Websites are structured primarily of two elements: design and content. Along with these two elements comes a phrase and motto coined by Bill Gates that “Content is King” in 1996. In his essay about this debatable topic he wrote a popular assertion, “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting” that supported his belief. This idea currently is and has been inserted into the minds of graphic designers ever since. Therefore, I’ve always requested to have some kind of content to work off of in order to understand how the site needs to function.
However, recently I’ve come across clients who are looking to build a site quickly and aren’t able to provide the content right away. I find myself generalizing the layout of the site and then having to go back to alter it after receiving the content. After experiencing these time consuming scenarios, I questioned if content really was king. After a few debates with the REVOLT team, I came to a conclusion that I will gladly stand behind; content should not be looked at as “king” or inferior to its design.
Content and design need to be thought of as one entity instead of two competing separate elements. Focusing too much on just one element will lead to an unsuccessful website. The individual elements simply can’t exist without the other so why bother to separate the two. There are also many benefits developing a website keeping this concept in mind. Not only will the site be successful, but the designer working on it will have a better idea about how it’s supposed to function and who the audience is. Beginning a site without content leads to better research. Without content, the designer now needs to dig deeper and research the market and its competitors. They also need to find out exactly how users navigate the websites that pertain to that certain market. Content should be in development the same time the site is being designed and built. Since these two elements work together, they should be built together.
If all of the content were to be presented before the design and layout of the site, less thought would actually be put into it and how it should operate. The content is usually just dropped in without any additional thought or research. At REVOLT we make sure all the elements we use while building a site are all developed together instead of one at a time. Defining all components as having an equal amount of value to each other, the site in return becomes more successful.
