The Importance of Content in a Website Redesign

How important is content in your website redesign? Simply put, content is king - it needs to take the lead. 

Think back to the time your website was created. Whether it was several years, or even over a decade ago, take a moment to reflect about how much has changed within your business (and even your personal life) within that time. Your business is not static, it changes as you adapt year after year to your customers, the economy, and other extenuating circumstances. Just as your business changes, so must your website and the content within it to better resonate with your target audience. 

Depending on your website’s age and the various marketing strategies you’ve employed year over year, you’ve likely accumulated a variety of content that either is no longer relevant or representative of your brand. If you scroll through your website and don’t feel connected to your brand, imagine how your customer feels. Your website is often the first impression of your business to your customer, and if you feel over (or under) whelmed by the content on your site, it’s likely your customer will have the same experience. 

Content is a catch all, but it basically boils down to everything you have to say about your business and how it runs. Content is a website’s way of communicating. From videos, to blogs, to case studies etc. Essentially content comprises everything you use to connect to your audience. Content is usually treated as an afterthought, but that’s a costly mistake. Content is the most compelling part of your website. When it’s good, it draws people in; and when it’s bad, it drives people away. People often make the mistake of letting their site design decide their content, but it should be the other way around. When considering a website redesign, don’t make the rookie mistake of focusing only on the design. You should think critically about what you want to say and how you want to say it and let that lead the charge. 

Want a quick gut check on whether your website resonates with your end user? Keep the following in mind as you review your existing website content. If you find that your site content isn’t relevant, clear, and quality, it’s definitely time to consider a website redesign.  

1. Content Relevance - Is your content up to date, relevant, and helpful? Keeping your content up-to-date ensures that your audience gets an accurate and relevant impression of your business. If your end user has trouble deciphering whether information on your site is updated and relevant, they’ll likely choose the path of least resistance and not consider your business as a viable option to help them. Developing and updating content consistently is essential to your website’s credibility and trust in your business. No one will do business with someone who they don’t trust, and a great way to build trust is by creating content that resonates with your customers’ pain points. We know better than anyone how heavy of a lift updating content is, which is why we strive to continuously improve your content not only for your website redesign, but over time to hone in on messaging. 
2. Content Clarity - Is what you do, who you help, and how your customer can work with you immediately clear in your messaging? If not, you have a serious problem on your hands. If what you do and how you can help is not immediately apparent to your customers, they will turn to other options. At VDG, we are huge proponents of the StoryBrand framework, and founder Donald Miller puts it best when he says  “Customers don’t always buy the best products; they buy the products that communicate the clearest.” Your customers don’t need full insight into how you do business, they just need to know that you can help them and trust you understand their problems. Keep your content as clear and concise as possible. 
3. Content Quantity - Whether you have too much content, or too little, in content quantity striking a balance is key. You should have enough content to answer your users’ questions, but not so much that they feel overwhelmed or so little that they’re left guessing. A good rule of thumb is to keep content in each section of your site to ~1 paragraph and support the content with options to read more. Including more in-depth content such as blogs, case studies, and guides gives your user the option to read more about you without bogging them down in the details. Your content should spark that initial curiosity that prompts them to want to know more. 
4. Content Quality - In the age of SEO optimization, it can be easy to fall into the trap of continuously creating content that you hope ranks for certain keywords, but people are very good at discerning whether or not you’re being genuine and will judge you accordingly.  While ranking for search engines is important (and part of the services we offer), you don’t ever want to leave the human element out of the content conversation. It’s a delicate balance, but can mean all the difference for your user’s experience. After all, at the end of the day, you’re selling to other people. 
5. Content Voice - Speaking of people, have you ever heard that old expression: “It’s not about what you said, it’s how you said it.” While it’s important to give people factual information about your business, they’ll remember more than anything how you made them feel. In a UCLA study on presentations, it showed that gestures count for 55% of the impact a speaker has on an audience, followed by tone of voice at 38%. The actual words they said only made up for 7% of their perception on the success of the presentation. Words matter, but they’re not everything. Deciding on your brand’s tone can help in not only differentiating your brand, but more importantly resonating with your user and making them feel seen and heard. 

In short, content is king and needs to be treated accordingly. It shapes the way your end user perceives your brand and is the basis by which they evaluate whether or not they can trust you. If you feel like your content doesn’t do your brand justice, tag us in. We can help lead the content charge to help you develop site content that is relevant and effective while looking at the big picture to create a compelling content strategy that will help you build trust and SEO recognition over time.