Many internet marketer’s can disregard ‘design’ as unnecessary fluff or eye-candy, more often than not believing that content is where the primary focus should be. And I’m not about to argue a case against that! Far from it, without excellent content design is pretty much a waste of time. Design on it’s own can only really look pretty, but design principals applied to quality content can greatly enhance how it is digested and received.
An analogy I like to use to describe how design helps content is that of a F1 car. If the chassis, engine, gearbox – all the working parts are the ‘quality content’, then design is the bodywork, the farings, the aerodynamics. Yes an F1 car could still deliver a very fast lap even without it’s bodywork, but with it the whole package becomes something far greater – efficient, honed, streamlined, direct.
The biggest problem with not planning out the entire way you deliver your information is you will cause your users to start thinking. Which surprisingly isn’t a good thing! Let me explain, if you have no consistency, no hierarchy, no underlying design then users will have to break away from the task of reading / watching your content to think about things that are distracting and unrelated to your core message.
It stands to reason that as more ‘distractions’ occur for a user, the less they are likely to forge that all important emotional connection. There are many important things to take into consideration if you want to ensure you are delivering information as efficiently as you can. The key part though is consistency. Through your fonts, your use of colours, your links and the way you display your products. Having consistency will also help to considerably strengthen your online branding.
If your interested in learning more about how to apply consistency across your online marketing business, keep an eye out for the release of The Internet marketer’s Design & Branding Bible early in the new year or visit my blog.
