I won’t hold you in suspense. No, websites do not have to look marvelous to be marvelous. Long gone are the days when it was common to land on a site that obviously put 90% of their effort into the design. And, at some point, they’d add some good content little by little. For the visual thinkers out there, sometimes it’s easier to see the design to conceptualize their content and how it might flow from page to page.

Or, are those days really long gone?

I have encountered many small to mid-size businesses that report they need a new “website design.” While they may not intend only for a new design, that term seems to be pretty on-target with what they really do intend. A new design at least gives their company a facelift, they think, and when they have that done it will be easy to post text to the pages as time allows. The problem is that the time never does allow, the content never seems to get its due attention, and what lingers out there for the world to see is a site that is merely a sign on the front of their door. When their potential customers walk inside, there’s not much there at all.

So, what I am saying is that an effective website needs a balance of both good design and good content. And if either of the two has to be sacrificed for any reason, I say that design should take a bit of a hit in that battle for your attention. Ultimately, what your site visitors have come to your site for is to learn about something, consider your products and services, and come away with a perspective on your site’s topic that has been enhanced in some way. A good-looking structure and design around that content is key, of course. Design should serve to draw in the visitor, to give off a sense of what the brand is all about.

However, especially in this era of the more discerning, web-savvy consumer, content is king. A company or individual responsible for “designing” a website should take content into greater consideration earlier on in the design than in the last stretch of the marathon.

With mallet, hammer, socket wrench and work gloves, I will tear that monstrous deck apart and hope I don’t break a leg. Anything (almost) is worth fulfilling the dream of having some semblance of a deck in our backyard, where a sad slab of cracked concrete currently sits outside our backdoor. I really should take a photo of that poor piece of crap that looks as if ten earthquakes hit our house. I think I lost a shoe in that crack last year! China, can you mail it back to me?

So, I am not, by any means, what you would call a handy fellow. My one and only proficiency when it comes to home improvement is installing ceiling fans. I gained that mastery by installing ceiling fans in nearly every room in our house. So, if on the news this weekend you hear a funny story about a man, a mallet, and a deck that fell upon him, you’ll know that unidentified pancake of a man is yours truly.

Well, on to the topic of this post…. looking for analogy in the mess that I am about to undertake. It really does kinda match up well with disassembling a website. There are lots and lots of websites out there that have way too much clutter. There’s junk in corners and crevices of pages that distract the visitors from the important content. More often than not, the content managers of those sites stuff that junk into empty areas because there’s no other space to put it. Kind of like that room in your house that has become the storage closet for the muck and mire of your life (we all have some of that!).

Simplifying a site from time to time is a necessity. You might say you have a reason for every ounce of content on your website. You might feel as though taking away some of that content today would result in a lost customer tomorrow. Don’t be over-dramatic. Put yourself in their shoes: Would you rather wade through tons of content that is useless to you to find the content that you are seeking, or would you prefer to land on a website and see clear paths to your desired content?

Oh yeah, back to that deck. Sometimes, a nice, simple deck offers a better experience than a monstrous, elaborate deck. Sometimes, a deck is too overpowering for its own good. Disassembling that deck to make one that fits the needs of its users is the best approach. Same goes for websites.

I’ll let you know how the deck disassembly goes… and maybe post photos, too! Wish me luck.

In this two-part post, I am going to point out the first steps of how to care and feed your website for it to be a success, regardless of your topic, business, or goals. Next week, in Part 2, I will talk about what’s needed for your site to thrive beyond the big site launch.

• Content: Content is the most important element of any website. If you can’t find a way to communicate in clear and concise way, then stop right where you are and don’t even design your site yet. In fact, write out all of your copy in Microsoft Word before you look at designs. You can fine-tune copy later. What’s important is that you are very direct about what you want to say about your company, service, topics, what have you. Embellishing or indulging yourself with fluff does nothing but turn away people who just want the facts, brief descriptions, and in the end, how to contact you if they need your product or service. Each page should answer questions such as, What is the service or product? Why am I different or what are my differentiating qualities? How can the customer benefit from me? How can the customer contact or engage with me? What is the next step or page I want the customer to take? Also key in your content is the frequent use of keywords that relate to your products or services. If your writing flows naturally and is authentic, those keywords will appear naturally as well.

• User Flow and Layout: Paying close attention to how you want your visitors to traverse your website, rather than just tossing up a series of pages that have no clear flow or relation, can be a huge detriment to your user experience and traffic. Using a simple tool like Powerpoint or Word, or a more advanced tool for user flows and wireframes, will allow you to be sure you have the right approach to your web design. It’s so easy to dive into the design because that’s what tends to be the more exciting step in the process. but it’s dangerous to jump to early into that. Starting with the homepage, plot out the pieces of content you absolutely want to be included. Then, do the same for the first-level pages and so on, until you are comfortable with at least the first pass at content and flow. Nothing is set in stone, of course, but starting with a foundation of logic, rather than design before user flow and layout, will likely shave weeks off your project schedule in the long run and save you some energy you’d be smarter to direct toward design work later.

• Design: Whether you are working with an internal designer or have hired an agency that is well-versed in web design, you will want to look at multiple concepts before you decide on the final design. Any designer worth his/her salt will offer multiple options and be able to share the pros and cons of each, and you will need to balance the innate need to find a visually appealing design with the practical need for a fully-functional and logical design. I’ve seen so often how people drool over breath-taking design concepts, yet when the work is underway and the content gets populated into that design, they wish they could start over and use the more practical design that better accommodates their content. So, when you do select your design, work closely with your designer every step of the way on how things are shaping up. With all due respect to designers, they don’t know your business or the nature of your copy/content as well as you do, so keeping them on track will, again, save you time in the long run. Don’t be shy about being a pest!

These aren’t new ideas by any means, but keeping them in mind will help you approach any web design project will make you happy with the final result. More next week!

We recently completed a total site design for a local home improvement service provider – JK Best Construction. The site was built entirely with WordPress, which allowed me to complete the project quicker than if I had designed and programmed it from scratch. More importantly, though, the use of WordPress puts the control of the site in the hands of our client, who can easily update and maintain the content going forward in its user-friendly  admin tool. Brian, a co-owner of JK Best Construction, loves the first impression it gives his customers, its professional and clean look, and the easy access to all the information they could want. He’s reported numerous leads from the new website in just a few short months of its existence. Plus, the site is already coming up in some Google searches, when typically it takes much longer to be seen frequently.

If you are in the Cincinnati area and need quality home improvement services, please consider JK Best Contruction!