Minimalist Page Design for Content Marketing
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Frank Jones
If content is king, then design is the throne. You want it to present your content with authority without distracting from your message. It's crucial that the design of your page allows your content marketing to shine through. Take a look at these four common elements of content design that clutter up pages and bury your content.
Scattered Social Media Buttons
Take a look around the web and you'll find lots of websites with brightly colored social media share buttons that get few clicks. Some will appear at the top of the page, some at the bottom, and still others will have multiple social sharing buttons scattered throughout. Rather than clutter up your content with these multicolored buttons, you should focus on the goal of each piece of content. After all, a recent analysis by product design expert LukeW showed these buttons convert at an average rate of only 0.25 percent.
Loud Calls to Action
We've all seen this before. You land on a page and find a clear call to action. So clear, in fact, that it dominates the page and distracts from the content. When you see this a warning flashes in your head and your brain will classify this site as spam. Rather than simply presuming that bigger is always better, it's a good idea to test the size of your call to action text - in addition to testing other elements for conversion.
Desperate Calls for Comments
You want to end every post with a call to action. You don't necessarily want that to be a call for comment. There are many ways to increase your blog comments and not all of them require you to beg for a comment at the end of every post. Instead, try covering some provocative topics that entice people to comment - even if it's only to disagree with you. You can ask your audience questions throughout the article to encourage comments at the end.
I Don't Want Your Newsletter
Cheryl Woodhouse puts it best when she said, "Seriously, nobody wants your newsletter." Think about it. You've never thought: I can really use another newsletter subscription! So why would you expect anyone to want to sign up for your newsletter? Instead, they want to save money, loose weight, start a business, get a raise, or solve another problem. Focus your call to action on the problem your customer needs to solve and your "newsletter" sign-ups will explode. Take a look at your site and ask yourself a few question:
- Do you really need social share buttons? If you do need them, is their positioning detracting from the content? Can they be positioned another way?
- Have you experimented with call to action text in different sizes, fonts, and colors? This is a good opportunity for split testing.
- All your posts shouldn't end with: "leave a comment below." Get creative and mix up your posts to encourage comments.
- Are you selling a newsletter or the information it contains? Stop asking people to sign up for your newsletter and start solving their problems when they sign up.
Walking through these questions can help you become more intentional with your design. Focus on what's most important, cut out the distractions and your audience will get the message.
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