I value content first, and so do most users.
A common path to a website is through search, and what we search for are answers.
It is a most satisfying experience to land on a website that offers the needed answer up front.
Most users prefer visually appealing websites.
Humans are visual beings.
Everyone likes great photographs, especially if they are relevant to and enhance the content.
Balancing the needs of users and the goals of website stakeholders
Users want to get information for free, purchase products through a frictionless funnel, get support that makes them feel valued.
Stakeholders need to to make money by displaying ads, acquiring registrations and subscriptions, selling products, and encouraging self-help.
A website that satisfies the needs of the user will result in satisfying the needs of the stakeholders.
My strength is content organization
I have designed many internal content sites for employers, organizing extensive and complex documentation.
I cannot show those sites.
The following websites are not commercial.
Their primary goal is to provide information to visitors.
They demonstrate essential content structuring.
Bay Area Herpetological Society - Created with Google Sites, the purpose is to give visitors access to basic information about the club, upcoming events, and services to support the information provided in our monthly newsletter. Our data shows that visitors do not linger, and we don't need them to. The Board used to get frequent email inquiries, and pages are built around answering those questions. The site is easy to update by volunteers.
Turtlecare.net - The purpose of the landing page is to provide a searchable page (Ctrl-F) for all topics, als well as a scrollable mobile page as an antithesis to the click-labyrinth presented by nested topic fragmentation. - This site has been around for over 25 years! Now in Google Sites, it has seen many incarnation. Migration vast amounts of content is a time sink for a volunteer site, and as such, pages that have seen many visitors appear a lot more polished. The site has thousands of visitors every month, the volume of email inquiries remains low, and the data suggests that visitors continue to find the information they are seeking. A visual upgrade would only make sense if I wanted to monetize the site..
LetTheRainFall - A site for readers of words. The focus is on the written word and visuals are sparse and support that content and audience. This content is a personal project and the site is thus work in progress.