable flow from beginning to end, something relatable, informative, or captivating, a conclusion or resolution, etc. It’s essential always to tell a story when creating content. That doesn’t mean it has to have outlandish characters or some fantastic plot, but rather it needs to serve a purpose. Readers need to have a good reason to want to continue past the first sentence. And all the better if the experience somehow changed the reader.

Content Should Be Purposeful

Like a good news story, it’s important to include key pieces of information such as the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, why’s, and how’s in the overall body of your content so that a reader can understand the different elements and begin to form opinions. Every piece of content should have an explicit purpose; otherwise, you are just wasting the reader’s time. A purpose could be educational; for example, to learn about the latest feature your product offers. Or possibly for entertainment in that your readers will become intrigued, curious, and crave more. Before you create your first piece of content, ask yourself, “What do I want my readers to do or feel after they interact with my content that they might not have done before”?

Example of Content purposes

• Educate on how to use my product.
• Generate interest in my services.
• Form an opinion about a topic or person.
• Provide answers to a specific and sought-after question.
• Delight with breaking and humorous news.
• Create an affinity for my brand.

Plan Content For Your Target Audience

While this may seem obvious, it’s worth reiterating that you should create content for a specific audience. One thing is not for everyone. It is important to define who makes up the audience by creating persona profiles and then begin to list attributes commonly found among those personas. You may realise that your audience may react strongly in both positive and negative ways to the way you present content and how you execute on the content’s purpose. If you don’t take this important step, you may miss out on opportunities or even offend your target audience. This will allow you to create a compelling, unifying content voice that conveys a sense of a matching personality.