Your website design process is an integral part of your success (or failure) as a modern business.
You might think you can handle your web design projects, and that’s true. You can theoretically create a website in a matter of minutes. That’s not the same as having a well-designed, optimized, and user-friendly site, however.
People take less than one second to form an opinion about your site, and as such, your business.
Your design affects your credibility and trustworthiness, and conversions.
When consumers have a bad experience with your site, the overwhelming majority — nearly 90% — are unlikely to return.
So what does it take to have a WordPress site that’s aesthetically appealing and effective? Website design services from a WordPress expert is always the right choice. Working with a WordPress web design agency can elevate your responsive design, attract potential customers, and deliver a wide range of benefits.
Below, we go into what you should know about the importance of building a website, whether you work with professional web designers and developers or not.
Why Is Your Website’s Design Important?
Maybe you’re hesitant to hire a development team offering custom design services. You may not want to invest, but when you don’t, you’re going to end up costing yourself a lot more than that initial investment would.
Generally, why is the design of your site so critical?
Creating a First Impression
A website is where customers and potential clients are going to go to learn more about your business. Even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business or provide a service, people want to learn more from your website before getting in touch.
If people visit your site and it’s visually unappealing, seems outdated, or isn’t easy to navigate, this is their first impression. You’re not going to be able to overcome that negative first impression in almost all cases.
Your site design is cultivating how your audience perceives your business and your brand.
Site Design Matters for Search Ranking
Your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is what helps you become visible to your targeted audience on Google. SEO is foundational to the rest of your digital marketing approach.
Without optimizing your site for ranking in search results, it doesn’t matter how great your content or business is because people cannot find you.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that website design plays a crucial role in SEO.
Elements and design practices influence how search engine spiders crawl and index your site in relevant search results.
Your code, first and foremost, needs to be SEO-friendly. Sometimes we hear this called on-page or technical SEO. Working with a WordPress website design services provider, like BloomHouse Marketing, can ensure that your site is optimized for visibility in search engines.
Impacts Customer Service Perception
Customer service is everything in the world of business. People want to feel connected to your business in various ways, especially when they have a question or need help.
Your site needs to be set up for the optimal provision of customer service, which expert web design can help you achieve.
Your audience should see that you care about helping them and connecting with them and not just creating content for search engines. With a well-designed site that focuses on the customer experience and client service, you’re showing you value your audience.
Your Competitors Care About Site Design
Your target audience is going to give their attention to the business with the best website.
You have to keep up with the competition regarding your online presence and digital marketing strategy; how your site looks and functions is a big part of meeting your digital marketing goals and remaining competitive.
Build Trust
It’s hard for discerning online audiences to trust brands and businesses. There are so many options out there, and they don’t always live up to expectations. You want your clients to feel like you’re an expert in what you do and that you’re reputable and trustworthy.
Trust is no longer driven by having a big, fancy office. Now, building trust means that your website is your key piece of real estate that validates your brand.
If you don’t have a high-quality site, why would customers or clients think you will be a trustworthy resource for them?
Good Design Elements
It’s a complex job to design a site that looks and functions well, but general features good site design takes into consideration include:
- Navigation: When people come to your site, they want to be able to find what they’re looking for easily and quickly. Your navigation needs to achieve that. The harder it is for site visitors to find something, the more likely they will leave your site. Navigation needs to be intuitive and straightforward for a seamless user experience like your visitors are used to with their other online ventures.
- Mobile-first: The old mentality was to create a mobile-friendly website; the new mentality is “mobile-first!” The overwhelming majority of people who visit your site are going to do so from a mobile device. “Mobile-first” design focuses on the best possible mobile experience and ensuring you’re producing responsive websites. Rather than mobile use being an afterthought, effective website design services start with mobile in approaching design.
- Conversion: Conversions are the overall end goal of everything you’re doing as far as digital marketing. Conversion-friendly features and interactive design will draw attention to calls to action and buttons that users can click to make a purchase or take another desired action at different points of your sales funnel. An excellent professional design will turn visitors into customers and raise your conversion rates.
- Purposeful, impactful visuals: Visual elements and graphic design make your site more engaging — significantly more so. However, it’s easy to go overboard with visuals, creating a cluttered result. Your web design needs a balance between images, text, and white space. Each image needs to have a purpose and impact, which is a big part of a beautiful website design strategy.
- Copywriting: Your copy is the text appearing on your site, and it helps you directly build your digital presence. Copy is how search engines will “find” your site. It’s also how people will learn about your business since you’re providing content for search engines. You need people to stay engaged on your site and find answers.
- Page speed: How quickly your site loads will affect the user experience and your search engine rankings. Audiences won’t tolerate a slow-loading page. They’ll lose interest, go back to search results, and then opt to click your competitor’s site instead. You can (and should) optimize your site design for speed.
Outsourcing Website Development Services
Most companies don’t have the necessary in-house talent to create and manage their website, so it’s typically best to outsource website design services.
A professional web designer needs technical understanding, a grasp of SEO best practices, and the ability to consider the role of visual elements across a range of industries. When designing a compelling service website, eCommerce site, or any other type of site, a professional design company can help guide you through the process.
If you want to take your business’ online presence to the next level, call 866-386-1386 for a free consultation to learn more about BloomHouse Marketing’s website design services. BloomHouse Marketing can also help with social media marketing and SEO strategies as a full-service digital marketing agency with custom website designs.
You’ll get a positive return on investment and achieve new levels of success when you have a dedicated team of expert marketers working to create the ideal site for you.
