Designers are often hit with this overwhelming need to use the greatest and latest features to display our designs. But what we are doing is creating an illusion. We’re clouding our designs in magic. We do this because often times the content we are using to build our sites is weak at best. Maybe it’s too dry. Maybe it’s poorly written. Maybe it just doesn’t tell you anything. But all these things make us feel uneasy. So what do we do? We add glitter and spicy it up with CSS or Javascript magic.
However, we don’t need to do this. There is a better way. If we pushed back on what’s actually important on our sites by asking ourselves what is the overall purpose of this section or what do we want our readers to get out of this then we start to remove the illusions. Fellow designers have preached about less is more and about how to trim out the stuff that clutters our sites. This usually deals with visual design elements, but I believe it can be done with content as well. I mean what really makes some blogs so successful? It’s not the design or the length of an article. It’s what goes into the article that makes it great. The same goes for offline materials like books. We don’t judge the quality of a book by how thick it is. We judge it on our emotional connection to the writing style and the content.
All content should tell a story. Not a narrative as such but it should leave you feeling like you’ve gone through a journey. I think this can be applied even to medical or law content. Give the readers a sense of completion once they finish. This can be done through several different methods. Speak in a language that is appropriate to your audience. Don’t make them feel stupid. You want them to come back and read more so guide them through your content by showing support along the way. You can do this through short callouts that better describe complex ideas or definitions. You can also add a visual since a picture can be worth a thousand words. Remember you are not writing for yourself. You might know an expert in everything you want to post but maybe it’s beyond the scope of the reader. See the content from their perspective, rather than yours. Make changes to the content that will help enhance it and further the readers ability to understand it.
Whatever you do, don’t misdirect your readers by creating an illusion of glamour and gloss. Readers know when you’re trying to hard. Your readers are a lot smarter than you may give them credit for. Don’t be the Wizard of Oz hiding behind a curtain. Drop the curtain all together and let them see you and your content in all its glory. Your reader is more likely to forgive you for your shortcoming if you just lay it out on the table instead of hiding them behind some sort of magic.
Finally, if your content is weak. Spend some time with it. Look at it from a reader’s perspective. Ask yourself how this can be rewritten to suit your reader. If you can’t see it in that way then test it with prospective readers. Get them involved. This will not only strengthen your relationship with them but will provide you with future insights into how your readers think. Find the benefits in your content. Bring emphasis to the important pieces. You might realize it’s all fluff and that’s ok. The next round will be better. No writer has ever written a novel without revisions. Our content should be treated the same way.
Sell the story, not the magic trick.
