By Sofia Pratt
In today’s digital world, strong online content is what helps a company stand out. Knowing how to design it effectively is a skill every writer needs. On September 18th, 2025, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) students had the chance to meet virtually with Kaitlin Ambuehl, the Content Designer & Strategist for ZONTAL. This company works to help life sciences and biotech organizations manage their data. Ambuehl has been working with them since 2024, a year after she graduated from GVSU. She has over two years of experience designing and managing online content in the life sciences industry, and she specializes in content structure, clarity, and usability. With her expertise, she was more than happy to share what she knows about content design with the class of WRT 351 as they learn about writing for the web.
Why Online Content Matters
Ambuehl believes that online content shapes how users understand and interact with a company. This is especially important if the web content belongs to a company that is selling a product or service. The content being created is what will attract users to what the company has to offer, so maintaining a positive user experience will translate into happy customers.
Online content also impacts Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is crucial for the company’s content to get discovered by the audience. “You could write the world’s best article or blog post or how-to guide, and it will mean virtually nothing if you don’t have a way for someone to discover that content exists,” Ambuehl said. Understanding how SEO works and designing web content accordingly will help the company stand out among the many other results in the search engine algorithm. Once the class understood why online content is so important, Ambuehl explained how to make it effective.
The Strategy for Effective Online Content
Online content is often skimmed. Content creators and designers are aware of this and purposefully create content that can be understood at a glance. With that in mind, Ambuehl shared four core principles of online content: clarity, conciseness, consistency, and findability.
Clarity
Plain language is going to be preferred until otherwise required. The audience won’t be able to skim technical jargon, and neither will audience members for whom English isn’t their first language. With ZONTAL’s reach across the globe, Ambuehl has found clarity particularly important.
Conciseness
For the sake of immediate understanding, short paragraphs of content are preferred. Breaking up large sections of content into smaller, more digestible chunks will help the audience skim without feeling overwhelmed.
Consistency
It’s important to remember that online content represents a company. Remaining consistent in tone and format will ensure the company comes across as a united front with a good understanding of its own brand.
Findability
As Ambuehl mentioned earlier, nothing matters if the online content can’t be found. Utilizing metadata, keywords, and headings is crucial to ensuring that the content can be easily found in the search engine algorithm.
All of these principles share one important thing in common: the audience. Everything being written is being written for the audience, so defining the audience is always one of the first steps in creating online content. It’s also important to identify what the writing is supposed to do and how; in other words, what is the goal of the writing, and what will be the format. An informative FAQ guide will be different from a persuasive article, which will be different from an engaging blog post. As for the style, most companies will have a style guide for their writers to follow to maintain consistency. However, Ambuehl has been working with ZONTAL to write their style guide from scratch, which has been an exciting process for her to help build up that process for new writers.
How Online Content is Created
Online content begins with the idea, which often involves meeting with subject matter experts (SMEs) to define the audience, the goal, and the format. The next step is drafting and structuring, followed by reviewing and refining. The final step is publication.
Through this process, Ambuehl shared a few key aspects to expect as an online content designer. For one, collaboration. Ambuehl’s current position is fully remote, but very collaborative. Besides meeting online with her team, she’s been sent to collaborative events around the world to interact with and learn from ZONTAL’s diverse audiences. She has also worked with managers and other designers to gather information before working on a project.
Another key aspect is feedback. “Don’t be afraid to get feedback,” Ambuehl said. “Constructive criticism only aims to help you improve what you’re doing as a writer.” It can feel disheartening to receive feedback, but feedback is necessary to create the most effective online content.
Ambuehl also recommended several tools that have proved helpful in the web content design process, including Microsoft Office, Atlassian Suite, GitLab, Canva, and LucidChart.
Throughout the discussion, Ambuehl shared some eye-opening insights regarding the online content field. In a global industry that is increasingly competitive and always expanding, her advice will go a long way for anyone interested in entering this field. For the students participating in her guest speaker discussion, it was a fantastic opportunity to hear a recent graduate explain how she had entered the industry, and to learn more about the world of online content. With how crucial online content has become in daily life, anyone in any field can benefit from knowing the necessary skills and strategies to effectively work with it.
