Taylor Simmons on September 26, 2022
When designing your website, Fyresite often asks you to supply us content. Content is important for your website, and good content is imperative for a successful website. When asked for content, you may not be certain what would be good content. Worry not, this blog is here to help you break down what makes good versus bad content.
What Good Content Looks Like For…
There are many types of content. We have broken down what qualifies as good content for the most common content below.
Brand Guide
Having a brand guide ensures our designers work within your brand.
Logos
Vector graphics are preferred. Make sure to outline font strokes. If using variations, knowing the use case helps.
Fonts
If you’re using a paid font, be sure to include license in the font file.
Photos
Photos need to be high resolution. The resolution needed will depend on the type of image. For example, a header image has an ideal resolution of 1024 pixels, while a background image is ideally 1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high. Logos will vary depending on if it has a retina option or not.
Photos should be a variety of products, lifestyles, and stock.
It’s also important to have SEO (Search Engine Optimization) descriptions
This should be done ahead of time. Photos should also have descriptive titles, file names, captions, and text for images.
Also, make sure to use a descriptive alt title. This improves accessibility for people who can’t see the website, such as those who use screen-readers or have a poor connection
File size is also important when optimizing images. File size for images should be as small as possible without reducing quality in order to optimize your site load speed.
Written Content
Written content should be optimized for SEO and your users. You can learn more about SEO practices here.
High-Quality Reviews
Ideally reviews should have images of the reviewer and your product. Images of the reviewer helps your customers trust the review more.
Videos
Videos should be high-quality, 1080p. Videos should also show a variety of products, users, lifestyle, and reviews. They can be used on product detail pages, homepage, banners. Size matters too. Smaller videos can be used throughout the site, while longer videos should be embedded.
In addition, good content is ready before the project kicks off. This ensures that your website can be finished on the scoped timeline. If you wait until after the kickoff, then the timeline may shift and cost you more money.
What Bad Content Looks Like For…
There are many types of content. We have broken down what qualifies as bad content for the most common content below.
Brand Guide
Brand is undefined and/or inconsistent.
Logos
Blurry, low resolution logos confuse customers.
Fonts
Using a paid font either without permission and/or without paying. Licensing not in the font file is also concerning.
Photos
Blurry, low resolution photos that do not show products/people positively or at all. Outdated photos or generic/overused stock photos. Uses logos of another company. Not optimizing file size will also slows down site speed.
Photos that are based solely on a trend, not ‘evergreen’. While sometimes content based on a trend or season will work for your brand, they are not ideal if you don’t want to change the photo with every new trend/season.
Not enough options are also a bad practice. If you are low on photos, reconsider how many places you want photos on your website.
Written Content
Content that is too short or too long is not optimal. Also not focused on products or what value they bring.
Content that is formatted incorrectly, outdated/false information, and bad grammar and spelling mistakes are also bad practices. False information will fracture the trust between you and customers.
Optimizing the content for SEO is important too, especially with written content.
Fake Reviews
Like false claims, fake reviews hurt brand credibility and destroy trust.
Videos
Bad videos have low resolution, low production quality, and/or don’t play or load. It’s also a bad practice to have a video without a clear purpose.
More Helpful Tips
For more helpful tips regarding good versus bad content, one of our top designers, Eric Daily, has shared his best practices.
Written content is arguably the most important asset to your website. It should be original, actionable, and answer a question. Learning how to define and reach your ideal customer with your messaging is everything. Here are some tips to creating effective content for your website:
Be Useful
The most crucial role of content is to provide answers and value to your audience. Structuring your content in the form of answering questions is an easy way to improve google ranking as well, so become familiar with your audience’s knowledge gaps.
Be Memorable
People want to know there is a real person behind every company interaction. Avoid using cookie-cutter phrases that have become overused by businesses everywhere. Try to approach your writing with a unique point of view that may differentiate you from your competitor’s messaging.
Be Original
Your audience is aware they are constantly being advertised to. It is common to put up barriers to avoid ads whenever possible. Use personal experiences and storytelling to create a rich image of your brand and what it stands for. Writing from a unique point of view will improve your conversion.
Be Focused
Keep in mind that your audience isn’t investing too much time and attention into reading your content. People skim when browsing to save time. Be sure to format your content in a way that can be easily digested while scrolling through.
Be Brief
Use shorter sentences to make messaging simple and clear. You don’t want confuse or distract the reader from the primary goal. Your website should always direct the audience to the next step of the process. Deliver the key message and clearly outline the next steps you want your audience to take.
Be Thorough
Always double check and triple check spelling, grammar and punctuation. Hire a professional copywriting consultant if you need help moving forward with your website content.