In the world of B2B web design, it is often pointed out that the human brain can process visuals hundreds of times faster than it can text. This is usually emphasized to remind clients how important the aesthetics of a new website – and particularly the all-important first impression – are to reaching your marketing goals. While we are not a biologist or researcher, we don’t doubt the truth of that often-quoted factoid. However, it can serve to mislead or undercut a bigger idea. Having the right content strategy can literally make or break your B2B web design.

To put this in a more straightforward way, the words on your website matter a great deal. Let’s look at the reasons why…

Design and Content Work Together

In some ways, it doesn’t make sense to treat content and design as separate entities. That’s because they really need to be integrated tightly with one another. Your content is really just a part of your design, and your web design could be considered just one aspect of your content strategy.

That might sound philosophical, but it’s really just common sense. If your website was made up of plaintext, you probably couldn’t get users to visit or stay. And if you had a beautiful layout that was finished with lorem ipsum autotext, you wouldn’t expect to make an impression or generate any leads.

Given how obvious all of that is, you should take things to the next level and try to integrate design and content as closely as you can. One should feel like it matches the other perfectly. If the layout of your website is modern and upbeat, then the writing should reflect that. Or, if your messaging is focused on facts and details then you should have fonts, tables, and other visual elements that support the same marketing approach.

Often, businesses (and the B2B web design agencies that serve them) treat content as an afterthought. That’s unfortunate, because it leaves them with designs and content blocks that don’t seem well matched. It’s the online marketing equivalent of showing up to a presentation with sweatpants and dress shoes. The impressions are just too mixed to make a positive impression.

Content Isn’t Just Information

When new B2B web design clients think about “website content,” they tend to focus on information about their company and products. Those are important details of course, but content strategy is about more than descriptive or informational text.

A good content strategy will also be about positioning. That means thinking about who your best customers are, what you can provide them with, and why they decide to work with you instead of a competitor. It’s also about things like tone and consistency. Every headline, bullet point, or blog post on your website should match with the others. And if you move to add more content to your site later – or perhaps to tweak the words you already have – there shouldn’t be confusion about the way you are presenting yourself.

All of this goes well beyond filling text into blocks. And yet, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of simply looking at how much empty space you have on a website and then filling in enough words to match that space. There’s nothing wrong with tailoring your content to match the specific layout or philosophy (i.e., short pages or long ones), but you shouldn’t be treating content creation as homework.

The difference between writing basic web content and following a cohesive content strategy is enormous. That’s one of the reasons why most of our clients prefer to have a professional copywriter guide them through the process. But regardless of whether you use one or not, don’t fall for the trap of thinking that crafting web content is just about filling in a few pages.

Good Content Leads to Conversions

Ultimately, creating strong web content for your B2B website (like everything else we do) is about generating more leads. No design, no matter how attention-grabbing it might be, can do what the text on your website can.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that Google and the other search engines love written content. It’s easy to crawl and shows visitors exactly what your website is about. With the right content strategy you could draw five or ten times as many people to your pages as you do now.

The second reason has to do with the fact that good content is persuasive. When your messaging is on target, potential buyers are eager to take the next step. They understand your positioning in your offers and discover your company is the right fit for their needs. You can’t accomplish that with design or images.

Let’s think about this in mathematical terms. Suppose for the moment that you currently get 100 visits to your website every month, and that 1% of those visitors turn into leads. That’s one inquiry every 30 days or so.

Now imagine that with the right content strategy you can get five times as many website visitors in just a few months, and that 5% of those turn into qualified leads. Now you’re having 500 new prospects see your site, with 25 new leads generated.

That’s a simple illustration, but it shows you why content is so important to the success of your B2B web design.

Is Your Web Design Agency Taking Content Seriously?

Creating great content is a hugely important part of the B2B web design process. But it won’t write itself, and you won’t end up with a strong content strategy by accident. It’s important that you understand how critical it is to your marketing success and work with a design team that will pay as much attention to the words on your site as it does the images, fonts, and visual elements.

At GoingClear, we make content strategy a core part of every project. That means asking more questions, getting the messaging dialed in, and offering the services of an in-house content writer with 20+ years’ experience. 

We know that the words you use will be crucial to attracting visitors from Google and turning them into buyers. If you’d like to know more about this process, and how it leads to the content and branding strategy you need to grow your company, connect with us to schedule a call.