It’s the Content, Stupid!
One thing that I’ve noticed about web designers who care about good design is that we often tend to focus on a design as if it were the most important aspect of a web site. The problem is that it’s not. To adapt a phrase, “It’s the content, stupid!”
Exceptional content can overcome bad design
Steve Pavlina’s site is a striking example. It is a bit of an eyesore — Whoever thought that the green and blue on his site worked well together? — yet because of the consistently interesting content, still ranks in the Technorati 100. The main thing that the design has going for it is that it makes the content pretty easy to read.
One thing to note, though, is that good design can rarely overcome bad content. In fact, I can’t think of a single example. (Do you have one? Share it in the comments.)
Content is meant to shape design
I know this is the real world, and sometimes we may need to produce a website design without having a chance to examine the content. But rightfully, design is just a content-supporter.
When design ends up shaping content, rather than the other way around, we end up with things like giant flash intros, unreadable text, and an abundance of style at the expense of substance. Despite the fact that I complained about the site, the fact that the content on StevePavlina.com is readable is a hugely good thing.
If you too, think “It’s the content, stupid!” you might want to check out 5 Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Web Site Design.
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Well said. It’s somehing that SEOs have been pushing for years now. People want good content. They want information - to be entertained. Flashy design all too often is a case of smoke and mirrors to hide the lack of real substance to a website. Userability and the content will always be key.
@Web Design UK: That’s an excellent point. I completely forgot to mention the SEO benefits of giving priority to the content rather than the design.
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I don’t know how many times I’ve used Pavlina’s site as an example of the very thing you’ve mentioned - content is numero uno, no matter what we ‘designers’ might try to do.
No ‘design’ will rake you in 5 figures a month.
@Armen: Pavlina is a great example, isn’t he? I don’t buy a lot of the things that he says, yet each time I stop by his website I’m still compelled to read through and see what it is he’s saying.
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