Why Your Website Matters

If You Have Ever Wondered Why Your Website Matters, You've Come To The Right Place

One of the most common questions we receive web development & SEO specialists is, "why does web design matter" or "why is web design important"? If you're reading this article, you probably wonder the same thing. 

A business can gain abundant and robust benefits from investing in a quality web design. "How?" you might ask. In this article, we will answer that question for you.

Why Is Web Design Important

I will break down the different benefits and aspects that work together to create a design that will not only rank in the SERPs (search engine results pages) but also generate more leads for your business. First, we'll cover the benefits of representing your business with a great web design.

The Benefits Of Great Web Design

Quality Web Design Is A Powerful First Impression

According to Adobe, 38% of users will leave a site if it isn't visually appealing. 38%! That's nearly half of the traffic that comes to your site. In another study published by Stanford, 75% of users admitted to judging a business's credibility on the design of its website alone. Whether true or not, users today relate how attractive a site is to the quality of the company it represents. 

In many cases, it is the first opportunity you have to introduce people to your business. You want to ensure that you are proud of your site. It shouldn't just be something you have online to say you have a website. Your website should be your baby. Make no mistake, whatever you invest in your site will come back to you through traffic and leads.

Well Structured Quality Web Design Helps Your SEO

Regarding SEO (search engine optimization), when I say "quality" web design, I'm not talking about the website's aesthetics. You can rank an ugly site with quality structure and optimized On-Page SEO with no problem. You'll often find many of the best SEO agencies in the world with the worst-looking websites. That is by design because they prove they are good enough at SEO to rank with an ugly website.

But, an ugly site that isn't optimized is a different story. A site that isn't following Google's webmaster guidelines, or isn't optimized correctly, will never rank for anything. No one will find it unless they are typing out the exact URL or name of the site. 

However, magic happens when you pair SEO with a stellar design! Not only do you improve your chances to rank because of the proper On-Page optimization, but also because of how appealing the design is. I cannot overstate how much a good website design can improve specific metrics Google is tracking on your site. 

An example of this is the metric "bounce rate." Bounce rate is the percentage of users who only viewed one page of your website before leaving the site entirely. Google uses this metric to determine how valuable users are deeming your content. Good bounce rates are between 20-40%. Ugly sites have incredibly high bounce rates because an additional 38% of their traffic leaves almost instantly. It tells Google that the site isn't worth promoting, so it is ranked lower.

Look At The Websites Of Your Competitors To See Why Your Website Matters

While you're reading this, I want you to consider your most fierce competition. Google the keywords and phrases you think customers will search to find a business like yours - who shows up? Is their design good or bad? Chances are if they've invested in SEO to rank higher on Google - which they have since SEO is the only way you can rank on Google - their website will look pretty good.

If you are in an industry where none of your competition seems to have great-looking websites, yet they are still ranking - you've hit the jackpot. When this is the case, you usually will be able to rank with minimal investment. In situations like this you usually - but not always - can rank higher within the first three months of joining a solid SEO campaign. Assuming your site doesn't go against Google's webmaster guidelines, you can even do it without having to redesign your site.

The Aspects Of Great Web Design

To kick off the part of the article that talks about the aspects of great web design, we will start with the user experience. Starting with the user experience is what your web designer should be doing when they build your website. We also have an article that helps you determine if a redesign even makes sense.

User Experience & How It Can Help Your Website & Your Business

A great design will focus on UX (user experience). The goal of any website should be to - first and foremost - make the user's life easier. Whatever your site is about, the user only came for one thing - to have their questions/problems answered/solved. You always want to go above and beyond in answering a user's question. More importantly, your website design should focus more on solving their problems. The more problems your website demonstrates you can solve, the more those leads will turn into clients.

Doing this for every page of your website ensures that - as far as information is concerned - you will satisfy the user. Google uses various metrics to determine which websites can do this well. A site that can do this effectively - in turn - will rank higher. 

Not only does UX help the visitors to your website, it also helps the business your site represents. "How?" you might ask. Aside from ranking higher, UX ensures that your design is structured to naturally guide your visitors down your sales pipeline. Using proven principles related to UX psychology, you can increase your conversion rate (the traffic that converts into paying clients). 

Working with a professional web development company will help ensure you end up with a design that is custom to how your business operates. Professional web designers can help create custom websites that seamlessly complement the process your company already has in place. Websites with proper UX will not only guide more visitors down your sales pipeline but also help cut down on confusion regarding your services, brand, and mission.

User Interface - What It Means & How It Helps Your Website

UI (user interface) is much like UX. They go hand in hand. One focuses on the visual (UI), and in contrast, the other focuses on the ease of use and conversion of your visitors (UX). Quality design can give your business more trust and credibility in your user's eyes and make using your website more enjoyable. That is one of the most important aspects of UI. Websites that are psychologically pleasing to look at and use will naturally rank higher. Simply by the way your users interact with your website, they are demonstrating how they feel about your site, and Google is measuring it all. Good or bad, every interaction taking place on your website is being measured, and studies show that the majority of people will interact negatively with a website that doesn't have a quality UI.

In Web Design, Sometimes Less Is More

Whitespace is a term used to demonstrate the spaces around elements on a website. A lack of whitespace creates a cluttered, chaotic, and overwhelming mess. Websites that have no whitespace make us feel overstimulated and confused. The following picture is taken from a website that uses very little whitespace. Notice how the image makes you feel. Would you be confused if you were trying to use this website?

Now contrast that with the photo below. How does it make you feel? Do you think you would have any trouble navigating through this website?

A clean design uses whitespace to its advantage. It allows you to draw the user's attention far more powerfully. When whitespace is used correctly, it will enable you to establish a visual hierarchy. It will allow the users' eyes to naturally follow the story you are laying out for them. Using whitespace in this way will help eliminate confusion in your users. Meaning more of your users will be able to answer their questions and solve their problems using your content. The more questions and problems you can answer/solve, the more likely they are to trust you enough to become clients. More importantly, the more likely you are to be ranked higher, and the circle continues.

Clean & Clear Site Navigation

Clean and straightforward navigation offers much of the same benefit as the use of whitespace we just covered. But, when you build a solid, easy-to-understand navigation system for your users, you tell them exactly where they are to find anything they could need. Not only does your website need to be structured to guide the users effortlessly into your sales pipeline, but your content needs to do the same. Navigation doubles not only as your content but also as part of your page structure. So it is doubly important that you follow modern conventions. But, where you err from said conventions, you should take great care that no possible misunderstandings could arise. 

Each navigation link in your website should be as you see on most websites. Use "Contact Us" in favor of "Reach Us" or "Get In Touch." It seems small, but it is a modern convention to use "Contact Us" or "Contact." This is a small example, but your users are used to seeing these conventions on the vast majority of websites. So when you use these conventions in your navigation and throughout your website, you make them feel comfortable. When your link says "Contact Us," there is no extra thought that your user has to put into understanding where the link will take them. They know immediately what it means and what it does. I'll admit that a link with the text "Reach Us" is an oversimplified example. However, the point remains the same. The less modern convention you follow, the more time the user spends trying to understand your site instead of being converted into customers.

Why Is Web Design Important & Our Conclusion

Web design is one of the most important investments you can make for your business in 2022. It sets the stage for how your customers will perceive your business. If you invest in your website and treat it as you should - like your baby - it can generate hundreds or even thousands of leads each month. 

If you want a professional and custom website, we would love to help in any way we can. Even if we aren't a great fit, we can refer you to someone we know would make a great fit! So book a strategy call with us today! If you want your current website to rank, we are also a full-service SEO agency and would love to help out in any way.