Does the Design of a Website Really Matter?
Web design is clearly such an important aspect of your business and your brand. It is a virtual representation of who you are and what you do. It tends to be the first impression of your business for potential customers, so you want to be sure your website looks good and is something of which you are proud. There are three keys to a great website. The first being that the website should be visually and aesthetically pleasing. You want to entice the viewer, not dissuade them. The second key is that it must be easy to navigate. This is actually the most important because it doesn’t matter how nice the website looks if the viewer can’t find the intended information. And of course, it should represent your brand.
Tips to Improve Website
If your website is not getting the traction it needs and it is not in your budget to invest in web design or SEO, there are little ways you can give it a boost. A good way to start is to make sure that your logo is clearly visible. A common logo placement is the top left-hand corner. Also, try to come up with a couple of colors and fonts to use throughout the site. This will give the website a feeling of continuity and reiterate your brand’s identity while doing so.
It is also important to make the website navigable. Make it clear where to find the information. Don’t have a bunch of tabs with long lists of dropdowns. You don’t want to overwhelm the viewer. Make it simple and concise. You should have a Home page, an About Us page, and a Contact page that are evident and easy to find upon first glance at the website.
The Importance of Web Design
These tips are very important, as you want to ensure that your site looks nice and that users have a pleasant viewing experience. However, is there more to it? Can having a poorly designed website actually hinder your search engine optimization efforts? Traffic, conversions, and overall search engine optimization are affected by a website’s layout and design. This may seem like an exaggeration but when you break it down it is actually very essential. For instance, over 90% of a viewer’s first impression of a
website is based on the design. Over 60% of viewers would prefer to read content in a visually pleasing way rather than a plain way and over 30% of people will actually leave the website if the content is not aesthetically pleasing. That is also why over 90% of website feedback pertains to design!
Many of these user patterns are subconscious. The average user probably does not realize how important web design is to them. In fact, if you asked them, they might even say that they don’t care, but the statistics prove otherwise. Therefore, making a layout flow and having the design capability to make it look nice is essential. First impressions are everything – both in-person and online. Make it count. A user tends to decide whether or not to leave a page within a few seconds – that’s not a lot of time. Having a high bounce rate can greatly harm SEO efforts, so it's important to mitigate that as much as possible. Avoid colors that are too bright, fonts that are too tiny, or anything else hard to read. Make it evident on the Home Page who you are and what you do.
Final Thoughts
Your website is everything. Even if the majority of your customers/clients conduct business with you in person, you still need a killer site. Potential customers will Google you, and if they become annoyed, frustrated, or even disinterested, they will leave your site and go to a competitor.
So, ask yourself, is your website up to date? Does it look nice, and is it on the same level or better than your competitors? Does it represent your company properly or is it out of touch? If you need help, we’ve got you covered. Contact us and we can review your site. We can talk to you about how you want to virtually portray your business and make it happen. Together, we can create something that will attract new and old customers to your website, increasing traffic, conversions, and SEO.