What Your Web Design Says about and Does for Your Business
An owner of a brick and mortar business knows how important his building’s appearance is. When a client or employee comes by for the first time, he gets his first impression from the building and its condition. The same can be said about your company’s web design.
Web design is the new basis of first impressions
Aesthetics will always play a role in a company’s brand. But today, many consumers get an impression from a company’s web design as opposed to the appearance of its physical building. As such, everything from your site’s navigation to its typeface can have an impact on consumers.
Function is just as important as design
This aspect of web design deals with your brand perception. But with the amount of searches placed on Google and Bing every day, your site’s function is just as, if not more important than its design.
Today, having a business website means having a design that fits your brand attitude and blending in elements of search engine optimization (SEO) so new users can find it. A recent Business 2 Community article explains how a site’s user experience is determined by its design and SEO optimization:
“Designing an SEO friendly website is not just about making yourself visible on the search engine. It is also about designing a template that brings in the right functionality that makes the user experience visitor friendly. So the next time you design your website, ensure that it’s both search engine as well as visitor friendly.”
Leverage content on your site
A few years ago, it became evident that if businesses want to market online, they have to create content. Today, there’s just no way to practice social media marketing, email marketing, SEO or SEM without having a content plan.
And where do you think businesses post their content? On their website — usually. It doesn’t make sense to take your content and paste it on social media. Sure, it’ll get exposure, but that’s about it. A better strategy is to post your content on your website and share links with followers. That way, users are redirected to your site.
This makes web design all the more important. According to a recent Tech Cocktail article, businesses should arrange their different types of content so users can navigate their sites easily:
“This is the reason why the website exists. This is the information that everyone has come to see. It is usually centered around a central topic and often has several subtopics that are spread out among the many pages of the website. Content usually includes things like a description of the company, its blog, its hours of operation, contact information, a list of frequently asked questions, and specific details about the products and services offered by the company.”
Reach your marketing goals
Optimizing your site for SEO and creating original content are two crucial steps in reaching your online marketing goals. Both of these actions will increase your site rankings on search engines, so when users type your keywords in on Google and Bing, your company’s site will come up.
Having an exceptional web design says a lot about your business. It shows users that you’re active and looking to the future. All in all, your site’s user experience will make a big impact on how prospective customers perceive your business. But at the same time, web design is much more than having an aesthetically pleasing site. It also serves to enhance your SEO and help you reach your online marketing goals. Now that most businesses have sites with updated designs, it’s more important to focus on your site’s function within the context of your online marketing campaign.
To talk more about web design, or anything else, contact us today.
