10 proven reasons why good web design matters.
Good web design will grow your business while bad design can stunt your businesses growth.
In this article I would like to share 10 compelling reasons why your website needs great design. At Silverback Web & Marketing we believe good design involves both form and function.
Form = how your website looks and feels
Function = how your website performs and converts
In your business you need both. A pretty website will not help your business grow of it is not designed to convert leads into customers. However, studies show that well designed sites convert much better than poorly designed ones. Below I will share ten, proven, reasons why the design, both the form and function, of your website matters when it comes to growing your business. Here is a summary of those 10 reasons:
1. The Numbers Don’t Lie: Design Sells
2. We Eat with Our Eyes
3. First Impressions Are 94% Design Related
4. You Have 50 Milliseconds to Make First Impression
5. You Must Have a Unique Mobile Experience
6. Design Is More Than How It Looks
7. The Brochure Site vs A Marketing Site
8. Great Web Design Highlights What Makes You Unique
9. A Great Website Motivates People To Take Action
10. Use Data to Determine Good Design
1. The Numbers Don’t Lie: Good Web Design Sells
I’ve heard some of our contractor marketing clients say something like:
“I don’t care what my website looks like as long as I am getting leads!”
There is truth in a statement like that for 2 reasons:
(1) I’ve seen some really ugly websites actually get leads… and…
(2) I’ve seen some really slick websites that were not getting many leads at all…
However, misconceptions and even outright lies are always built around elements of truth. The fact is, if you want your business to really grow and perform at it’s very best, studies reveal that good design really matters. In fact, for many companies, design is the one thing that separates them from their competition.
In a statistical report called “The Value of Design” researchers found that:
“Design can directly and significantly improve sales, profits, turnover and growth. Using and valuing design brings bottom line benefits and those who understand and act on this insight have a competitive edge over the rest.”
The graph below reveals how companies who place an emphasis on design (red & yellow lines) out preform those who do not (blue & purple lines).
If you run a contractor business you must always differentiate yourself from 20+ local contractors who offer the same service. You’re often offering bids to the same customers. What is going to set you apart from your competitors? Price? There is statistical proof that professional design sets you above your competitor and converts more leads.
2. We eat with our eyes
Have you ever heard the adage “you eat with your eyes?” This common saying simply means that a very large part of what makes food taste good is if it looks good. I have learned this when preparing breakfast for my kids. Plating the meal is just as important as making the meal.
The same is true for business and design. We eat with our eyes. We make decisions with our eyes. When I’m shopping for a contractor to repair my home I make judgments about each contractor based on the way their website and company looks and feels. If it doesn’t look and feel professional – I’ll click the back button and keep searching.
Advertisers know that although people pay for products or services, they are influenced by the “packaging.” When it comes to “packaging” your business and the services you offer – your website is the packaging.
One researcher learned that even very slight changes to the packaging of some products literally changed how people felt about that product. Here is a summary of some of his finding:
“If you add 15 percent more yellow to the green on 7 UP packaging, people report that it has more lime or lemon flavor, even though the drink itself was left untouched.”
“On a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli, a picture of a close up of a real human face influences perceived quality more than a full body shot or a cartoon character.”
“In the Hormel logo, adding a sprig of parsley between the ‘r’ and ‘m’ causes customers to perceive the products as being more fresh.”
What does this mean for you and your business? Well, it means that people really do “eat with their eyes.” And if your prospects or leads will be influenced by things like color, layout, and visual appeal then good design will grow your business while bad design will stunt its growth.
It’s much easier to get a homeowner to visit your website than to call you. A visit to your website has a lower barrier of entry. A potential customer will check out your website and make judgments about your comply before they call. That being said, your website is more important than ever.
A well designed website instills trust in your business. It has been proven that poor design is clearly associated with rapid rejection and mistrust.
89% of customers search the web before making a purchasing decision (Digital Influence Index).
75% of users admit to making judgments about a company’s credibility based on their website design (Stanford Web Credibility Research)
First impressions are 94% design-related (Sillence)
These numbers mean 2 things:
(1)- Your website is the face & first impression of your company.
