We’re excited to welcome Austin, our talented new summer intern from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, to TDG.  A gifted graphic designer, he’s working with our own accomplished design guy, Troy, to help make our web and print work as visually arresting and compelling as it always is.   Proud and pleased as we are to create websites that our clients and their customers describe as “beautiful,” and “stunning” (hey, thanks for those shout outs!), we’re still aware that content is at least as important.

Our work with our clients to build brands, sell products and get out messages means we have to work together to create high-quality content that is unique, personalized to the relevant audience, and attracts, engages, retains, and converts visitors into consumers or supporters.

Tactile Design offers our expertise in helping to craft and shape our clients’ content to make the maximum impact on website visitors.  But we rely on the client’s thoughtful creation of content that clearly explains their mission, motivation and merchandise. Someone once noted that “just because you know what you’re all about, doesn’t mean your visitors know what you’re all about” – until you give them the information they need to know.

If somebody has found your site through a Google or other search, chances are they don’t want to click through lots of navigation or graphics to find what they’re searching for.  “Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty,” according to a recent Harvard Business Review article. “Reducing their effort—the work they must do to get their problem solved—does. ”

There’s a debate that’s raging now in the blogosphere and elsewhere about the relative importance of website content versus design.  As tech blogger Gina Trapani says, “On the internet, you are what you write.” And, since we’re designers, we like creating great looking sites that get and keep visitors’ attention.   So really, there’s no tension here.  We think everyone needs both:  great design and compelling content.