Content Strategy or User Experience? Which one is more important?

If you are familiar with technology, marketing and design, you have definitely heard about User Experience and Content Strategy, and probably you are aware that both factors are crucial for the product success. Today we will consider, which of these aspects is more important? Should we focus more on one of them? If so, which one? User experience or content strategy? But first, let’s see what each factor does in the creation process and what it's role is.

 

User Experience

Good UX gives users ability to find answers and searched information easily and quickly. Its role is to solve their problems by providing functionality, usability, satisfaction, but also by creating positive interactions and relationships between users and your product.

Recently UX has become an essential aspect of every design process. Your app or website can be designed beautifully, but if users cannot navigate it or cannot find information they look for, you may loose them. On the other hand, creating a product which is easy in use and creates positive user experiences, may lead you to gain loyal customers.

Content Strategy

Content strategy is a broadly understood process of planning, creating and providing valuable content for product users, in other words, for your target audience. Content strategy helps defining assumptions and guidelines regarding the content, it’s topics, length, key words, tone of voice - in accordance with the strategy goals and users profile. Right and thoughtful content enables to communicate the message effectively and to address it to defined target group clearly. That’s why you need to keep your content clear and understandable, and to adjust tone of voice and the way you communicate messages to your audience.

Keep the balance

I hope you can see that UX and content strategy have some things in common, as both are to improve overall user experience and satisfy users. But when it comes to the realization and design process, there might be some confusion and conflicts between them. Here is the thing: you would like to post a long, valuable text, full of keywords, to ensure an effective optimization (SEO). However, your text is way too long. This in turn, makes a problem of arranging your content on the website and often forces to redesign it. What should you do then? Should you change the text and risk disruption of its message? Or should you leave it at the expense of disrupting design? The key is cooperation and keeping the balance between both concepts in order to find solutions that are the best for users.

  

How UX and content strategy are related?

• UX is all about functionality, usability and keeping the interface clear. Apply the same rules planning your content strategy - make sure that structure of the content is clear and readable, and text is easy to understand. Spice it up with some graphics.

• Both UX and the content strategy should be focused on user. Remember, who the target audience is - not only when designing usability of your product - but also when choosing content, wording, optimal tone of voice, etc.

• Good UX is supported by effective content - in the form of calls to action (CTA) or just clear messagings - it helps optimize the conversion of your product.

 
Conclusions

When designing or creating a product, keep in your mind, that user’s satisfaction is your overall objective. Your mission is to ensure a balance between all taken actions, including UX and content strategy, in such a way to provide user a value, solve his problems and answer his needs - while at the same time - not ignoring neither exalting any of the factors. Even though it is design that draws user’s attention encouraging to focus on your product first, however it is the content strategy along with design that makes users engagement and builds conversion. That’s why both - user experience and content - are equally important and equally needed to achieve a long-term success.