These days everyone wants, needs and very likely has a website. When starting a business, most new entrepreneurs immediately think of name, logo and their business website. So it is not surprising that most people search for website design and designers to help them with these tasks. However, just getting a website design is not the right approach.
Is all website design the same?
As in most products and services, the answer is clearly no. Starting from the aesthetic appeal of the design, to the cleanliness and efficiency of the programming, there are websites and then there are websites. Trying to get a website design by comparing the lowest prices, will get you a waste of money and time and very likely a big loss in business. Nothing puts off a client more than a bad website, you think nobody is looking, but you are loosing business every day.
Website design or how well a website looks is only about 30% of the real task. How pretty a website is, should not be the only consideration. It is important to understand your prospects’ minds, get behind their eyes and figure out what they want and what they are looking for when visiting a website for your type of business.
Each business is different and as strange as it sounds, people who would enjoy a web experience in one type of business, would run away from the same experience in a different business type. There is no one clear way to design a winning website, on the contrary, smart digital marketers understand that the design is the result of providing a truly useful and immersive experience to the visitors. Give people what they want, and they will buy from you.
Digital marketing
Business owners sometimes feel afraid of digital marketing. It sounds like so much more than a website and it truly is, but if you want your business to have any degree of success online (and offline), you need more than a pretty website design, you need digital marketing. A digital marketing firm that knows about consumer psychology and behaviour provides an insight into what customers really need to make a purchasing decision.
People visit your website to learn about your product and service. This is more than just a list of services and products, as modern day savvy internet users we have learned to get all the answers we need online before even calling or visiting your business. The real challenge is to provide the right information at the right time on your website so that the consumer is educated enough. Clients need to clearly see why you are better than your competitor and can be trusted more to deliver as promised. Creating a basic list of products and services says you care very little and have scarce patience for questions or your clients. Clients’ may feel this even if in reality you are quite the opposite. What your website says about you is what your prospects’ believe.
Is what you say on your website what clients need to know? Is your design guiding them through a sales process? Does your website sale process ends with gaining your customers’ trust? Do you get many leads from your website?
If any of the previous questions’ answer is no, then you have a problem. Money is being lost and very likely, your competitors are picking up the slack. This is why you should get a digital marketing firm to work with you on your website design. Graphic designers are just skilled artists with a basic understanding of business and marketing, programmers are skilled IT people that can build a system, but lack understanding of design and marketing. A digital marketing specialist works with the designer and the programmer to create a business online that your prospects and clients appreciate and leads them to sales and conversions.