Is Design or Content More Important for Your Website? (Hint: it's a trick question)
Would you show up to a business presentation in ripped jeans or a wrinkled suit?
A web designer we know recently compared having an ugly website with showing up to a presentation in a wrinkled suit. As writers, we hold a similar view of badly written copy on your website. It’s like showing up to a business meeting unprepared and rambling incoherently.
Imagine how much easier it is to convince your audience when your appearance and your words are equally impressive.
The words on your website matter
Expressing your ideas clearly and effectively can be a powerful tool to persuade your ideal client that you’re exactly what they need. And good writing is crucial for establishing your professionalism. No matter how beautiful your website or how nice your navigation, if the text is awkward, meandering, ungrammatical, or unclear, it’s like scribbling on the Mona Lisa.
Here’s an example that’s not as far removed from reality as you might imagine:
Good content can only get you so far
If your site is ugly, difficult to navigate, and fails to convey your brand, then even the best writing won’t be enough to wow customers. If you have a terrific social media presence or blog that drives traffic to a site that was designed in 1998, you’ll lose much of the goodwill you’ve built up. It’s like putting lipstick on a pig.
Your website and your words should match
If you have amazing content and a beautifully designed website that coordinates, then the world is your proverbial oyster. With the right words and elegant design, your potential customers will see you as professional, successful, and trustworthy. You’ll have an online presence that fully conveys how terrific you are. Just don’t ever do anything you’ve seen on Bad HTML.com.
Which should you focus on first?
When working on a website refresh, the copy often comes first, and then the website design is created around it. However, this could also depend on where you’re weakest. If the text on your site reads as though it was written by a C-average high school student, your first priority should be a rewrite. If your website has unreadable fonts, hideous colors, flashing text, and broken images, you need to fix that ASAP.
As writers, we still love words best, but we know that if your website is ugly, no one’s going to read them anyway. If you want a great website, you need to address both the look and the language.
Need help figuring out if your website and words need a makeover? Give us a shout.