Web Design Vs Content - Which Is Most Important?

There are a number of important factors to consider when creating a website. Two of the main factors are the actual design and the content on the site, but which is more important? This is a tough question to answer. Of course, you’ll want to utilise both as well as you can when creating a website but which should you focus on more? Ask yourself, would you rather have a beautiful website at the cost of high-quality content or sacrifice some of that beauty for better content? There are numerous arguments to support each case so let’s find out who wins in the battle between web design and content.

First Impression Vs Lasting Impression

When someone visits your website, they will probably make their minds up in the first few seconds about whether they are going to use your site or leave and find another. First impressions count. What makes that first impression? Your website’s design. The first thing visitors to your website notice is the design. Have you ever visited a website and had your attention immediately drawn to the content, or do you make quick judgements about the site based on how it looks? As consumers, we are trained to make assumptions about a business and create our own image of them based on what we see.

Take a phone manufacturing company manufacturing state-of-the-art smartphones, for example. Their products may be fantastic but consumers may assume they aren’t if their website design doesn’t show that. We would expect a website for a phone manufacturing company to look sleek and advanced to represent the products they sell. If it doesn’t, we immediately lose trust and interest in the site and move onto another one. This is why web-design is so important. It’s not just about having a good-looking website. You have to consider what message you want to put across – what do you want people to think when they first open your website?

So, your website is going to have to be well-designed if you want visitors to stay on your site for more than a few seconds. However, an aesthetically-pleasing website can only take you so far. If you don’t have high-quality content, even the best-looking website won’t be able to retain visitors for very long. If a visitor has a good first impression of your website, it is the job of the content to leave a longer lasting impression – if it is bad, it can turn first impressions sour, if it is good, it can lead to visitors having a positive view of your business and make them more likely to become paying customers.

Imagine you’re running a restaurant. Your web design would be the overall look of the restaurant – it should look inviting and relate to what you serve. Your content would be the menus you show to guests – if it makes the food look good, they are more likely to try it. Your products would then be the food itself – your guests like the look of your restaurant, they like what they see on the menus, now the food has to do the talking. Essentially, from a user’s point of view, your web design and content are equally important if you are to entice them into becoming customers. It’s as simple as this: good web design will get people on your site, good content will keep them there.

What Helps You Rank Higher In Google?

It’s one thing keeping a visitor on your site, it’s another to actually get visitors to your site. Your website is a crucial tool in helping to boost your SEO. The way your website is designed can have a large impact on your SEO results. There are a number of design factors to consider here including:

• The Navigation

• The Link Structure

• The URLs

• Making the website mobile-friendly

• User-friendly layout

Considering these factors can seriously boost your site’s SEO. However, again, it’s not all about the design. The content on your site is as vital to boosting your SEO as the actual design of the website. Factors to consider include:

• Use of keywords

• Originality, usefulness and reliability of content

• Different multimedia e.g. images, videos and slideshows

• Readability

• Meta data

As you can see, there are a number of things you can do to improve both the design and content of your website that will help boost your search engine rankings. Check out this article to find out more about creating a polished, interactive website for lead generation - 7 Step Checklist To Creating A Polished, Interactive Website For Lead Generation!

The Verdict

You’ve seen the facts, now comes the decision – in the battle between web design and content… It’s a tie! Both are absolutely huge factors to consider when creating a website and there are reasons for both being important. However, the simple fact is your website is not going to be very successful in obtaining new customers if you don’t consider both of these factors.

Here at the JDR Group, we have years of experience in creating websites and ensuring they rank well is search engine results. For more information about how we can help you with your web design and content, please feel free to get in touch. Also, check out this article to find out more about what to look for in a website design company - What To Look For In Website Design Companies In Derby?