Why is Great Web Design Important?

Having a website is one of the most strategic moves you can make for your business. However, there’s little to no point in spending money on this valuable asset if it’s not going to benefit you. How do you make it benefit you? The answer is to work with a professional who knows web design like the back of their hand and can make you a beautiful, bespoke website which works for your business.

 

Simple is best

Google conducted research back in 2012 and came to the conclusion that not only do users prefer simpler websites, but they also prefer to view the website they expect. This means that consumers will expect the layout and structure of your website to be similar to others in your industry

 

Research has also shown that customers tend to make a yay/nay type judgement of your site after the first 50 milliseconds of viewing it. That’s not a lot of time to showcase your site, so it’s best to ‘keep it simple, stupid’.

 

Conforming to industry standards might not be your thing but considering you have only 50 milliseconds to impress a potential customer, we advise that you keep your quirks confined to your blog posts or social media.

 

The good news is that clean, simple designs are great for you. They can cost less to build in the first place, are easier to maintain and update, and run a lower risk of looking outdated or old.

 

However, it can mean more planning to start with. Really think about how many pages you need. Is it necessary that you have both an ‘Environment’ page and a ‘Sustainability’ page? Keeping it simple extends to keeping it simple for the user. Someone who has never visited your site before should be able to navigate it with ease.

 

Keep visitors on your site

55% of visitors will spend less than 15 seconds on your site. Given that they’ve already made their mind up about whether they like your site or not in the first 50 milliseconds, 15 more seconds is a lot of time to captivate them and convince them to stay. Use it wisely.

 

The fact of the matter is that users will quickly move on if the information on a page is irrelevant, disorganised or wrong. They may move on because they have trouble finding what they’re looking for, or because your site’s not what they expected.

 

Having great web design will keep users on your page longer if the information they need is present, organised and relevant. Achieve this by consulting a professional – they know that predictable and logical design works better than something ‘modern’ and ‘cutting edge’.

 

Good for SEO

Keeping visitors on your site and keeping them interacting with your pages will do wonders for your SEO. Having ‘good quality’ visitors instead of high bounce rates will encourage Google to rank you higher, getting you more site visitors in turn.

 

If getting ranked highly on Google’s results pages is one of your goals, then how your website is designed is a key factor to consider. Not only does it need to be natural for humans, but it needs to be natural for bots too. Search engine bots will be looking for a clear, logical structure to your site as well as internal links.

 

Great SEO drives organic traffic to your website which will increase your rank. It’s an investment, but a fully optimised site is essential for connecting with your customers.

 

Image courtesy of Simplex – Web Design Sydney

September 20, 2018 / No Comments / 

Marketing vs Branding

Sometimes we find clients are confused with the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’, and how they’re different. Both are important, often difficult to master and incredibly rewarding for your business. Each requires different planning, research and execution. Read on to find out the basics of approaching each.

 

Creating an emotional response

Everything your company does on the surface should be aiming to get some kind of emotional reaction from your audience. Whether it’s marketing or branding, the response you’re looking for should be in line with your product and market. Research is essential for discovering how you should be approaching your target audience, so it’s important that you have a good idea of what you’re doing before you start.

 

Marketing

As an example, take an ad campaign including a countdown clock or CTAs to act on an expiring deal. It aims to get a stressful response from the audience, and this will push them to buy your product sooner rather than later. However, creating a stressful response through branding works for only a few companies. These tend to be exclusive and high-end companies who are selling an image, not just products.

 

Branding

Your branding should be aiming to get one or two responses from your audience and convey one main image overall. It’s the difference between a fun little flower shop in a small village and a high-end high street florist. Your branding should align with both your product and your target market.

There’s no point trying to sell wedding packages if you’re a florist in an area with no wedding venues, so you shouldn’t market yourself as a wedding specialist. However, you can brand yourself as an affordable place to buy seeds, bulbs and fresh cut flowers and have your staff, signage and website reflect this.

 

Marketing your brand

Every marketing effort of your company should be in line with your brand values and goals. You should aim to create campaigns which show your business off in the best way and compliment your existing branding.

Take our example of a local flower shop. Yes, their ‘high-end’ wedding package might be marketed differently to their regular packages. But that doesn’t mean that their brand values are lost in the messages.

One of their values might be ‘providing high-quality flowers at an affordable price’. Marketing this wedding package can be done in such a way that your message isn’t lost on the customer. Continuing to convey exactly what your brand values are while switching up how people view your business through one advert is a great way to target specific groups of people.

There’s always a bit of wiggle room in the way you can market your business. Align your marketing and branding to keep it consistent, but don’t be afraid of switching up your advertising to keep things fresh and try out new ideas.

 

Marketing Tools

At its most basic, marketing is every tool you use to get your brand out there. This extends to:

  • Websites
  • Blogs
  • SEO
  • Social media
  • Email marketing
  • Print ads
  • Pay Per Click campaigns
  • TV and radio ads

These can change constantly. How you advertise is should always be changing to keep up with trends, competitors and the needs of your audience.

The tools and how you use them for your business will be unique to you, and you should do the appropriate research to justify them. This is how you gain and retain customers, sell product and increase brand awareness.

 

Branding Tools

Branding tools shouldn’t be confused with marketing tools. Different branding tools include:

  • Corporate colours
  • Logo
  • Staff uniform
  • Font and style guide
  • Promises, values and goals
  • Customer service

Of course, all of these branding tools can (and should) be used in your marketing. They should be as unique to your business as your advertising is, so it’s important to think carefully when branding or rebranding your business.

 

If you need help with branding or rebranding, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team. We’re always happy to help. Alternatively, check out some of our other blogs on branding 

September 12, 2018 / No Comments /