Design Method
How Web Design Impacts Your Content Marketing Strategy
In a world dominated by social media, we have all become creators and consumers of content across multiple devices. Content marketing is an increasingly effective way for small business to build brand awareness using sharable content. It also presents an opportunity to increase sales and revenue without breaking the bank.
As a business, content creation enables you to build an emotional connection with your audience. Through a variety of written, audio, and video content, you can share your expertise, offer solutions to their frustrating problems, and ultimately provide value without coming across too salesy.
Listening and giving your customers more of what they want through original content that resonates with them will all generate more interest in your brand. However, to deliver these messages, the design of your website must be able to bring visual content such as photos and videos to life.
The user experience of your website will determine the success or failure of your content marketing. Why? Almost 94% of first impressions are driven by design. For your audience to read your content, it must be an enjoyable experience, and it must be easy for them to find exactly what they are looking for. Here are other elements of your web design that will play a crucial role in the success of your content marketing strategy.
Is the speed of your website slowing you down?
Rightly or wrongly, every website has under 15 seconds to capture the attention of a visitor. However, according to Microsoft Corp, the human attention span is now less than that of goldfish at just eight seconds and it takes about 5 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website. Just to add further pressure, if your website doesn’t load within 3 seconds, users will abandon your site.
The reality is that we are all continuously distracted with other popups, notifications, and ads aiming to tempt us away from our open browser window. Clear navigation and pages that load within two seconds are just a couple of crucial elements of bringing your content marketing strategy.
Don’t neglect the readability of your content
Attracting people to your website is the easy part; keeping your visitors on your page and digesting your content is a little trickier. The fonts, colour scheme, and size of the text on your website will all significantly impact the readability of any content that you publish.
Ensuring that everything is readable and visually appealing for mobile audiences across a myriad of devices might involve a revamping of your existing site. We have all arrived on a website that looks like something from the nineties. The problem with an outdated looking website is the impression that it gives a visitor about your business.
Your thought leadership will fail to shine on an outdated website where the design suggests you are living in the past. Just like your content, your website needs to evolve and adapt with the changing web. If you don’t, you will run the risk of looking behind rather than ahead of the curve.
The stats don’t lie
Even though we are 279.64 times more likely to climb Mount Everest than click on a banner ad, many websites are guilty of preventing users from reading content due to advertisements that cover the text. Considering that 88% of visitors admitting that they are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience, many still refuse to listen.
By contrast, ESPN.com revenues jumped 35% by merely listening to their community before redesigning its website based entirely on feedback. When asked how they judge the credibility of a business, 75% revealed that the aesthetics of its website would play a significant role in how their judgment.
Elsewhere, 90% of users advise they use multiple screens sequentially, and 85% of adults believe that a mobile website should be as good or even better than their desktop website. These stats highlight how much the web has evolved in the last few years along with a dramatic increase in our expectations from every site that we visit.
Is your site, content-friendly?
A sluggish website with a non-intuitive interface that provides a poor usability experience for your audience will grind your online conversions to a halt. However, by designing a content friendly website that complements your content marketing, it quickly becomes easy to transform your online presence.
If you want to position your business as an expert within your industry, it’s the appearance of your website that will bring your message and vision to life. But, remember you don’t have to do it all on your own. At Pelling, we help businesses with our website design expertise to capture the attention, hearts, and minds of their audience.
If your website suffers from any of the issues mentioned in this post, and you need advice or thinking about hitting refresh on your web design, contact our team by clicking here