Why web design is important for your content strategy

Sonia Vitiello, the 18th of November 2025

A couple of weeks ago, I clicked on a real estate ad that took me to their website. After a few seconds of trying to find the post promoted in the ad, I lost hope and closed the website right away. The slow loading and the cluttered layout were so frustrating, and I didn’t know where to start. Bad web design, or lack of it, is a common issue, and it affects content marketing.

Many businesses experience bad design issues for different reasons:

There is low understanding around the important role of design.
Some prioritize quantity over quality.
Web design costs are high, and some companies prefer to invest in the cheapest and not efficient options.

In this blog, we’ll explore how web design impacts content marketing and how to improve customer trust.

Why web design matters in content marketing

Web design and content marketing are two branches of the same tree. You can’t have web design without content marketing, and vice versa. Web design is the base of content marketing, and content marketing is the strategy. A well-designed website helps you boost your content marketing strategy. Your website is the first impression you’re giving to your potential customer. It needs to feel right to drive conversion. Users look for consistent branding, clear information, and experience.

If one or more of these are missing, you are damaging your brand credibility and you probably need to review your priorities.

Build the first impression with an optimised user experience

Web design is a big part of building your first impression with a customer. Your website is the window customers see you through. It all depends on your website layout, how customers feel about you, and if they want to read more about you.

The kind of user experience you offer is the key to your success, as that affects the search engines. If a user likes your content and keeps engaging with it, that improves how search engines see your website. More engagement means higher ranking in online search.

There are many tips to optimise your user experience for SEO. A great user experience includes the use of:

Structured headings (e.g., H1, H2, H3) that help your search engine.

Anchor text to add internal and external links and build your brand's thought leadership and credibility.
Calls to action (CTAs) buttons to help user navigation and keep them longer on your website

Image tags to explain what’s there in case there is an image loading issue
Quality content, which seems obvious, but is not necessarily applied.

Increase trust with consistent branding and visual storytelling

Offering a user-friendly experience is not the end of the game. It's time to boost trust and engage your potential customers. If they are still on your website and keep coming back, they like your style, how you look, and how you let them feel. You’re doing great, and that’s where you need to make sure you don’t change!

With so many competitors out there, it's easy to get distracted while looking for better references. We always want to change things, which is great, but we also make the mistake of implementing elements that are not part of our brand identity.

Make sure to keep your brand consistent: if users can recognise your colors, fonts, and voice, you’re doing a great job. Everything needs to follow the same path.

Storytelling is just as important for brand consistency. People want to relate to your content; they want guidance and to learn new things. Adding some storytelling makes your audience feel understood and that they can trust you.

An example of clear design and impactful storytelling with the audience in mind is the Punkt website.
The audience is mentioned from the very beginning; the audience's pain points are also there and clear. The visual storytelling makes the user curious and guides them to the end of the page, where they can take some action.

How to align content and design for better results

To make sure your content marketing drives results, you need to improve content and design while keeping some tips in mind:

Plan content and design together. Don’t leave the design as a last-minute addition; make sure there is good collaboration between the design, content, and SEO teams.
Keep in mind hierarchy, use it strategically. Using clear headlines with a logical flow enhances storytelling. Bullet points and the use of the right visuals support engagement and brand authority.
Highlight calls to action. Adding call-to-action buttons, at the right time and in different colors, improves engagement.
Test and analyse. Test performance through heatmaps, analytics, and A/B testing to make sure your design is working in the right way and if it needs improvement.

Make web design work

There are many tips to build a good-looking website, but it’s not only about aesthetics. Your website needs to be functional and professional. When designing your website, you should always have your audience in mind. Building and maintaining a healthy website is challenging but not impossible. Getting the support of a professional web designer or web design agency can help you boost your marketing strategy. A passionate content designer like me can help you guide your design team in the right direction to build conversion and customer trust.

Would you like to know more? Feel free to reach out for a chat! :)