Have you ever heard the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” Well, in web design, that phrase is thrown out the window. It’s such a thoughtful expression that basically means you should not form an opinion of someone or something based on the first thing that you notice. But, you know what? That is very difficult to do.
By human nature, we form an opinion or first impression about something within the first 7 seconds of engaging with that thing, whether it is a person, book, or even a website.
Though, in the case of a website, it’s incredibly hard to assume that someone will not “judge a book by its cover” when they see an outdated design, a dull layout, and/or a misconstrued message on the landing page.
Your Customers Care about Web Design
It would be incredibly oblivious of us to assume that people are not looking at your website and judging every square inch of your brand and message. Did you know that 75% of users make judgements about a company’s credibility based on web design alone? Believe it or not, your customers actually care about web design. People are naturally drawn to a visually good design, just like they are drawn to visually appealing book covers, fun cereal boxes and brightly colored pictures on an Instagram page. Although the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover’ has an innocent meaning, oftentimes it truly is difficult to incorporate that into all situations.
If you have never considered the design of your website as an opportunity for site visitors to judge you, think again. Your website design is incredibly important and it has a direct impact on your business. You’d be surprised how many businesses don’t believe how important it is to have a clean website that clearly displays one message. What people don’t realize is that your online presence can literally make or break your business.
Wed design is important, but having just any design will not do you any justice. Your site design needs to sync up with your message. Without this, you could be using customers. Your site must be updated, modern, easy to use, and follow one message.
Why is Web Design Important?
Web design is incredibly important because it not only impacts the visual aesthetic of your site, but it impacts your visitor’s experience. It also displays your brand’s professionalism and promotes trust from your visitors.
1. Make it Easy
The design of your website impacts its usability. Your website should make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find your contact information, your About page, your Products page, and your service information. If these things are not easily spotted on your website, you may be driving your web visitors away. You can make it easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for by creating a navigation bar and featuring your phone number in plain sight on your page.
2. Keep the Navigation Simple
One of the most important elements of your website design is the navigation of your site. One thing to keep in mind when designing or site, or having it designed by a professional, is to keep it simple. Studies show that having too many pages/options on your website can lead to confusion and wasted time. A good rule of thumb is to minimize your number of website pages to what accurately tells your brand story. Again, you should make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find what they are looking for. Don’t make it harder for them to navigate your site. They will end up leaving!
3. Guide Their Focus
Your website should be optimized for conversion. A good website should guide your visitor and tell them where to focus their attention. Your website should highlight special offers, show Calls-to-Action, and show different offers and elements. Adding elements to your site that direct your visitor where you want them to go will help you turn more visitors into customers. If your website had no sense of direction, no CTA’s or interactive buttons, your visitors would get bored petty quickly. One of the best ways to draw attention to your product or service is to use white space around your Call-to-Action.
4. Optimize for Both Desktop and Mobile Device
Web design is just as important on a mobile device as it is on a desktop. You need to be sure that your website is mobile-friendly as it is well-designed. This means that the design of your site should be catered to those viewing your site from their phone or tablet. All too often designers get caught up in designing a website for a desktop, that they forget to design it for a mobile device as well. In our world today, more people are using smartphones to browse social media, search the internet, and even order online. It would be incredibly smart to optimize your site to operate well on both desktop and mobile devices.
5. Boost your SEO
A great web design will ultimately boost your SEO. Your website could look incredible from the outside, but it could be driving visitors away if the basic foundation of your website is all out of whack. There are so many things that can happen behind the scenes to cause problems. Sometimes, things like large images, difficult coding, too many actions, or even a problem within your system can cause your website to load slower than normal resulting in poor SEO. Your website needs SEO so that it can perform better in organic search and rank you higher on the results page. Therefore, make sure that your website is just as perfect behind the scenes as it is on the front page.
Think of your website design as your first impression. Assume that your website visitors are “judging a book by it’s cover”… because they are! Make your website as simple as possible for your visitors to use. It is incredibly important for your business to have a good web design so that you increase your visitors, initiate conversions, and ultimately rank higher on search engine results, such as Google.