How Website Design Impacts Your Brand

Your website is the face of your brand and your potential customer’s first point of contact with your company. That is why it is crucial to put your best foot forward and effectively establish user engagement and experience.

Having a static website with lukewarm content stuffed with keywords has become a thing of the past. In the modern age, the best-designed website is one of the most powerful tools that can make or break your business.

How Web Design Helps Make or Break Your Business

In addition to business cards, your website is a great way to exhibit the professionalism of your business and demonstrate your expertise and brand reputation. This makes website design an essential part of your digital marketing plan.

In the digital age, the image of your business should not only be the main focus of a good website design. Today’s consumers have higher expectations when visiting a website. They do not only want to see a beautifully designed interface but also want a functional and seamless user experience.

Here are several ways a web design can make or break your business:

• First Impression Counts

Let us disregard your web content for a moment and focus on web design. How well your website is designed can either drive potential customers away or convert them into paying customers. You only have a few seconds to impress your visitors, or they will bounce off quickly to another competitor website.

Studies found out that 94% of potential customers will judge the design of your website. It only takes less than 2/10 of a second for online visitors to form an opinion of your brand. It shows that you do not have so much time to impress your prospects. This only makes the design of your website crucial for increasing conversions. When you are effective in establishing a good impression, your odds of converting prospects into paying customers are high.

• Tells So Much About Your Brand’s Credibility

Consider your website as the window into the company. Many of your potential customers visit your website to look for solutions. With poor website design, they will immediately bounce off and head over to another website.

Research reported that your design will affect the credibility of your website, especially if visitors cannot find what they are looking for. 75% of website visitors determine the credibility of your brand based on its web design.

• Brand Uniformity

Your brand is usually identified by your company’s logo. To help set your brand apart from your competitors, you will need a unique and well-crafted website design to put it in the best light possible. Also, you need to make sure that all your logo’s important elements are properly integrated into the web design to ensure consistency. This helps your target audience recognize your brand right away.

• Boost User Engagement

Capturing your user’s attention does not guarantee conversion. Your web page layout should appeal to them so they will stay on your page and explore what you have to offer. Longer stays can mean higher chances of converting leads into sales. Key features such as the call to action buttons, search bars and contact us page should be strategically laid out to help visitors to find what they are looking for on your website.

• Mobile Friendliness

How people use the Internet has significantly changed throughout the years. Today, millions of people search for information online from their mobile devices, making it critical for many branding websites to have a mobile-friendly design. When your website is not optimized for mobile, you will be losing a majority of your potential customers. A mobile responsive web design loads quickly and displays text that fits the screen of a smartphone or tablet.

• Better Search Engine Rankings

Google and other search engines give more favour to mobile-responsive websites. As a ranking factor, a mobile-friendly website will increase your opportunities of showing up in search results.

Elements of a Good Website Design

Now that you understand the importance of web design in making a good first impression, it is not something you should take lightly. Investing in a good website design inspires customer engagement, confidence, and conversion.

A great website has various elements that can effectively tell your story and explain the value of your business. Other web design elements can immediately capture interest or improve user experience on any device. While a web design has different elements, you do not need to use all of them. Doing so can make your site seem disorganized, which will make for a confusing experience. However, when it comes to choosing the elements, make sure they align with your brand and business goals.

Here are a few tips to help you narrow down your choices and find the best elements for your website:

• Navigation – Ease of navigation is vital, especially if you have multiple webs pages. Having a well-labelled and intuitive navigation bar or menu displaying a list of your web pages helps your visitors find what they are looking for on your website much more quickly. A thoughtfully laid out navigation allows them to explore your website without getting lost and enhances user experience.
• Visual Design – Since humans are visually-oriented creatures, making your website visually appealing can impress potential customers. You only have a fraction of a second to impress your visitor, so put your best foot forward by showing them an eye-catching website that looks professional and trustworthy.
• Compelling Content – Many visitors come to your website to search for information. Make sure that your content is easy to read, informative, relevant, and engaging. Well-written content does more than just make your website design effective and popular.
• Web-Friendly – A beautiful and easy-to-use website design is useless unless it is website-friendly. Your web designer should know that all components used to create a website that works on different browsers and use meta-tags and alt-tags that are fully SEO-versed. These factors can impact your website’s visual appearance and search engine rankings.

• Information Accessibility – Some people do not have time to explore your entire website. Make sure they can easily access your phone number, address, and other crucial information about your business. That is why it is also important for your website to be AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant.
• Speed – Speed is a crucial factor for any website. The time it takes for your website to load can have a huge impact on the user experience. Most internet users do not wait around more than 5 seconds for web pages to load. Otherwise, they will abandon your website and turn to your competitor’s.
• Call to Action – Embedding calls-to-action adds to the user-friendliness of your website and helps increase conversion rates. It simplifies the way customers take the next step on your website. Call-to-actions can be anything from “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons to “Sign Up” buttons for subscriptions or “Share” buttons for social media. These buttons provide users with a clear direction on what you want them to do.

Why You Need to Hire a Professional Web Designer

An effective and successful website that can bring your more customers and increase your profits requires more than just a “pick a template and go” type of customization. Keep in mind that your website is your business’s online storefront, and it needs to look and feel as professional and credible as possible.

Here are several reasons why you should hire a professional web design agency in Toronto:

• Saves Time and Money – Although you can find many books and websites dedicated to website design, the actual process of designing and implementing a website can take long hours of coding, typing, and modifying. However, if you hire a professional web designer with years of experience, you don’t have to learn to code yourself and you will gain access to a fully functional website in a shorter period of time.
• Professional Look – A professional-looking website is a major selling point. Web designers in Toronto are experts in customizing websites and have an eye for details that can balance the elements and produce an aesthetically appealing website. They know how to choose and use proper colour schemes and fonts that will add to the overall look of your website.
• Quick Solutions – Problems can unexpectedly arise within the website. A web designer can easily handle and resolve these issues quickly. Also, these experts can even manage your website on your behalf and correct invalid links and quickly carry out necessary changes.
• Gives Your Marketing Advantage – Your website and marketing efforts should complement each other. As a business, you want your target audience to get to know about your brand and your offers. Having a professionally designed website enables you to showcase your brand, rank you in business listings, and boost your credibility, giving you a competitive edge.

Hiring a professional web designer may be a costly investment upfront, but its advantages outweigh its initial cost. Its benefits offer a lifetime value to your business. If you are looking for a trusted and professional web designer who can help you get your business online, Mouth Media is here to help! We provide creative solutions for your website’s needs.

Call us today at (416) 531-5443 and find out how we can help you put your best foot forward with a beautiful and highly functional website that is designed for success. You can also email us at info@mouthmedia.com or fill in our contact form to send us your message or queries.