What do you want your website to say?
In a previous article, I asked you to consider strategy. I asked what you want your website to do. That question was like an architect asking how many floors and rooms you want in your future home.
Now in this article I ask you to begin thinking about what you will say on each of those pages. This question is like an interior decorator asking what furniture and artwork you would like to put in each of the rooms of your future home.
There are two very specific ways each page will deliver your message:
1. Words
Web pages exist to deliver your words.
Each individual page will need words. Brief, well-written, simple, easy to understand, succinct, understandable by an average person, crafted for reading on a mobile device.
But words.
You will need to generate a bunch of words. If your website has 20 pages, then you will need to write 20 pages of content.
Here is my question for your consideration: Will you write those words yourself? Or will you need somebody (like me) to write them for you?
2. Pictures
Most websites use pictures.
However, some websites have pictures that are awful. They are poorly cropped, or out-of-focus, or not optimized for the web. They degrade the quality of the whole site. They should be rejected.
Think of it from a beauty perspective. If you fill your rooms with things that are hideous or obnoxious, it will detract from your whole house. A lot.
Think of it from a clutter perspective. Some websites have way too many pictures. Every page becomes a photo album. That ruins the page load speed. And it obscures the message of the page.
Visitors become annoyed because the site is too slow. Or because they can’t figure out the point of the page. They leave. And don’t come back.
Think of it in terms of simplicity. Too many accouterments clutter up a room. They make it worse, not better. A few highly tasteful items are far more effective.
If a web page has one great image, the effect can be awesome. That one picture can be worth a thousand words.
Of course, some of your pages will indeed require more than one image. That is fine. Just don’t do that on every page.
And of course, you will probably build portrait gallery pages. Those can be awesome.
Here is my question for your consideration: Will you use images? If so, will you select them yourself? Or will you need somebody (like me) to select them for you?
Originally published on January 8, 2018
Last updated on October 28, 2022
TOPICS: Content, Website,