There are lots of free site solutions available out there today. Believe it or not, regardless of the fact we are a web development and design firm, we have no problem with this whatsoever. We understand that some businesses may just be starting out, or perhaps they have been restructuring for a while now, and money is tight. We get all that.
After all, we would much rather that a website gets a presence than none at all. From time to time, we’ll all need stepping stones to get to the next level.
That said, we do not think that this is an excuse to give your site a bad, unattractive design. Design is still paramount. Remember that the web is primarily a visual experience for the most part. Factor in the fact that most people browse from their mobile phones, and the design matters even more.
A Website’s Design Helps Determine First Impressions
Here is a great example I love to use when educating my students on the importance of a website’s design.
Picture this scene. You are a cake fanatic, and some of your fellow pastry enthusiasts have been raving and ranting so much about some new muffins that have been taking the town by storm. Naturally, you beg them to share the bakery address with you.
They do, because they’re good friends. When you get there, however, you realize that the supposedly excellent edibles emporium is like nothing you had imagined or expected.
First of all, the sign outside looks as if it has been scribbled by a 2-year-old, and the windows are so dusty that you cannot see what is being offered on the other side. Things keep getting worse from here.
After walking in, not only are the shop’s shelves bare, but you also receive a downright peculiar response from the person selling when you inquire about the delicious muffins. You ask to see the muffins, but the bored-looking sales rep assures you that they are in the back and they’ll bring them out if you are sure you’ll buy.
Of course, you’re exasperated at this point, so you make your way toward the exit, mumbling menacingly in a low tone. You feel like if you had a brick in your hands, you’d not hesitate to hurl it through one of the windows in disgust.
My friend, this is precisely how site visitors feel when they go through the misfortune of navigating poorly designed websites.
A Website’s Design Impacts Conversions
Let us say that you manage to set a great first impression and get your web visitors to spend time on your website. Perfect!! But now what?
The objective at this point should be to get your web visitor to take a specific action, such as book a demo with you, subscribe to your email list, or acquire a product like an online course you recently built. There is a wide array of call to actions you can incorporate into your website.
Either way, one of the easiest ways to ensure that web visitors go through the call to action is creating an excellent copy, but ask any site owner, and they will tell you that user experience and excellent design come first. This begins with clear navigation and value propositions. Through your website’s unique and engaging design, your visitors should immediately understand what actions they’re supposed to take on your wite, what your unique selling proposition is, and also understand what you offer in great detail.
In other words, the way visitors navigate through your site’s page ought to flow naturally and smoothly.
A Great Website Design Improves SEO
It’s no surprise that a website’s user experience boosts its SEO as well. Yeah, the same mesmerizing design elements you’ve incorporated in your site to wow customers will please Google spiders as they crawl on your site. Honestly, this is a double whammy that no one should ignore.
With that in mind, here is a rundown of the several ways that a great web design improves its SEO as well.
- Thanks to Google’s mobile-first indexing, ensuring a mobile-friendly web design is super essential if you’d like to secure a high SERP ranking
- A logical and simple URL structure with limited page levels implies instant gratification for customers and fewer redirects. It makes total sense that Google loves this
- Natural and intuitive main navigation seamlessly guides clients toward conversions, and SEO engines love it as well.