A website is the most important media a business can have for its digital marketing. Most consumers are looking online for information that will help them make smarter purchasing decisions and will not only check out your website but your competition’s. In fact, , 88% of consumers will research product information before they make a purchase online or in the store. This buying behavior trend emphasises the importance of a website for today’s businesses. If you want your company to be successful in the modern marketplace, you need a professional website design.
Your website is the backbone of your business, supporting all of your digital marketing efforts. Below are some of the mean reasons why a website is so important for your business success and what you need to know about getting started with a professional website design for your business.
Reasons a professional website is important for your business
Improves Credibility
One of the main reasons to have a website for your business is to increase the company’s credibility. In most cases, there are several businesses in the market that are offering products or services similar to yours.
Having an attractive, professional website is the best way to stand out from the competition. A good, effective website helps build a strong online presence and helps communicate quality information to your consumers.
Today not having a website may raise a question of its legitimacy. Customers expect legitimate, trustworthy businesses to have a website and social media accounts. A website can be the face of your business, it helps create a strong first impression, builds trust and credibility in the minds of the consumers.
Brand Awareness
A website helps create brand awareness and showcasing your brand to prospective customers. It helps to establish your image by letting the audience know who you are and what you represent.
A website provides reliable information to the consumers, which helps in setting your business apart from the competitors.
Providing Accessibility 24/7
A website provides access to your target audience around the clock.
Even when you and your team have checked out for the day, your website is still working hard to bring more customers to your business.
Imagine how many more sales you could make if you never slept. Well, luckily, you don’t have to give up sleep to reach your customers 24/7.
With a website, you provide a place for consumers to see what your brand is about and learn more about your products and services.
Any time of the day or night.
Generating Leads, Increasing Sales
One of the most fascinating reasons to have a website for your business is that it can help generate more leads and increase sales. When people search online and can find your business they try to gather more information about your products or services and the company as a whole.
A website is the best way for a consumer to gather information about a business. They can get the contact details of the business from the website, giving you a growth opportunity and a chance to increase your sales.
Even though developing and maintain websites involve a cost, when used appropriately, they have a positive ROI.
Attract Organic Traffic
If you have developed an effective website using various search engine optimisation techniques, there are very high chances your website will rank well in the Google search results.
Ranking high in the search results will ensure that when people search online for a product or service similar to yours, they will be able to view your website and will visit it to get more information. This will give you an opportunity to increase your customer base.
Improve Customer Experience
Businesses frequently receive calls from prospective or existing customers to inquire about simple questions like the address or hours of operation etc.
Many times you or your staff may not be able to attend and reply to all calls, this may leave a customer unhappy and you make lose a prospect. Having to answer so many calls can also affect the productivity of the staff as a lot of time is lost on attending calls.
Having a website can reduce the number of calls received and also improve the productivity of the employees. A well-designed website can help customers to find useful information easily without calling. Easy access to information can boost customer experience.
Marketing Updates And Announcements
Your business website is the perfect media to post news about your business, products or services. You can launch new products, give special offers and create engaging articles for your target audience – all reinforcing your authority in your market place. The more engaging content you provide, like a blog posts, the more your ranking will go up in the search engines. A win-win. As your website is accessible 24/7, you can post regular updates and announcements on it and customers can be notified easily. It is the easiest way to keep the customers updated about what the business is doing and what it plans for the future. This is a great way to remain connected with your customers.
Digital Marketing
If you are working on a digital marketing plan to grow your business, you would want to drive more traffic to your website or landing page. To achieve your digital marketing goals, try leveraging historic traffic to your website.
This will help you to target the most qualified customers and achieve the best ROI on your advertising spend. This cannot be achieved retrospectively, you need to have a website running effectively before you plan to run online ads.
Showcase your brand
While social media is essential for businesses these days, they are limited in how you can display your business or brand. With a website, on the other hand, you can have a professional design anyway you like and stay true to your brand. Create engaging landing pages for specific marketing campaigns, have all of your business info easily at hand and designed the way you like it. We’re not saying don’t use social media, you still need to do that, but your website is far more important.
Make the Right First Impression with Professional Web Design
Your website is often your customers’ first impression of your brand. Even if you are a brick and mortar business that depends on local foot traffic. There’s a good chance that your customers are researching your business online before they come in. That is why it’s vital that you have a professional website.
The importance of a website cannot be overstated
But if this website is unattractive, slow to load or hard to navigate, then you may be turning your customers away without even knowing it. In fact, online surveys have showen that 94% of people stated that web design is the top reason that they mistrust or reject a website. Professional web design should include (but is not limited to) the following elements:
- Simple Navigation – It shouldn’t be hard for visitors to find what they’re looking for on your site without clicking around several times. Navigation menus should be clear and simple, helping visitors find what they’re looking for in just a few moments.
- Attractive Design – Your site should be attractive, using colors and images that align with your brand while also being pleasing to the eye. A professional website has a balance between attractive design and content that’s easy to read and quick to load.
- Helpful Content – The content on your site should be informative and help visitors better understand your products and services. It also needs to emphasize relevant keywords that your consumers might use to find brands like yours online.
- Search Engine Optimisation – Your site structure and content both need to be optimized for search engines like Google. Professional website design includes SEO services that ensure consumers can find your site online.
- Fast Site Load Times – If your site doesn’t load within a few seconds, visitors may be inclined to leave. Professional website design will ensure quick load times to improve the user experience.
- Easy Conversion – Your website should make it easy for visitors to convert with a quick and simple check-out process. Your shopping cart should also be easy for customers to use and come back to if they click away from your page.
How to Get Started with a Website for Your Business
The importance of a website for your business success is clear. Without a website, you cannot reach and engage your target customers online. Even if you have a brick and mortar business that serves mostly local customers, your business can still benefit from a website.
If you want to do business in today’s modern marketplace, you need to have a website. But where do you start?
Getting started with a professional website for your business doesn’t have to be hard. There are a variety of website building services that you can use to design your website for free. But you need to make sure that it’s opmised for SEO correctly, have all of your keywords and phrases researched. Research competition and then make sure it’s designed for User Experience (UX). A free website may be appealing but you do get what you pay for. Not only will it take up your time trying to learn a new platform, you need to make sure it performs for all of the above reasons.
A professional website design is a solid investment for your business
Though working with web design professionals, like Coast Creative, does require an up-front investment. You will find that the money you spend on professional web design services is well worth it.
For one, a web design agency knows what it takes to design a site that offers a positive user experience. They can create clean and simple navigation that makes it easy for your site visitors to find the content they are looking for.
And even easier for them to make a purchase once they’ve found what they need. A web design agency can also create web page content that is optimized for the search engines.
SEO website content will make it easy for your target consumers to find you when they look for relevant topics and products on search engines like Google.
If you need help designing an attractive website that’s optimized for the search engines and easy to navigate, it’s time to call in the experts.
Our web design team at Coast Creative provides web design services for all businesses and brands, including eCommerce websites, to help brands like yours reach new audiences online.
To find out more about our web design services or to learn more about the importance of a website, get in touch for a no-obligation consultation.
