Frictionless Content Design
What is Content Design?
What is Frictionless Content Design?
What is Frictionless Content Design?
Content design refers to having a strategy for understanding what users need to know and presenting that information in the most frictionless way possible.
Unlike traditional web design, which often emphasizes aesthetics first with content added later, content design begins with the content.
Starting with content first means you start by understanding what your audience needs and wants to know, and then presenting that information when and how they need it.
Content design starts with asking questions like: Who is your audience? What do they need to know? What do they want to know? What do you want them to know?
For example:
- Traditional web design: The first step is deciding which pages your website should have and what the visual design should be. Then, determine the content for each page.
- Content design: The first step is understanding what your audience needs and wants to know. What information did they come looking for? What do they need or want to do on your website? The pages you need, and the information on those pages are determined by your users' actions and what information they require.
It's no surprise that many issues are resolved when you prioritize users and build everything else around them.
What is Frictionless Content Design?
What is Frictionless Content Design?
What is Frictionless Content Design?
Sarah Winters, creator of the content design discipline (2017), CEO of Content Design London, and author of 'Content Design' put it this way:
"Content design is a way of thinking. It’s about using data and evidence to give the audience what they need, at the time they need it and in a way they expect."
"... what they need, at the time they need it and in a way they expect" sounds like a very fair definition of frictionless. So Frictionless content design, as a term, should be a redundancy.
OK it is a redundancy.
Yet, there's something intriguing about the term "Frictionless Content Design" that I find compelling. While 'content design', like most design terms, is functional, it lacks a certain tactile quality from my perspective. Count yourself lucky that I'm not in charge of these things.
I decided that if I wanted to use this redundant term, I ought to have a good reason for doing so and I should write my own (redundant) description. I believe I do, so I did. /clears throat
Frictionless content design is about understanding what users need to know and presenting that information as authentic and engaging content that sparks a connection between people.
Frictionless content is high quality content that speaks to users in their language, resonates with them, builds trust and makes them feel seen. It lets them know they're not alone; you're right there with them (not in a creepy kind of way, but in a genuine and trustworthy kind of way).
Why Prioritize Frictionless Content?
What is Frictionless Content Design?
Why Prioritize Frictionless Content?
If you think about it, other than content, what else is really on your website?
Your content defines your brand's voice, personality, and message. It's the vehicle through which you engage with your audience, establish relevance, and build trust.
High-quality, meticulously crafted content:
- plays a pivotal role in engaging audiences, enhancing SEO rankings, and positioning your brand as a trusted authority;
- can effectively articulate the unique benefits of your service / products and help establish brand authority.
By providing insightful, expert content, your brand becomes a trusted source of information in your field. Trust fosters credibility, which in turn bolsters customer loyalty, enhances referrals, and sways purchasing decisions.
On the flip side, poor-quality content can harm your brand's reputation. Content riddled with errors, lacking substance, or failing to add value, reflects negatively on your brand. This can lead to a loss of trust, diminished engagement rates, and a slump in search engine rankings.
You can build trust, credibility and loyalty by making it easy for users to find what they need and understand what they've read.
Creating high quality content that's insightful, engaging, relevant, and useful takes time and effort, but the results are worth the effort!
E-E–A–T stands for “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
Brand Authority
Establishing Trust
Why Prioritize Frictionless Content?
Brand authority refers to the level of credibility, trust, and respect that a brand commands in its industry or market. It's about being seen as an expert or leader in your field – an authority that people turn to for advice, guidance, and solutions.
Why should you care about brand authority?
If that all seems like a bit much, consider that the alternative to being a brand is being a commodity. Tiffany and Ben & Jerry's are brands; corn and gold are commodities.
Branding is the identity of a company. Branding is why you chose a company or practice name that "fits" you and it's the reason you want everything that communicates about you, your products / services to speak authentically, with your voice.
Even if you never become (or never want to become) an industry leader, people are more likely to engage with brands they trust. By establishing your brand authority, you're telling potential customers / clients that you know what you're talking about, that you've got expertise and experience they can count on.
Last, brand strategy is an integral part of marketing.
- Branding is the identity of a company.
- Marketing refers to the commerce activities, tactics and strategies used by a company that communicate their vision.
