We’ve talked before about just how much information is provided to users on a daily basis. Now imagine all of the content you see every day without any structure or organization. If you’re like most people, the very idea is a nightmare. That’s why web design is so important. If your website isn’t easily digestible, almost every user who sees it will find another site with better architecture.
Which brings us to our main point. Architecture.
Information architecture. What is it and why does it matter? Read on to find out.
What Is It?
Information architecture (IA) is a web design strategy that focuses on how to effectively organize content on your site. Because organization is a crucial part of providing a good user experience. This can be done by organizing content alphabetically, chronologically, by topic, or how you’ve strategically planned for it to appeal to your users. What matters most is that it is organized. You wouldn’t want to visit a website where the information is thrown together without care, so why would you put your users through that?
But IA is way more than a web design technique. It’s a science. A science that revolves around how to make a website as user-friendly as possible. Unlike other strategies, IA focuses heavily on the user’s needs. This means there needs to be a deep understanding of the target audience.
Why Does it Matter?
It matters so much because appealing to your target audience will always lead to more sales. For example, the “architecture” of a health blog and a real estate agency’s website is going to be vastly different. And that happens because the people visiting those websites have different needs. On a real estate agency website, you’ll likely see a search bar or popular listings before you’ll see anything else. It wouldn’t make sense to put those things on the bottom of the website because the user would logically want those things first.
A health blog is likely to be organized by relevant topics. The first thing on the page could be something about fad diets like Ketogenic or recipes regarding the latest and greatest food trends. The key is appealing to the user, providing them with the information they came to your site for as quickly as possible. Because different websites appeal to different people, meaning there’s no one size fits all option when it comes to web design.
As a relatively new form of web design, people are already seeing amazing results from it. This proves what we’ve always known, digital marketing is always changing. Forever improving itself and adapting to current trends. So if you need web design services, apply to be a client now and let our web design experts take the stress away.
