3 Ways Purposeful Web Design Starts with Great Content

In the American TV show The Voice, a singer performs a blind audition in front of coaches who cannot see the contestant. Each coach must decide whether or not to choose a singer based on talent alone. Once a coach and singer sign a contract, the coach can begin working on the performer’s image.

All too often, we are quick to respond to the shiny, pretty parts of marketing, like images and design. Yet, using a stunning design without substance to support it would be as pointless as a coach signing a captivating singer who can’t put two notes together.

Purposeful web design starts with strong content. The detailed designs are the added yet necessary decorations that capture your audience’s attention and lead the reader to the heart of your message.

Design-first thinking crafts a look and squeezes content into a generic template. Generic templates work for small businesses and side hustles but won’t cut it for those looking to make larger strides forward with personalized messages and custom web design.

Even those just starting out will soon find that templates restrict their message if they don’t start with content.  A design-first approach puts appearance above the message.

When you insert content into a pre-decided WordPress design template, you force your content to adapt to that flow, which may not fit. This can lead to a disjointed experience and hurt your message’s clarity and brand communication.

The end product will not align with your goals. It won’t focus on what truly matters: engaging users with meaningful content and guiding them toward a specific action.

 A content-first approach rescues your website from the pitfalls of design-first thinking.

A content-first approach positions you to put the user experience at the forefront of design. You form the substance of your website before creating an attractive exterior.

You can use the content to lead the website visitor through a natural flow and story from the first touchpoint to the conversion.

Even though design is secondary, you will find more flexibility. A content-first approach allows you to adjust your content over time without significant design changes.

Because well-planned content is at the heart of your design, you’ll see more engaged visitors, increasing your conversion rate.

Purposeful web design creates designs with a purpose rather than adding graphics, visuals, and hierarchies at random with no strategy behind your layout. Your content often decides what that purpose will be.

How can you create a content-driven web design that is attractive and packed with substance? Here are three essential components of purposeful web design.

1. Establish Substantial Content First

When the pirate crew in the book Treasure Island follow the map, they are sorely disappointed to find no treasure at the end of their quest. Luckily, our hero Jim Hawkins does discover the treasure, but not until after the fallout from the failed expedition.

Landing on a well-designed website and finding it empty and lacking substance can elicit a similar feeling to those pirates staring into empty chests. You wonder why you are even on the site if it offers no helpful information.

Web design complements content. However, first, you need that content to determine what design best suits your message.

Tips for Crafting Strong Content

Establish strong content centered around each page’s goal before you look at a single image or shuffle through color palettes. Your brand messaging guide often contains these goals.

Your content establishes a flow and message. It decides your website’s direction.

As you craft your content, consider these crucial elements as you write your content into a powerful story:

  • Target Audience: Who is this content for, and what are their pain points? What problem does this content solve?
  • Brand values: What does your brand value most, and how can you reflect that in your content?
  • Vision: Where do you want to be in the future, and how can your content communicate that and move you toward that goal?
  • Brand identity: What type of brand are you, and how can you reflect that in your writing style and topics?
  • Tone: What emotion should your readers feel when reading the content, and how does your content evoke those emotions?
  • Goals: What immediate results do you hope to accomplish through your content? Are you raising brand awareness, converting customers, and generating leads, or do you have a more specific goal in mind?

As you write those elements onto the page, you are giving context to your design. Each word should evoke a feeling or emotion that leads to your desired results. You will use that flow of emotion and story to decide on a design hierarchy.

Example of Strong Content Guiding Design

In elementary school, you might have played those story games where you had to sort three to five still images in the correct order based on a story. This game relied on your reasoning skills of what would come naturally in a series of events.

Creating your content should follow a natural flow, like an adult version of putting a story in a logical order. Your design comes after you craft that story through solid content. Below is a simple example of content hierarchy on a two-step authentication page. It follows an order of introduction, education, and then a call to action.

You will follow similar structures across your pages, and even when deciding how to nest pages under parent pages in your website design, you will move from education and brand awareness through lead nurturing and end on a call to action.