Brand strategy isn't just for large companies. The right brand strategy can help small businesses, including solo-preneurs connect with their website visitors. An effective brand strategy can firmly establish your business, attract your target audience, and distinctly articulate how your business diverges from competitors.
Brand authority is expressed through every design element, particularly content, visual design, and interaction design.
A website with a well-designed user experience can significantly enhance your brand's authority by fostering trust through a positive, engaging, and seamless interaction for your users.
Establishing Trust
Establishing Trust
Establishing Trust
Trust and understanding form the bedrock of any coaching relationship. It's natural for people to wonder about their ability to genuinely open up to a coach and whether the coach can provide effective support and understanding.
Your site visitors are your potential customers & clients seeking assurances that they can place their trust in you and your judgment. They are silently asking themselves questions like:
Can I really trust this person? Can I speak openly without fear of judgment? Will they genuinely understand me, or will they just try to convince me they know me better than I know myself? Are their glowing reviews authentic or merely marketing tactics? Are they just going to give me cookie-cutter answers? Will they be patient with me if I'm not sure what I think or what I want? What level of commitment is required on my part? How long will this process take?
User Experience (UX) design plays a critical role in fostering trust.
Consistency: A consistent design across every design element fosters trust. This includes the consistent use of colors, fonts, button styles, and naming conventions.
Usability: A user-friendly website boosts user confidence and trust. If visitors can effortlessly find what they're searching for, they're more inclined to trust the site - and by extension, you.
Transparency: Providing clear, straightforward information about your services, products, and company practices can cultivate trust. This encompasses transparent details about payments, scheduling, and any other expectations you have. Similarly, addressing the expectations and concerns of your site visitors openly and authentically can also foster trust.
Testimonials and Reviews: Showcasing customer testimonials and reviews can also increase trust. Users often rely on the experiences of others to guide their decisions.
Secure Transactions: If you intend to use your website to manage transactions (payments for your services or products), it's crucial to use secure transaction methods and standard checkout interactions to instill trust.
Know Your Audience
Establishing Trust
Establishing Trust
I read article after article stressing the importance of knowing your audience (and not just guessing about them).
Forbes wrote one of the most compelling reasons to build client personas: “The more you come to know your ideal client, the easier it will be for you to create content that speaks directly to them. You become magnetic. When a potential client feels like you ‘get them,’ your offer becomes so much more appealing.”
If you think you know your customers but you're struggling to reach them and don't have the time for any research, I understand the struggle is real. I get that it seems like stopping to do this kind of investigating seems counterproductive.
I have one question: How do you create content that speaks to people and makes them feel seen if you don't know who you're talking to?
A persona helps you dig a little deeper and understand more about your ideal client. A client persona often includes information like:
- age,
- gender,
- sexuality,
- education,
- family status,
- career,
- income bracket.
A client persona can also include characteristics like:
- behaviors,
- goals,
- habits,
- attitudes,
- needs,
- annoyances,
- personality,
- motivators,
- perspective or point of view.
For example, your client persona can include things like:
- avid reader,
- type A,
- works in a noisy environment,
- thinks she's funny,
- can't say "no."
These insights can help you align and connect your content, messaging and even your coaching services to what your clients value or care about.
Even if you know who your ideal client is, using a client or buyer persona can be enlightening and interesting. In fact, the more specific it is, the more it can guide your decisions around:
- the type of content you need,
- which blog posts topics would be the most interesting and engaging,
- which advertising platforms should be included in your budget,
- which service / product titles would be the most appealing,
- the services / products your clients would benefit from the most.
Creating Frictionless Content
Write Without Fear. Edit Without Mercy.
If you're trying to create high quality content for your website, have a seat right here, next to me. Let's talk about the process of creating frictionless content, what this service is, and what it isn't.
What this service is not
- It's not a traditional editing service - your words won't be altered by the editor (that's me).
- There's no red ink involved (primarily because there's no ink at all).
- It's also not the "editing service" that your friends and family can provide.
- The process itself isn't easy and it's definitely not frictionless.
- It's not "fun" (in the conventional sense) nor does it involve you handing over your writing for me to rewrite.
But my friends and family love me!
That's true! In fact, the people in your life not only love you, they also know you - often better than you know yourself. When you ask them to review your writing, they have a lot of background knowledge.
