An online presence is one of the most valuable assets for your company.
In today’s business market, competition has never been fiercer. With companies fighting tooth and nail for customer share, it is now more important than ever to stand out from the crowd. Get ahead of your competitors and make a strong first impression with a professional, aesthetically pleasing and responsive website.
Irrespective your business size, your website must project a professional image at all times. The more professional your image, the more credible your company will appear to the end user. So if you want to achieve your business goals and objectives, a well-designed website will play a crucial role.
You only get once chance to make a first impression.
Your website is often the first impression of your business for a potential customer, so make it count! Research shows that poorly designed websites can prove a serious risk to sales revenue. With consumers becoming more and more sophisticated, their expectations are rising. Therefore, it is essential that every company website inspires confidence. Businesses that invest carefully in their web experience will see higher levels of customer spend, retention and referral.
When viewing a website, it takes users less than two-tenths of a second to form a first impression. A professional website designer worth their salt will be fully aware of these statistics. Therefore, they will know the best way to to lay out your website to capture the customers attention in those crucial first few seconds.
According to research from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, people spend approximately 2.6 seconds scanning a website. That is an incredibly short amount of time to make a great first impression. However, if your website is has a professional, considered design, this should not be a problem.
On average, a user spends just under 20 seconds browsing a web page. To generate a positive first impression, your site should be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Through bespoke design, individuality, end user functionality and an easy navigation system, you will generate interest for the user to view the rest of your website.
If a user doesn’t like your website, they are likely to go no further. Instead, they return to their search results and click on the next result. Now you have lost a potential customer who could have made a purchase… had your website had been engaging enough!
More and more people are now viewing things on the move.
It is so important that your website is available 24/7. According to a 2016 study by eMarketer, the average mobile user spends up to 4 hours, 5 minutes on their phone per day! Therefore, if you want your website to have a wide reach, you need it to be accessible via mobile and when people are on the move. If someone is locked out their house and needs to book an emergency locksmith, they need access to the website straight away. They can’t be made to wait until they find a computer!
In recent years, many businesses have failed to evolve their websites. Common faults include outdated text, incorrect phone numbers and broken internal links. However, a recurring failure is that their websites are not fully responsive across all devices, if at all.
Responsive web design simply means a website can be viewed across multiple devices. The layout adapts to the screen size (be it desktop, laptop, phone or tablet) without compromising its quality, content or functionality. Responsive websites are fluid, meaning the content moves freely across all screen resolutions and devices. Just as a liquid fills the shape of its container while retaining its appearance, the fluidity of a responsive design allows its content to adapt to any size screen.
In 2015, 60% of internet searches were done via mobile. What’s more, 40% of people chose another search result if the one they landed on was not mobile friendly. Therefore, it’s vital that your website both looks good AND works well across all mobile devices if you want people to engage with you.
So why is responsive web design so great?
As mentioned before, responsive design increases the reach to your audience. With mobile traffic to retailer sites increasing by 112% in 2014, without a fully responsive website, it’s very likely you will lose business to your competitors.
Second, it influences higher conversion rates. Does your website promote a product or service? Then the more people that can access it the better. By implementing a responsive site, you could see a huge increase in sales. Also, you will inevitably appear as more of a technology savvy business.
Finally, responsive design increases your visibility on search engines. With more people engaging with your content, your website will flag up at Google, highlighting that your site provides a service that people want. Therefore, this will encourage Google to present your site for relevant keyword searches.
But whatever you do, DON’T create your website on Wix!
Nothing is lazier than creating your own website on Wix. While you make save money in the short term, your loses may be greater in the long run. Wix allows individuals to design their own website for free using a variety of templates and fixed layouts. No thought or effort goes into these designs, and this is clearly noted by any potential users. If you can’t be bothered to create a professional website, does this mean your services or products unprofessional too?
The worst case scenario could see you lose brand equity as your business becomes more generic and less recogisable. This could cost you the integrity of your business as your brand may no longer be associated with quality and reliability. The development of your website should be taken seriously and not left to templates used by countless other businesses! A Wix website is a sure fire way to get lost in the competitive market.
So if you want a fully bespoke responsive website, look no further than Visualise!
We offer a FREE no obligation detailed quotation at the start of the project. You can also view the progress of your website on our test server, keeping you up to date with the design and build process. Now you can make adjustments every step of the way – meaning NO nasty surprises!
Visualise make sure every client has a unique, beautifully designed website that is tailored to their every need. Simply put: we are not happy until our client is happy. So, what are you waiting for? Call 01603 327713 or click here to find out more about our responsive web design services.
