As a business owner, you may wonder how much your website actually matters when it comes to making a profit. You may not realize it, but your website is often the first impression a potential consumer has of your business and can be one of the most important pieces of media that your company owns. A quality website is so important because it’s your main channel of communication with your consumers. Having a good web design directly impacts search engine result page rankings, traffic, how long a consumer will stay once they click, and conversion rates. We’re here to tell you all of the elements to consider when building or redesigning your company’s page.
Reflect Your Company
First and foremost, it’s very important that your website accurately reflects your company. Think about your business’s mission, vision, and values. How would you describe your company? Think about how your business presents itself and how you want consumers to feel when they think about your business. You should incorporate these visuals and feelings into your website.
Say your logo incorporates a light blue smile. Your webpage could include pops of that same light blue color and have positive energy. If the vision of your company is to give America’s youths access to sports, your website could have a theme that incorporates sports. All of these incorporations shouldn’t be too heavy. You don’t want to overdo it. Talk with your web designer about how to personalize your website so that it feels “you.”
Lastly, what are your goals and objectives for your website? This may seem obvious, but it's very important to talk about. The goals and objectives for an informational website vs an e-commerce site will be completely different. This affects the layout and mechanics of your website.
Brand Consistency
Don’t forget to evaluate your current branding in order to create a cohesive look and feel between your website and the rest of your brand. If you’re also in the midst of designing a logo, you may want to complete that before making hard decisions about your website.
You’ll want to do this because your logo directly affects your website. It not only determines what colors will be used but also sets a tone for the style of your website. If you have a modern logo, a rustic webpage design isn’t going to make sense.
You should also keep your brand voice throughout the content on your website consistent with that of your social and print media. It’s important to be consistent throughout all messaging so that your brand personality is consistent and you have more control over consumers’ perceptions of your business.
Navigation
It’s very important that your website is easy to navigate. If consumers get lost or confused on your page, they’ll find another business with a better website to take their business. Making your website easily formatted is very important.
Make sure your website includes a menu leading to different pages as well as subpages if applicable. These pages help separate information on your website in order to make specific content easier to find and digest. The layout of your website is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Navigation is a very important factor.
Navigation doesn’t just mean your website is easy to navigate. It also means that your website has content that steers consumers to stay on your website rather than bouncing off. You can do this by using inbound links. These links just take consumers onto another page on your website. For example, you could have a button on your homepage that says “contact us” and takes consumers to your contact page. These links will also help you with search engine optimization.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important because, without it, no one will see your website. SEO is a tool for boosting your company’s ranking on search engine results pages. High rankings on these pages ensure that your website is one of the first that a consumer sees when searching for related topics.
SEO can be used throughout your website in many ways. For one, you can use keywords in the content throughout your page. The algorithms used to determine rankings cannot see your website. They can only see copy and code. Because of this, you need strong messages that use the algorithm to their advantage.
Aside from wording, it’s important that all website coding is done correctly. This shows the algorithm that your website is trustworthy. You can also boost your SEO by making sure things like pictures and inbound links are named and used correctly. Every piece of your website can help you beat the algorithms and appear higher on consumers’ searches.
How We Can Help
At Inner Spark Creative, we know how important a well-designed website is. We design pages that represent your business in a way that is not only appealing but also helps your business grow through the use of SEO, copy, and design. We want you to have a website that you love. Let us design a webpage for your business that’s not only aesthetically pleasing and cohesive with your brand but will also help you attract more customers and grow. Contact us today to learn more about our web design services.