- For starters, they have context - they can hear your voice and they fill in the gaps because "they know what you meant." Your website visitors can't do that, and neither can I.
- Also it can be incredibly challenging (and sometimes impossible) for the people in your life to edit your work. They might be hesitant to offer criticism for fear of hurting your feelings or disappointing you with their editing skills.
What this service is
- It's your content, in your voice. You always have the final say.
- It's an editing service that goes beyond what your friends and family can offer.
- Write without fear. Creating frictionless content calls for transparency and authenticity. If you're worried about whether I'm judging you, you can stop worrying. Of course I'm judging you. So is everyone who reads what you write. You can't control any of that. But you can have content that communicates your vision and speaks with your voice.
- Edit without mercy. The best possible outcome is the result of an unrelenting commitment to refining your content until it's frictionless. That might take an hour or it might take a lot more - it depends on your perspective of the importance of the content you're revising.
- It's a process that requires a lot of effort but is also a labor of love.
- You will know much more about the standards, preferences and habits that shape your writing.
- Even though there's no red ink, the process can be intense and often leaves people feeling a bit vulnerable or exposed. If you feel vulnerable, that's a good sign. It means you care about what we're doing and you understand that your content touches everything and that your words become the voice and authority of your brand, defining your credibility and relevance.
So how do we do it?
- You write without fear. I edit without mercy.
- What am I looking for when I edit? Anything that "takes me out of the experience."
- What am I looking for when I ask you what your goal is - why you want it [this way]? Many people are accustomed to saying "I want it this way because I like how it [reads, looks, feels, etc.]." I believe that actually a state of not knowing what you want. Perhaps you are like me and your experience is also that what you like is far more difficult to articulate than what you don't like. [What do you want for dinner? You probably know more about what you don't want, right? So how do you figure out what you want? I usually do it by eliminating what I don't want because that's just so much easier to identify].
- My job is to work with you to find what's underneath "what you like." I love to work with people to identify and wrap language around what they're responding to when they make decisions because this knowledge is real power. It allows you to create content that feels authentic because it is authentic.
- The harder you work, the more you will know about the standards, preferences and habits that shape your writing.
- Know when you're using a standard and when you're not [meaning you're using preference or habit or nothing at all (just randomly doing things this way or that because it's what you know / feel comfortable with)].
- Know the standards you're using and be able to articulate them to your family, friends, colleagues and to those who work for you.
- Decide if you want to continue using the standards, habits, and preferences, you're using, and why.
Writing for websites, apps, or any user interfaces is a bit like writing poetry: every word must have a purpose, every sentence must be essential, meaning matters, and timing is everything.
— Gather Content
Sometimes you have to be your own hero
Why is it so hard to write about yourself?
No matter who you talk to, it seems there's nothing quite as challenging or as intimidating as writing about yourself. It's a paradoxical conundrum: despite being the subject I know best, I find it the most difficult to articulate.
- Objectivity is a primary culprit. As humans, we are inherently subjective beings; our perceptions of ourselves (and others) are often too harsh or too lenient, making it hard to portray ourselves accurately.
- Fear of judgment is a serious player too. Writing about yourself can feel like you're creating an open invitation to the world to scrutinize and critique your innermost thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. It's a vulnerability that can be daunting because we fear that our flaws will be magnified, our achievements belittled, or our struggles trivialized.
- A lack of self-awareness can add difficulty we didn't expect. Challenging societal norms, confronting fears, and silencing self-doubt often get in the way of us truly understanding or acknowledging our strengths, weaknesses, or even our passions.
- Cultural and social factors can also play a significant role. In many cultures, self-praise is considered boastful and immodest. This can make it uncomfortable to write about our achievements or talents.
Despite these challenges, writing about yourself is worth doing, and if you want a website, you'll have to do at least a little writing about yourself.
If you're struggling to write about yourself, remember that authenticity is key.
- Aim for honesty and transparency rather than perfection. Perfection is an illusion that distracts us from enjoying what we're doing.
- Don't be afraid to reveal your true self! After all, every story needs a protagonist, and in your story, that protagonist is you.
Writing about yourself requires courage, introspection, and a willingness to be vulnerable. The reward is a deeper understanding of yourself and a narrative that is uniquely yours.
