A great website that is optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) is sure to drive up sales and brand awareness. Most people assume that they can find out more about a product, service, or business via social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, mainly), or find the company’s website via a Google search. People are so Internet-literate that they have developed expectations of business websites.
Web design has become far more sophisticated even within the last decade, and with more websites out there, you need a design that has been updated for the modern user. Good web design can improve sales. Find out why below, and then learn more about how to hire a digital marketing agency that can build a marketing campaign around your website and apps.
Call To Action
You probably have specific goals for when users visit your website. Some of them may include getting them:
- To fill out a form
- To contact you via phone
- To purchase a product
- To add more to their cart
When a website has a clean design, is fast and easy to navigate, then users will be more willing to engage with your website, purchase a product, and share your website with others. But you can also use design to guide people to do any of the above.
Customer Service
When your customers have a problem, the first place they will head to is your website. They want answers and assume you will have provided them there. When your website has your phone number prominently listed, as well as your address if you are a brick-and-mortar business, then users can find the information they want quickly and easily. If your website is inviting, bright, and welcoming, then your customers will have a better impression of your brand than if your design was outdated.
Bad Design Choices To Avoid
Any graphic designer will tell you that, fundamentally, the design should be clean and simple. Putting too much where there should be less is distracting and pulls attention away from what you want the viewer to be focused on. Some of these characteristics include:
- Too many pop-up advertisements
- Text that is difficult to read, either because of the size or the color or the actual typeface
- A visually busy or complicated layout
Poor Navigation
Users should easily be able to find the information that they are looking for and to be able to go back to a page they were on if they unintentionally got lost. When users get too frustrated with trying to navigate a website, studies show that they leave to visit another website.
Better Design Choices
Your website showcases your company brand. It is where you will sell your products and educate your customers. There are a couple of key characteristics that define well-designed websites. They are:
- Modern, using current software
- Easy to use and navigate
- Relevant to users’ interests
- Responsive
- Fast
- Secure
- Scalable
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is the process of using targeted keywords in your content in order to drive traffic from search engines to your website. How does that work? Whatever you want to find out information you type in words that you think are relevant to your search into Google or another search engine. You may decide to click on the first website that comes up on the first search engine results page (SERP). Or, upon not seeing anything that matches your needs, you will revise your search. You may end up visiting a website that you have never heard of before.
SEO is all about finding out what those words are that users are typing into Google to find you, and basing your content strategy around those keywords. When Google web crawlers index your website, they will see those words. Thus, your website will be more likely to be pulled up the next time someone searches for that keyword.
Keywords aren’t necessarily one-word queries. There are two types of keywords: long-chain and short-chain keywords. Short-chain keywords are between 1 to 3 words long and very generic. They get a lot of queries, but it’s very hard to stand out with these, especially if you’re going up against a major retailer such as Amazon. Long-chain keywords are 4 or more words and are much more specific. They tend to be used by users who have a buying mindset.
Credibility and Reliability
What is your first impression when you visit a website with an antiquated interface? Does it make you feel like the company is out-of-touch, or give you some other negative impression of them? If your website is full of irrelevant information or is difficult to use, then users will not trust it. Website design can enhance the credibility of a company in the user’s mind, which makes them more likely to become a customer.
Enhances Brand Awareness Through Shareable Content
When you have a website that draws people in and makes them want to share your content, then you may end up attracting more customers when your current customers sharing your content on their social media. if you have a blog, for example, or provide other information on your website that is valuable, and your website is easy to read and navigate through, then users will be more likely to share that website with others. They may reach people in your niche that may not have heard of you.
What To Look For In A Web Design Agency
A great web design company not only designs clean and simple interfaces but has a cadre of engaging content writers so you can implement an effective SEO strategy. But a web design agency in Tampa that can also build an app for you, build and manage your WordPress or e-commerce website and provide you monthly, customized reports is a one-stop-shop to help you increase your brand awareness and generate higher revenues. When trust is built between users and businesses, those users return as loyal customers. And when your website is made by a strong web design team including project managers, UX/UI designers, content writers, and more, then it is more likely to attract and keep loyal customers.