Why content should never be a design after thought
The design process of your website is the exciting part of creating a new website as you are lead through a process of discovery, brief writing and design. Once you're past that initial phase, however, you're often flummoxed when the project is deemed 'done' as far as the web developer is concerned, and it is thrown to you to ‘provide content’.
Let's be honest, it’s blimmin' hard to write content about your own business. I know, because I often struggle with writing about my own ’stuff’, and I do this for a living. Then it gets even harder when you then have to figure out some new software in order to upload said content to the site.
Technology has now caught up with what we want our website to do for our clients. We develop the ‘map’ and design of the site at the same time as the content. With this strategy process, we can then tweak pages to work to our advantage, and not be constrained by a framework that has already been created, signed off and charged for…
PLUS the price is far less than the traditional staged approach because the strategy fits hand in glove with the content and design. So you get a finished (yes, completed, launchable, written) website for the same, if not less than an empty shell.
Let's get to the nitty gritty
OK, so you’re still with me – then I think you’re on board with what I’m saying so I can be a little more open.
I’ve had a month of people approaching me for website content. The site framework has been built, and the agency has thrown the job back to the client to ‘please supply the content’. This approach is a bit like building the framework for a house, then asking someone to come in and move it to a different spot. A house is planned, designed and then built to incorporate the needs of the customer, plus the section it will stand on, the budget of the customer and also allow them to put their personal stamp on it. Sure, you can move a house later (usually), but it’s always going to be a bit glitchy.
In this digital age, why are we creating websites by building a framework for them, without even looking at what it need to do? If you’re trying to capture people's attention, it’s not going to work if your site looks like a spreadsheet because it’s too hard to engage the images with the content.
We've broken the web developer mould!
You can then understand my excitement now that we’ve broken down the secret IT walls of the web and can now assist our client with website creation services – from the planning to the foundations, to the build, while approaching it with an organic and realistic process to best reflect your business online.
We can still work with your existing web designer to work with what you’ve got, but if you’re at that place where you’ve been meaning to do something about your site for far too long, we can also supply you with options to ‘move you across’ to us, and take that opportunity to do an audit of your site, match it to your business strategy (yes, even, no, especially those ones in your head) and put a plan in place to develop your existing site organically to where you’d love it to be.
