Like pizza, good content means different things to different people. No one has a monopoly of definition on what it actually is.
But if there’s a meeting of minds somewhere, it’s that content should be presented in a manner that is valuable, relevant, and consistent. This is what the concept of content design seeks to achieve.
Isn’t content design just a fancy, multi-faceted pie chart of how great you are at designing? No, I’m pretty sure that’s what graphic design is.
What is content design?
Let’s say you run an air conditioner repair and service company. You could put content about this on your website that says “hey! These are our services.”
Or you could research what your customers consider valuable content and would want to see on the website. Let’s say it’s your support line and the time you are open for business. Creating content with the latter will clearly appeal more to your customers for obvious reasons.
This is essentially what content design is all about—presenting content in the best way possible for people to consume and take the necessary actions.
In this article, we will discuss the importance of content design in content marketing, how to get started with content design, the key elements of content design, and the qualities of good content design.
Related: The 2022 Guide to Real Estate Content Marketing
Why is content design important in content marketing?
1. Good content design help people find relevant content quickly
Incorporating content design into your content marketing efforts helps your target audience/customers find valuable content easily on your website and ensures your marketing efforts as a whole are not in vain.
2. The content design process contributes to your general research depth
A big part of content design is researching your users, finding out what their problems are, and immersing yourself in where it hurts them the most. This can help you with content ideation and persona building.
3. Enjoy a smoother overall user experience
It increases the value your content provides to your customers by making for a smoother user experience, saving you money you would have spent on customer support.
4. Stay SEO optimised
It also helps with SEO and content accessibility because you are only putting out what your customers are interested in and will most likely search for on the web.
Now that you’ve seen how valuable content design can be, how can you get started?
The Content Design process
The first step in the content design process is to identify your target audience and their needs. This requires research into what people are searching for online as well as an understanding of who your current customers are.
After you’ve identified your audience, you’ll need to understand their expectations from your website or social media platform—how they want to search, how they expect the content to be formatted and displayed, and so on.
Once the aforementioned are taken care of, you can go ahead and create the content. For websites, it’s important that they are accessible by both mobile devices and desktop computers. When designing pages for tablets or phones, it’s important that they’re still easy to read in larger font sizes or on smaller screens.
Remember to get feedback from your customers and continuously improve their experience.
What are some key considerations in Content Design?
1. The User
So yes, a good thing to keep in mind is that the user is the whole reason for your content design efforts.
Putting the user at the center of your content design strategy is the only right way to do it.
Asking yourself questions like: Can everyone—every kind of person—enjoy the use of your website? Is this in any way going to be useful to our audience?
2. Emotion
You could say that this element is an offshoot of putting the user at the center of your strategies with content design, and you would be right.
To effectively design your content in a way that puts the user at the center of everything, you have to be able to fully connect with them on every level you can.
A great way to tap into your and that of your users’ emotions is to learn about design principles and psychology or contract someone that understands these technicalities. This is because every color, shape, or even font you use somehow communicates a subconscious message and sparks some sort of emotional response from your users.
With this knowledge, you or your designer could then go on to create designs that enable you to relate to your audience.
3. Change
Content design is never “finished”. Times are continuously changing, and the world is continuously advancing. Accepting this fact and letting it reflect in your content design is a smart idea.
You would have to come to terms with the fact that there would be continuous changes made to a website or even a blog post that you may have designed in the past, because the user needs to know that you are growing with the times.
Related: Why is personalization important in Marketing?
Qualities of a good content design
If you design content that is not valuable to your users, that’s not a good thing, which is why I decided to put these together. There are a number of boxes your content design must tick for it to be called good. These include:
1. Purpose
Your content design has got to have a purpose.
Why are you designing your content this way? What exactly do you hope to achieve when you put out your content designed in this way?
For example, is the purpose of your designs to make it easier for people who have English as their second language? Once this is clearly understood, you will find it easier to direct all your efforts towards that.
Keeping in mind the reason you are doing what you’re doing helps you in creating designs that actually fulfill what your plans may be for your content.
2. Accessibility
An important attribute of good content design is accessibility. When you’re designing content as a part of your content marketing, it means that you are creating something that is supposed to be usable and optimally functional for everyone.
Keep in mind the different levels of understanding that exist and the different kinds of people accessing your content—for example, users with reading disabilities. The last thing they need is a bunch of jargon, and there’s also the case of people who do not have English as their first language.
So yes, keeping in mind how accessible and inclusive your content design is is one of the qualities that make for good content design.
3. Conciseness
No one likes to read long form content when they are looking for quick and easy answers to their problems.
Good content design reflects an understanding of this. It is often said that less is more when it comes to content, and that has been proven time and time again.
If your users are aware of how you produce content that is straight to the point and is generally not a burden to digest, they will keep coming back because your content then becomes the go-to resource for answers.
4. Flexibility
Earlier, when I highlighted the elements of content design, the subject of change came up.
Flexibility as regards content design simply means that your design should be subject to change. You just don’t design something that is supposed to be for your users to your taste alone, then snap your system closed and never look back.
Having in mind that you are going to have to consistently review and revise what you have already designed is something that definitely makes for good content design.
Wrapping up
Many times, it is strongly advised that you leave your content marketing needs to professionals who could better handle the frustrations that come with making these efforts, and produce better results than you could’ve imagined.
This, dear reader, is where Hera Marketing comes in.
As a remote content marketing agency, we know firsthand how to properly handle everything—good or bad—that comes with making content marketing efforts to give the best types of results after all that stress we took off your shoulders.
So, go ahead, come to us with your content marketing concerns, and we will provide you with the best results.
We have worked with over 24 startups to drive conversions through increased community presence and relevant blog posts that we help distribute. To understand our process, book a 15 - 30 minutes meeting with us.
[…] Read also: The Role of Content Design in Content Marketing […]