Did you know that over 2 billion people purchase goods and services online every year? E-commerce is on the rise, and businesses are attributing much of their growth to online sources involving website design and marketing. If you want your business to grow, success will largely depend on a well designed and marketed website.
Ultimately, having a great website is about more than delivering information, or showcasing your products or services. Business owners must have strong web design and powerful integrated marketing to compete online.
Read on for 7 website design and marketing tips that will help your business grow!
1. Engage Viewers
Engaging viewers is a key component to the success of any website. Accomplish this by using a variety of intriguing media; video, animations, images, and text should all work in accordance with each other to keep viewers on the website.
Intuitive website design will create an engaging experience for visitors to your website. On the other hand, overly complicated designs can be confusing, overwhelming, and even annoying. While you or your agency are planning out your website design, intuitive layout and elegant design elements will enable and encourage clients to explore your site.
Furthermore, each website page should be concise and organized. Keep the information specific and easy to understand by taking advantage of hierarchy, white space, and balance. While you can do this yourself, consider hiring a web designer to help optimize the overall look of your design!
While considering how to engage viewers, keep in mind that Google will rank a site higher in search results if it follows E-A-T guidelines. E-A-T refers to the way the quality of a website is determined by expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Build each of those elements into your content, and ensure that each page on your site has a clear and interesting purpose.
2. Create Smooth Navigation
Excellent navigation design can guide viewers naturally through your site and create a positive impression. Meanwhile, intuitive navigation encourages site visits to last longer as viewers have a clear roadmap to find what they are looking for.
To create easy navigation, first understand which of your pages are of the highest importance. Figure out what your customers need or want, and then display those pages prominently in a logical order.
Next, be specific! Avoid vague terminology in your links and menus. Customers will be grateful if they can find what they’re looking for with one click.
Navigation becomes even smoother on a properly optimized website. Pages should always load quickly, or visitors will leave before they even view the page.
3. Use SEO
Fundamentally, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves tactics that cause your site to appear higher in search rankings, improving your visibility and increasing traffic. Think about the last time you went past the first or second page of Google results and you’ll understand how important SEO can be.
SEO practices include using keyword research, backlinking, and multimedia to connect your site to the web as much as possible. Many people implement SEO via content creation. To effectively implement blogs as a way to increase web traffic, be sure to always have fresh and relevant content on your site.
Using SEO is especially valuable since it starts a feedback loop. SEO will drive traffic to your site, and greater traffic will also drive the site higher in search results.
4. Keep It Consistent
As a business owner, be sure your website is consistent with your brand identity. Moreover, keep in mind that every page needs to work together to create a cohesive whole.
Focus on the details; always use the same fonts and colors throughout your site. Even your website’s copy should have a similar tone and style on every page. Stay true to your brand so that return visitors or visitors linked from other sources will grow familiar with the brand identity.
Consistency offers the added benefit of establishing trust with your customers!
5. Call Customers to Action
Use calls-to-action to guide viewers through the entirety of your website. Build this directly into your website design via well-placed links.
If you create content for your site, use relevant CTAs at the end of blog articles, videos, or podcasts. Always keep your call-to-action focused on the topic at hand. For instance, if your article is informative, a “learn more” call to action will be better than a “buy now.”
Another useful CTA tip is to be sure your contact details are the easiest information to find on your site. Your contact page should be prominent, instead of hidden away in drop-down menus. Keep a phone number or email address anchored to the header or footer of each page as well.
6. Link to Social Media
Take every opportunity to improve your marketing – that means expanding your brand and linking where you can! Your website and social media marketing should link to each other. By doing so, both your website traffic and your followers will soar!
You can incorporate social media buttons into your design, or show a few of your feeds right on the site.
Another great marketing strategy involving social media is to create shareable content. Expand your reach to the friends and followers of your viewers. Include the ability to share on social media to all of your media, and every once in a while you can even require sharing content as part of a sweepstakes entry or other form of interactive engagement!
7. Be Mobile-Friendly
About half of all internet browsing now occurs on smartphones. Mobile app functionality is a must for great web design as site visits will come from phones, tablets, and other devices. Responsive design automatically adjusts for the size of the screen.
Responsive design is important not only for the user experience but for your search engine ranking as well. Sites that offer easy navigation across devices will appear higher in search results on Google. This causes your business to stand out.
Implement These Website Design and Marketing Tips Now
Use these website design and marketing tips to keep your business successful in an online world! Create new customers and keep customers coming back by taking advantage of great and strategic web design.
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