At this point, just about every business owner understands the importance of having a strong online presence. Many companies pour countless dollars into content creation and SEO efforts.
While generating more site traffic is a great goal, it’s also important to think through what consumers are going to see when they get to your site. Will they be greeted by a high-performing website? Will they be met with an outdated service page that is difficult to use or poorly organized?
Investing in a professionally designed website may not seem like the best use of your advertising budget. However, the research says otherwise.
Below, Enormous Elephant outlines a few key reasons why website design matters. We are the fastest-growing web development company in Texas and are known for creating innovative sites.
But let’s get back to the topic at hand. Why is having a well-designed website so important? Read on to find out.
First Impressions Are Often Based on Visual Design
When consumers make in-person purchases at brick-and-mortar stores, businesses have the opportunity to leave a great first impression. Everyone is familiar with these tactics. They involve a warm smile, polite greetings, and helpful service. When these kinds of actions are used appropriately, consumers will often view a business as being trustworthy and reliable.
As an online business, you do not have a chance to leverage interpersonal communications to please clients. Instead, consumers will make decisions about your site’s credibility and usefulness based solely on visual design. In fact, 3 out of 4 users form opinions on a site’s credibility by simply looking at the design features.
A poor website design will make clients hesitant to make purchases or engage with your content. On the other hand, a great-looking page will improve your brand reputation and boost sales. With so much at stake, it is essential that you get web design right and make a great first impression.
Users Will Stop Engaging if Your Site is Unappealing
If users make it past your initial design layout, their eyes will be drawn to key facets of the web page in less than 3 seconds. This includes logos, the menu, social icons, and images. An appealing site will encourage users to interact with content and seek out information about your business.
However, having a poorly designed site can cause potential customers to stop engaging altogether. This will lead them to navigate away from your page and potentially move on to the next search result. There is a good chance that the next result will be one of your competitor’s pages.
What is Considered to Be a Good Website Design?
Now that you know why your website design matters, it is important to understand what constitutes a “good” layout. There are a variety of factors that impact the effectiveness of your site. A great page should be:
Dynamic
As technology continues to advance, consumers have raised their expectations when it comes to digital design. Old-school, static sites that have no moving content are not that effective at keeping users engaged.
Instead, you need a site that is dynamic. This can be as straightforward as movement in the banner behind your logo or drop-down menus that appear when a user hovers their mouse over a phrase. Check out this great example of a dynamic site. It was created by our web development company in Texas.
Intuitive
The best websites are not just dynamic; they are also intuitive. Even less advanced web users should easily be able to find content. Whether a consumer is looking for the sales page, a blog, or their shopping cart, they should be able to locate it almost immediately.
After learning the importance of website design, take a look at your own content. If it is out of date, then it is time for an upgrade. Doing this will help you to grow your business and better serve your clients.
