{"id":2397,"date":"2014-09-24T15:34:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T15:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.semdrive.com\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2014-09-24T15:34:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T15:34:49","slug":"content-strategy-first-thing-think-desigining-redesigning-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cxglobals.com\/content-strategy-first-thing-think-desigining-redesigning-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Content strategy: The first thing you should think of when desigining or redesigning a website"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nine out of ten times, the biggest hurdle we have to overcome when engaged in a web design<\/a> (or redesign) project is content. It is all too common for us to have a website designed, developed and ready to go, only to have content playing catch up for days, weeks and even months.<\/p>\n

Content is also the single most important and underestimated part of any effective website. You know what they say: content is king.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how good looking, search engine optimized, responsive, call-to-action-packed your site is, it won’t matter if your content isn’t clear, concise, engaging, and impactful. Creating this level of quality content isn’t something that should be rushed or assigned to the office intern. It has to be planned and carefully thought out. Not only will this result in a more effective, engaging website, but it will also make the web development process much quicker and efficient.<\/p>\n

Treating content as an afterthought will limit our ability to make good design decisions and our sites will fail to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n

What is content strategy?<\/h2>\n

Having a content strategy for your new or redesigned site simply means approaching content production with a concrete plan, and not leaving it as a secondary, last-minute item to check off a list. It can be as simple as setting a few minutes aside at the beginning of the project to really think about what content needs to be produced and who will be in charge of it; or as complex as a company-wide strategy that will involve several departments.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the result will be the same: high-quality content that will provide a better, more engaging experience for your website users. Also, a much more efficient, fluid web development process and even a learning experience for a company’s staff, in which they’ll end up with a better understanding of your audience and your site’s purpose.<\/p>\n

Content first?<\/h2>\n

In an effort to avoid the common pitfalls of undermining the importance of content, a content-first approach to web design<\/a> is quickly gaining traction in the industry.<\/p>\n

The reason that poor content strategy is such a consistent source of headaches for any web designer or digital marketing agency<\/a>, and the reason it keeps happening over and over again, is because clients that are beginning to get involved in a web design project are usually not as aware of this issue as the web developers and project managers that have already had this experience one too many times.<\/p>\n

The way to counteract that is by diving head first into the problem. That is, content-first. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every last word and image that will go on the site needs to be 100% done before the design process begins; but rather that content should be a first priority and a solid plan should be established and in motion by the time design begins.<\/p>\n

These are just a handful of the benefits of approaching content production with a strategy in mind and as a first priority in the project:<\/p>\n