If Content is King then Design is the Castle
Every King needs a strong, secure castle, without it they would be quickly overthrown by others. Isn’t that just like business, if you don’t set yourself up well you are doomed to fall. Even if you create a brand business idea in a brand new niche, it wont be long before competitors come along for their piece of the action. If you don’t have a strong, secure castle, what chance have you got.
This leads us to the big questions; what’s more important, the website design or content? The king or the castle? There are many who are sitting on both sides of the fence.
Content is extremely important because it is what search engines use to identify what sites are relevant to searched keywords. You content is a critical factor in your search engine success. Good content will also keep web surfers on your website and encourage them to come back for more if you have regular updates. The longer a web-surfer is on your website the more trust you are building for your brand. This should result in higher conversions from surfers to customers.
Having said that most web surfers will make up there mind within seconds whether they will look further at your website. If the design is not sending out the right messages your prospects will click the back button immediately and where do they go – directly to your competitors. You will know this is true because it’s exactly what you do when you are searching the web.
You need volumes of good quality content to get surfers to your site. Good quality design to keep them and send a message about the professionalism and quality of your business. Then you need good, clear content to keep them. Balancing information-based content with marketing is the key and it will vary from industry to industry.
The king and the castle are equally important, you can’t really have one without the other. Both content and design are very important and you cannot do one without the other and expect to do well, they must work hand in hand. The main objective when creating a website is to ensure a smooth flow of traffic and converting traffic into customers. This objective can be achieved only when the site is both informative and attractive.
When a user first visits a site, they look quickly to get a general feel and make very quick assessments about the relevance of the site to their specific needs. A good, creative and interactive website is expected to attract the attention of users for longer periods of time. This requires hi-end design solutions to communicate the message. By using innovative ideas in the design of the site to keep your visitors coming back to your website requires the talents of creative thinking and design. To ensure they stick to your site and stay with you to read your content and find out more about you, design is critical.
The information must be relevant to the site and important to your prospects. Always ask yourself, ‘How does this benefit my prospects?’ This thinking will not only help increase the amount of time a visitor spends on your site, but at the same time, it will help encourage repeat visits.
What’s your point of view? What is more important, the king or the castle? Let us know in the comments below.
