Websites are today’s version of the front windows businesses use to attract customers. People would walk by these display windows and determine whether or not they wanted to shop. Well, today’s window shopping is a simple Google search. You’ve probably visited an antiquated or difficult-to-navigate site and thought, “Get with the times!” Now, think about your site. Does it give off the same impression or do you need some website design help?
Internet usage has grown tremendously. Currently, 59% of the world’s population is online. That’s approximately 4.7 billion people that could see your business’s site! Remember getting your house ready before the company comes over? Then why not invest even more into your site that could potentially host half of the planet in a single day?
Reasons Why It Matters
There are great reasons why website design and web development matter. For starters, websites reflect the business and its owners. Ever heard “the suit makes the man,” or “you never get a second chance at a first impression?” Well, your website is your suit that makes a new first impression every minute. If your site is antiquated, hard to use, doesn’t interact well, or clean looking, then potential customers will assume you conduct your business poorly. In this case, the book is judged by the cover.
Secondly, great websites can boost your local and even global business. Google searches have changed our world. Almost everyone, despite age, uses google or other search engines to find what they need. It is expected, especially for younger generations, that if you want their business then you are online. Everyone wants reviews to avoid bad services or products as well. The very next action after reading a review they like is to click on or find your website. It’s the way of the world. Better reviews lead to more website traffic. With half the planet being online, your business instantly becomes international with a website.
Finally, websites get media attention. Media can be a powerful tool to boost business and get you free advertisement. If a journalist is looking for an expert to quote or research, then they will turn to search the web and hopefully find you. That’s only half the battle. How your website looks says a lot about you, so bad websites scream incompetence. A perception of incompetence will not get you an interview or anywhere near the front page.
There are even statistics showing how people feel about website design:
- In 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) users form an opinion about your website and if they’ll stay or leave.
- A study found that 94% of negative website feedback was design related
- 38% of people will stop engaging if a website’s content or layout is unattractive
- 75% of consumers admitted to judging a business’s credibility based on its website’s design
- 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load
Your website’s mobile platform is important too. Think about it, most people access the internet by their handheld device. In 2018, smartphones held a 63% share of all retail website traffic. Yes, your website displays differently on a desktop vs a mobile device. The code to adjust your site based on how it’s accessed must be done correctly. That’s just good web development. Here are the numbers for mobile usage:
- 85% of adults think a company’s website for mobile devices should be as good or better than the desktop version. As of Q2 2018,
- Google found that 61% of users are unlikely to return to a site if they had trouble with accessing it on a mobile device, and 40% will visit a competitor’s site
Help for Your Website Design
Whether you are building a site or just trying to update the one you have, there are professionals that can help you create the best. Digital Dive Marketing has experts that will not only design a beautiful website for you, or update your existing one, but will do it in a way that boosts your web presence. They handle:
- UX Design that focuses on the skeleton of your website. Here your page’s hierarchy, information, and user experience are structured to create a flawless and logical interaction between your customers and your site.
- Visuals that are oh, so important. They develop color palettes that create a clean and modern look, and size and style the site’s typography guaranteeing the website flows aesthetically.
- An interaction that most people are accustomed to using by anticipating user behaviors to create the most efficient and user-friendly design for the information.
- Search optimization. They create strong search engine optimization (SEO) that navigates search engine algorithms to make your website go straight to the top of any online searches.
Websites are important to your customers, so they should be important to you. Don’t skip the details and invest well in your online presence. The best way to do that is with experienced professionals like Digital Dive Marketing.