(2)- The design of your website effects customer trust and your credibility
When visitors do not like some aspect of the design, stats reveal that the whole website is rejected and visitors do not go beyond the homepage.
Here’s a bottom line truth: first impressions don’t just paint a pretty picture; they generate real dollars. At Silverback Web & Marketing we provide a packaged service for contractors. We use great design to impress potential clients and convert them to real paying customers. We work hard to ensure that your online presence is professional and instills trust. Feel free to check out some examples of our real websites that convert design into dollars.
4. You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression
If your site is poorly designed you will have a high bounce rate. Bounce rate is the rate in which visitors to your website hit the back button (or bounce) off your site. You may get traffic – but how long does a visitor stay? You want them to be interested, engaged and click on some of your other pages to learn more about the services you offer.
It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for guests to form an opinion about your website. They only need a split second to determine whether they like your site or not and whether they’ll stay or leave. This number came from 3 studies conducted to ascertain how quickly people form an opinion about web page visual appeal.
If you have Google Analytics installed on your website, Google will let you know your bounce rate. Google knows how often people go to your site and how quickly they bounce off your site. Google also takes note of your bounce rate because it signals that your website is not user friendly. If you get too high of a bounce rate for a certain keyword, Google won’t be showing your website for that keyword much longer. Bottom line: bounce rate effects Google rankings and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Poor design increases bounce rate. Another compelling reason to have a well designed website for you contractor business.
5. a well designed web site must have a unique mobile experience.
Good design always keeps the users experience in mind. However, that experience is very different on a computer screen than it is on a mobile phone. That being said, it is critical that your website look great across all devices. In fact, I believe that the mobile site is even more important. In 2016, internet activity on mobile surpassed the desktop and now boasts almost 60% of internet traffic.
When I go to a website from my mobile device I want it it be easy to read, easy to navigate and almost fun to flip through with my thumb. If I have to click on little tiny links or try to pinch the screen to zoom in, I get easily annoyed and bounce.
Now, some websites say they are mobile friendly but all they really do is shrink everything to fit a mobile screen and maybe offer an alternative navigation. A well designed site should actually have a completely separate design tailor-made for mobile.
Here are a few compelling reasons to invest in a unique mobile experience:
- Mobile traffic is responsible for 55.109 percent of internet traffic (SimilarWeb)
- There are more mobile internet users than desktop internet users.
- 30% of mobile searches are related to a location (Google)
- Guests can call right from their mobile phone
- Guest can even CLICK TO TEXT! from a mobile phone
6. Design Is More Than How It Looks
It is a common misconception that design is solely about the way a thing looks. In reality, good design first thinks about how it works. The art of design only comes after. This is often communicated with the terms “form” and “function.” Function comes first, but form is tightly related and is a major part of the entire package. For instance, the function of an iPhone is that it is a phone, that uses apps, plays music and takes pictures. The form of the iPhone is that it is so user friendly that my 2 year old and my grandmother were able to get started using it with little to no instruction. No one would argue that the iPhone is very well designed.
There’s a popular saying: “Good design is invisible,” which simple means that design is experienced. It is more than how it looks. Good design may be invisible but poor design is not. Anyone will notice an ugly, hard to read website immediately. A well designed website will look and feel great. It will be easy to read, clean, clear, smooth and enjoyable.
7. the brochure site vs a marketing site
In the old days most websites were really just online business cards. A company would have a website simply to let people know they exist, offer a brief description about their business, and feature their contact information. Today a website needs to do so much more. As revealed above, consumers do most of their research online before they commit to making a purchase. That being true, they want more than just an invitation to call
What is the difference between a brochure style website and a marketing site? Well, the main difference is the end goal. A brochure site aims to show off their work and hope a customer does business. A marketing site is designed with the lead in mind and aims to convert that lead into a sale.
A brochure website places little thought into the customer and how they will engage with your business. It’s all about the company and less about the customer. Generally the call to action is ‘Call us…’ or “Visit our contact page.”
