Occasionally, we’re asked to expound on the philosophy behind our web design process. Where does it all start? How do all of the ideas come together? In what ways is the design of a page influenced by the content it displays? These questions, though wildly different, all speak to the same philosophical rule that we adhere to…
Custom websites are designed solely to complement their content
Web design, at its core, is a medium through which information is relayed to your site’s visitors. The information that your site communicates is your company’s message, its brand and its ethos. All of these things are delivered in the form of content: written statements, value propositions, calls to action and more.
Without content, your site is a group of undefined static pages without any direction or meaning. When we say “Web Design”, what we are really expressing is that we, as designers, enhance and accentuate the static content on your site through imagery, coding and stylized techniques. However, at the core of a website, there is only text and imagery, which is the starting point.
Content is, for all intents and purposes, the most important thing about your business’ website. Content will drive visitors to specific areas of your site. It will give them an understanding of the benefits of doing business with your company. Above all else: good content will transform casual visitors into paying customers. So when it comes to designing your site, it should come as no surprise that the entire process is structured in a way that aims to properly frame your content.
Content first design leads to a more effective website
Not only will well-placed content result in a more engaging experience, it will lead to better SEO, which brings in more visitors, which results in more sales, which — of course — leads to higher revenue. At Imagine Monkey, we always start with your words… your concept. From that humble concept, we begin to develop a strategy. The purpose of this strategy is to get more eyes on your words and to increase the amount of time that those eyes spend reading those words.
Think about it this way… If somebody Googles “where to buy handmade soap” they’re already looking to purchase soap. A picture may help them decide on you but, more likely, your words will make the sale. As a seller, you need to drive your visitors towards descriptive passages and engaging copy that encourages them to take action… to purchase. Nobody has ever bought soap because they were impressed by a four-pixel yellow border surrounding an adorable icon. Rather, people buy because they are enticed by descriptions of a product’s scents, its feel, its ingredients and its benefits.
Here at Imagine Monkey, our philosophy is pretty simple: we design brand advocates in a virtual space. The success of your website hinges on its ability to verbally communicate all of the things that would normally be spoken in a physical sales transaction. We don’t start with menu structures, parallax scrolling, fancy borders or frilly fonts. Those things come later. Those things mean nothing by themselves. Instead, we focus on your words and, as your project progresses, design decisions tend to emerge naturally. They are always easy to recognize because, in every instance, they work in service of your content.
