Web design that will shift the way your business website is viewed.

The competitive world wide web can be a dark and fierce place to be in when you are not armed with the necessary tools and knowledge to survive. You must be well aware of how to outrun and outsmart your competitors who are after the same target audience as your business, meaning a strategy needs to be put into place. Actually, many strategies need to be put in place. Having a strong online presence and promoting your products and services that your business provides can often feel like a battle in an arena where only the strongest and fittest survive. Within that arena, the winning contender always has a solid plan in place, a map to follow that will ultimately lead you to the road of success. If you are determined to make your business grow and expand at a successful rate, there are a number of strategies and plans that must be put into place in order to organise and remain on top of the ever-changing competition.

Although there are a large number of components that come together when it comes to keeping your competitive edge within the market, the element of website design is often underrated and not taken into account as much as it should. There is a burning question in many minds revolving around web design, and that is “why would the design of my website be beneficial to my business?” and “does it really matter what my website looks like?” Well, the short answer is yes, it definitely does. Then the next set of burning questions come to mind along the lines of “how can the design of my business actually convert leads into sale?” and “will it actually be of significant value to update the look and feel of my website?” Again, the short answer to that is yes, it definitely will. So let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits that well thought out and professional web design can bring to your business.

It is a common understanding that the better your website looks, the more people will actually stay and read about what your business has to offer. A critical point of web design is that the layout must be on the money each and every time for each and every customer. For example, your existing or potential customers jump onto your website looking for a product or service from your business and wishes to read more about it. In this instance, your website is essentially acting as a library with rich information about what they are specifically looking for. In most cases, the better you can inform your customer about your product or service, the more likely they are to actually purchase it which subsequently leads to more sales.

Now, for some (or most) of us who have the time to enjoy a good book from the library read the pages from left to right, top to bottom as it is the conventional way to process information whilst reading. Your website must therefore replicate a book of some kind, where reading is easy and contributes to the customer’s experience. Now, this part of web design actually takes into account many things such as the size of the font, the colour of the font and the style of the font. All of these factors play a major role, as font that is too small or large can greatly take away from the reading experience of your customer which can potentially drive them away. Font should be easily seen without looking too bright, dull or busy as this can also bring the readability of your all important content.

Yes, web design improves the overall aesthetics of your website with clever designs but it is also much more than that. As mentioned before, because your website is acting as a library that is all about your business to inform customers, knowing where to look for the specific pieces of information on your site is highly important. Personally, when I step into a library and search for a book about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) I like to know exactly where I need to go to find it, without having to look through every book in the library to get to it. This can enhance customer experience greatly and also organise your website especially if your site has multiple pages of information about your products and services. Maintaining the navigation tabs or bars on your website simple and sleek are important to minimise confusion and a busy and messy look that can be detrimental to your business.

Understanding the needs of your growing clientele base is paramount in business, which is why a trusting relationship between your business and customers is needed. This trust can also be built through your website. You see, web design is often misunderstood as a superficial part of business, but is it really? The look and feel of your website must capture what your business is about, as it is the ultimate online representative of your company. Think of it like an job interview. In order to be successful with your application, job candidates are often required to be presentable, smart and organised to execute their role to a high standard. This is no different for your website. Websites must be designed in such a way that will successfully gain the trust of your prospective clients and build upon the trust already gained for your existing customers.

Depending on your industry, your website must reach a certain standard when it comes to the corporate look and feel of your site. This is crucial if you want to let your customers know that you are serious and capable of delivering a product or service that will exceed their expectations. Maintaining your corporate identity across your website and around your workplace can be a great way to project a uniform appearance and therefore build upon the corporate image. Web design plays a strategic role when it comes to placing and sizing your logo on your site to enhance the quality and perception of your website to leave clients with a lasting positive impression. High quality web design also takes into account the ways in which some elements of the design and setup of your website in order to avoid downfalls when it comes to the way your website is indexed by leading search engines like Google.

Search Engine Optimisation is a sensitive scale which can tip either way if not maintained properly, often meaning you have the power to significantly drive traffic to or away from your website with this indexing method. This means that the design of your website can impact on how easily your website can be found by clients when relevant keywords to your business are searched for. To read more about Search Engine Optimisation and its benefits to your business by MLK Marketing, click here. For example, Google is constantly looking for things that are favourable and unfavourable on your website, which is something that web design has to take into consideration during the entire process. Search Engine Optimisation can be affected by excessive use of flash on your site as this can result in slow page load times, and constant lagging for many users which takes away from the overall customer experience. For example, you may advise your web designer that you wish to have an introduction to your website which is very visually appealing to all users, but in most cases, having too much flash on your website can result in negative consequences even though it may be great to look at.

Further, incorporating text into your images can majorly bring down the way in which your website is indexed which can result in decreased traffic and sales. However, building text into images can also bring down the overall presentation of your website, making it look busy and without a clear purpose. Now, it may seem like a bit of a contradiction when updating the design of your website to make it look more appealing and be well received by clients can also be a factor in driving customers away from your website. This is why it is very important to remember the parameters in which you have freedom to move within before crossing the fine line between increasing sales and losing your ranking in search engines like Google. Ultimately, this point is part of the reason why Search Engine Optimisation is known to be a very complex, tedious and challenging component of effective business marketing. It is important to follow these rules as SEO and web design go hand in hand when it comes to making your website stand out from your competitors and highlight the unique selling points of your business.

MLK Marketing is home to a team of web designers who are equipped with the extensive technical knowledge and skills necessary to bring you high quality and professional web design. Our specialist web designers will take into account what you want for your business and what your clientele are specifically seeking from your products and services in order to seamlessly design your website as a premium showcasing platform.