A marketing website puts a great deal of thought into the customer’s experience and seeks to move the customer from a casual visitor to a paying customer. It all about the customer.
In order to understand the customer and engage your guests through your website it is first important to know your audience and then target that audience with the language and design of your site. It is also important to develop a strategy or plan on how you will move a visitor through a series of experiences that will lead to a conversion.
At Silverback Web & Marketing we begin with Discovery. In discovery we take a deep dive into your business, determine the benefits you offer to your customers, we analyze your customer demographic and develop an avatar or target audience, and we key in on specific problems your business solves to develop your unique value proposition (USP). Through discovery we will be able to create a clear strategy and implement a web solution that will lead visitors to your website to a make a purchase.
GET A FREE SITE ANALYSIS!
8. Great Web design Highlights what makes you unique
What is the first thing a visitor should see when they arrive at your website? What is it that you want to feature? A newspaper always features content that is eye catching and compelling “above the fold.” Your website also has a fold. It is critical to feature your UVP prominently – above the fold.
A Unique Value Proposition (UVP), or sometimes called a unique selling proposition (USP), is a clear statement that describes the benefit of your offer, how you solve your customer’s needs and what distinguishes you from the competition. (Unbounce)
A good UVP should answer the following questions:
- How your product or service solves/improves problems
- What benefits customers can expect
- Why customers should buy from you over your competitors
Your value proposition is the reason people buy from you. The stronger your value proposition, the greater your conversion rate.
A well designed website will feature your UVP in a clear, clean, and compelling way. It will be the first thing a visitor sees when he arrives at your site. It will be unmistakingly clear what problem you solve and why you are the best to solve it.
9. A great website Motivates People To Take Action
The next important aspect of a well designed website is that it must have a clear call-to-action (CTA). What is a call-to-action? Well, it’s just like it sounds. It is a call, or invitation, to move your guest to take a specific action.
You see them everywhere. For instance, when your watching TV you’ll hear, “Call now!” or “CALL or CLICK TODAY!” Or, when you land on some websites you might see a button or popup that says something like, “SIGN UP FOR A FREE EBOOK!” or GET A FREE 10 DAY TRIAL!” Each of these are examples of a “call-to-action.”
When your get guests to actually land on your website you want to do something with them. Don’t just talk about yourself and hope they call you. Instead, use a CTA to engage with them.
Here are a few best practices for creating strong CTA’s that actually generate leads:
- Make them Action-Oriented
- Use Persuasive Text
- Include Strong Visuals
- Create a Sense of Urgency
- Make them Easy to Find
The call-to-action not only motivates visitors to actually take an action, but it it also sets goals and milestones for how we lead a visitor to convert. By using Google Analytics, you can set your performance goals around your call-to-action button.
For instance, if you set up a clear call to action and then tell Google that your goal is to get clicks on that call-to-action, Google can tell you how well your site is performing based on how many visitors actually clicked on your CTA. That leads us to the final aspect of well designed website.
10. Use Data to Determine Good Design
It is important to use data and analytics to determine which of your pages are performing well and which ones are not.
Is your site connected to Google Analytics? Are you currently analyzing and monitoring your data? If not, then it is likely that you have no idea how much traffic your getting, what your bounce rate is, or if your CTA’s are working.
What if you learned that you have an average of 100 visitors a week but only 2 actually click your call-to-action and make it through to your goal?
Good web design uses data to determine what works and what doesn’t work. Data can tell you all sorts of things about your guests. It can tell you which design layouts best converts customers, what language performs best, if they visit from a computer or a mobile device, and even what colors perform best.
Hubspot determined that Button color had a big effect on the overall conversion of the page.
Data is important. If you’re not currently set up to have Google provide you with analytics your really missing out on critical information that will help grow your business. Silverback Web & Marketing can help. We will install Google Analytics on your site and analyze the data to help grow your business.
Conclusion
I hope these 10 reasons compel you to make good design a priority for your business. If you’d like a free site analysis, simply feel out the form below. I will analyze your current website and offer tips and changes that could greatly improve your conversions.