Insights

Prioritizing effective web content for an Indigenous audience.

At Animikii we often take a content-focused approach to ensure your website resonates with the audience viewing your website.

The very best website designs have a clear purpose and provide valuable information without extracting data from the people visiting the site. In this article, we’re going to explore some of the ways to get “content ready” in advance of building or redesigning your website and provide resources to guide you through rethinking content for your website.

Building with Content in Mind

While there are various ways to create a website, keeping a content-focused perspective allows you to:

• Prioritize the user experience for an Indigenous audience.
• Develop a solid foundation for the design and development stages.
• Ensure your site content is organized and accessible, with the right content prioritized. 
• Help everyone in your organization understand the importance of content early in the process.
• Identify the purpose of your website and build content that will support achieving your goals.

The Role of Design

Design plays a significant role in website development. A visually appealing design is essential and it should complement and enhance the content. Focusing on design alone can lead to missing or even sacrificing valuable content to fit the design. This results in additional time and money spent to make adjustments. Getting a clear understanding of the content requirements is an essential part of designing or redesigning a website for an Indigenous audience.

Content-Focus at Animikii

With experience developing hundreds of websites for our partners, we've discovered the value of maintaining a focus on content during each project. As an Indigenous-led web design company, we tailor our offerings to organizations aiming to maximize their community impact. By prioritizing effective communication, we can create websites that tell your story, share traditional knowledge and celebrate community events.

Using the Animikii Website Content Canvas 

Is your content meeting the needs of your website visitors? Not sure?

Download our Indigenous Website Content Canvas to optimize your understanding of your content. 

Download Indigenous Website Content Canvas Here!

Our one-page model will help you:

Conduct informal research: Identify who the website is for to help understand their preferences, pain points, and expectations. Informal surveys, interviews, and more formal organized community-led focus groups can provide valuable insight into the type of content they need on the new or redesigned website.

Analyzing websites you love and trends on other organizations: Review the content strategies of websites from similar organizations to yours to help stay up-to-date with the types of content people are finding useful. This will help you identify potential gaps in your current content and new opportunities to make your website stand out. Ask yourself: whose content do we admire? 

Review Your Content: Take a close look at all the content on your website to find gaps or areas that need improvement. How might you ensure your content is culturally relevant and safe? Are there protocols you need to follow to share stories, images or other content? 

Download Indigenous Website Content Canvas Here!

We know incorporating our content-focused method will ensure your website delivers meaningful information and a satisfying user experience for your visitors - and we also know you’re busy and might need a hand. 

Our Indigenous Website Content Canvas asks questions other web design agencies might not, it’s a letter-sized (8.5 x 11) printable sheet you can use to take notes or even use as the agenda for a team meeting inside your organization.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Indigenous website design services at Animikii, visit our Website Design page here on our website or fill out our project request form!