When’s the final time you learn your web site? Like out loud within the foyer of a Starbucks on a weekday afternoon, over the cellphone to your dad and mom, or even perhaps as a bedtime story in your youngsters.
No worries, this isn’t a trick query or something—only a intestine test.
If there’s just one factor you are able to do to make your web site higher, then you could possibly do a heckuva lot worse than taking a while to learn it. Critically, do greater than take a look at the phrases—learn them and absorb every little thing that’s being stated from the highest to the very backside. And actually get in there. I’m speaking about opening up every little thing within the navigation, increasing accordions, opening modals, and taking all of it in. Learn it the way in which Wendy’s makes their burgers: no minimize corners or nothing.
Credit score: mashed.com
Content material: All hail the… king?
I’ve heard for years that content material is capital “Ok” King of the capital “W” Internet. In my private expertise, although, I routinely see content material handled extra as a pauper in initiatives; the bottom rung of the net ladder saved as an afterthought for when every little thing else is completed. FPO throughout. It’s not a lot that nobody cares about what the web site says, however that an excessive amount of consideration and energy is positioned on design and structure (amongst different issues, after all), to the extent that there’s little-to-no time to drive an efficient technique for content material.
However once more, that’s simply my expertise, and there have actually been exceptions to that rule.
The issue, I believe, is that we all know simply how efficient good content material is however typically lack the boldness, tooling, and even a transparent understanding of content material’s function on the net.
Content material is downside fixing
When crafted with care, content material turns into rather more than strings of textual content. That’s as a result of content material is greater than what we see on the entrance finish. It’s within the alt attributes we write. It’s additionally the structured knowledge within the doc <head>. Heck, we generally even generate it within the CSS content material property.
We begin to see the ability of content material once we open up our understanding of what it’s, what it does, and the place it’s used. Which may make content material one of the crucial extensible problem-solving instruments in your metaphorical shed—it makes websites extra accessible, extracts Google-juicing superpowers, converts gross sales, and creates pathways for customers to perform what they should do.
Content material needs to be seen
Content material is like my five-year previous daughter: it hates being in the dead of night. I’d argue there’s little else that’s extra defeating to content material than hiding it. Bear in mind our metaphorical software shed? Content material is unable to unravel issues when it’s out of sight. Content material is that cool dorm room poster you couldn’t wait to hold up the second you stepped foot on campus—present it off, let it do its factor.
The way in which I see it, if one thing is vital sufficient to kind, then it’s in all probability vital sufficient to indicate it too. Meaning avoiding something which may hinder it from a consumer’s view, like towards a background with poor distinction or content material that overflows a container. Content material is barely nearly as good as it’s offered. Your web site may sport the best word-smithing of all time, nevertheless it’s no good if it’s hidden. Content material needs to be seen.
Are there instances when it’s legitimately superb for content material to be unseen? You betcha. Skip to content material hyperlinks, for one. I’m not as soon as of these armchair designers (wait, aren’t all designers in some type of chair?) who’s going to let you know sure UI components—like modals, accordions, and carousels—are evil. It’s extra about understanding the easiest way to current content material, and generally containing it in a collapsed <particulars>/<abstract> aspect is the perfect name.
However please, for the sake of all digital humanity, use components to reinforce content material, not masks its points.
Content material is environment friendly
They are saying an image is price a thousand phrases, proper? I imply, that’s cool, I suppose. However what precisely are these phrases and who decides what they’re? The tip-user, after all! Photos are principally subjective like that, which is what makes them a terrific complement for content material. However photos as full content material substitute? I think about there are far more instances the place pairing content material with imagery is more practical than a picture alone.
It relies upon, after all.
One thing we are able to all agree on is that content material is far more environment friendly than most photos. For one, there’s much less room for ambiguity, making content material extra environment friendly to get some extent throughout. Who wants the illustration of a thousand phrases once we can talk the identical factor simply as successfully in a couple of typed phrases?
Then there are many accessibility concerns to take into consideration with photos. A background picture is unable to convey an thought to a display reader; that’s, except we inline it, set the alt attribute, and use artful CSS positioning to create some type of fake background (faukground?). Even then, we’re already coping with the alt attribute, so we could as properly put that content material to actual use and show it! That’s far more environment friendly than coding round it.
We haven’t even gotten into how a lot bigger the kilobytes and megabytes of a picture file are in comparison with content material bytes, even in an article that’s chock-full of content material like this one. And, certain, this warrants an enormous ol’ caveat within the type of net fonts and the hit these can have on efficiency, however such is life.
Content material and design work higher collectively
Simply because I discussed content material being king earlier doesn’t imply I consider it guidelines every little thing else. In actual fact, I discover that content material depends on design simply as a lot as design depends on content material. There isn’t a cage match pitting one towards the opposite in a battle to the demise.
The 2 work hand-in-hand. I’d even go as far as to say that a variety of design is about enhancing what’s communicated on a web page. There isn’t a upstaging one or the opposite. Consider content material and design as supporting each other, the place the sum of each creates a compelling call-to-action, long-form put up, hero banner, and so forth. We regularly consider patterns in a design system as a group of elements which are stitched collectively to create one thing new. Pairing content material and design works a lot the identical approach.
So, why are you studying this?
Go learn your website… like now. Belt it out loud. Convey it into the sunshine of day and let or not it’s seen and heard. That’s what it’s there for. It’s your pal for making a greater website—whether or not it’s to be extra accessible, worthwhile, performant, findable, and personable. It will get customers from Level A to Level B. It’s how we transfer on the net and the way the net is inextricably linked collectively.
And, please please please, report your self studying your website out loud. How cool wouldn’t it be for the feedback on this put up to be a residing assortment of celebrating content material and letting or not it’s heard!
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