When you’re creating or redesigning a B2B website, getting the content right is crucial. Content is the cornerstone of your website’s success. It influences how easy your site is to navigate and your bottom line. If customers and prospects can’t find information, place orders or access important resources quickly, they’ll bounce. Ensuring your content is well-organized, informative and accessible is key to engagement and business growth.
To keep visitors on your site rather than turn to a competitor’s, prioritize content over design.
But content-first doesn’t mean design takes a back seat. Instead, this strategy recognizes that effective websites come from content and design collaboration. In short, planning content upfront avoids potentially expensive surprises.
Developing a B2B website before mapping out the content is like buying materials to build a house without a blueprint. You don’t know if the materials will fit or if you’ll have all the necessary supplies. Similarly, if your website content isn’t defined, the design could lack essential elements or feature irrelevant ones.
If you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal? We’ll readjust,” think again. A design-first approach can cause scope creep, missed deadlines and blown budgets. Consequently, never force content to fit the design for your B2B website. It doesn’t allow you to think about your business goals, website strategy and content plan. As a result, you won’t engage your audience. Moreover, you’ll drive them away with a poor user experience.
Here’s the 14-step road map to create a winning website every time:
- Identify your ‘why’
- Stick to your business goals
- Know your audience
- Collaborate with your team
- Research competitors’ B2B websites
- Review favorite sites
- Consider content types
- Create a site map
- Audit your site content
- Perform SEO research
- Plan your content
- Write targeted content
- Ensure website accessibility
- Add, update and promote content