Content hierarchy for two-step authentication.

Image from Shopify

2. Craft a Unique Design and User Experience

Your website design controls two primary activities: what people see and do. What people see includes all the images, fonts, and colors. However, the design also consists of the website’s performance and overall user experience.

About 88% of users won’t return to sites after a negative experience. However, a positive user experience can triple your online conversion rate.

Functional design elements like easy navigation and visible menus help your audience find the most important information and follow your content’s natural flow. You should use a custom web design built around your user’s specific needs rather than templates that restrict your content and design to a generic appearance.

Work with a web designer who can create a content map and hierarchy that nestles content within parent pages to promote the most important content first and supporting content second.

Buttons and call-to-actions should also be prominent and easy to find. Use colored text, white space, and shapes to help users find the dominant action on each page.

Tips for Crafting an Engaging User Experience

User experience is much different than design. Your design is big, bold, and captures the eye. However, the best user experience designs are invisible. They are an area of the website that no one notices unless it doesn’t work correctly, like slow page load speeds or awkward navigation menus.

Use these tips to design an engaging user experience no one will notice in the best way:

  • Use a hierarchy to make the essential elements most apparent, like a call-to-action in the header image.
  • Use content hierarchy to decide the order of items in your menu, helping visitors follow your brand story’s natural flow.
  • Keep your user experience simple so people can find what they want quickly and use the site without too many instructions.

Example of an Engaging User Experience

Spotify’s user experience is simple and easy to use. You don’t need to read a manual to understand how the site works. The first page is straightforward, with several options to start listening to music right away. Users can select from the most popular artists and albums with just one click or search for a specific artist.

All primary CTA buttons, such as sign-up and log-in, are clearly labeled with white buttons on a dark background. The entire site presents a unified, cohesive whole.

Spotify’s user experience.

Image from Spotify

3. Create Content-Driven Visuals and Structure

Now that you have strong content and a natural hierarchy, you can begin designing your page.

People are visual. About 80% of people discover new books by their covers, and 60% will buy a book based on its cover design. Your website is like the cover of your business. It will attract visitors and lead them through each sales funnel stage, from the first touchpoint to conversion.

Your design attracts users and keeps them engaged. While it should make a splash, remember that the design isn’t the main event. Your content is.

That is what will convince and convert your audience. However, your design plays a crucial role in aiding in that process.

Every design element should point back to your content and focus on your overarching message.

Tips for Content-Driven Visuals

Create a visually appealing website and landing pages that drive action through effective functionality. By guiding visitors smoothly through your content, you’ll enhance their experience and engagement.

Consider these tips to elevate your website design:

  • Use color schemes to evoke an emotional response (blues result in a calm feeling, yellows elicit a happy response, and red triggers alarm bells).
  • Use your font wisely to emphasize the most important parts of your content.
  • Use imagery to draw attention to the most essential parts of the page.
  • Use shapes to direct the eye, like arrows or lines, to subtly lead the reader through the content flow on a page. Even the direction people face in a picture can help point the readers to the following content block.
  • Use white space to avoid cluttered and overwhelming pages. White space and images replace long paragraphs and allow readers to consume content in bite-sized sections, making your content easier to remember.
  • Keep your design consistent across your website to give it a unified experience.

Examples of Content-Driven Visuals

The section below is from HubSpot’s home page. They use images to help convey how their system collects several tools into one platform. They also use colors to emphasize the most important part, the CTA button. They used bold text to highlight the header.

What is most striking about this section is its use of white space. It feels uncluttered, allowing the reader to focus on the content’s core message.

HubSpot’s home page design.

Image from HubSpot

Develop a content-first strategy to strengthen your website’s effectiveness. Craft compelling content that drives conversions and utilize web design services to create a website that amplifies your message.

When you embrace a content-first, purposeful design strategy, you will benefit from a better user experience, brand communication, and long-term growth.

Contact us to learn more about our custom web design services.

Justin

Justin Staples

For 15 years, Justin has guided businesses on a transformative journey through strategic marketing and design to craft their unique online identity.