Web design and layouts are not something a lot of people except those who work in tech or design pay much heed to. However, that’s where most of us go wrong—even if we don’t notice how poorly designed and complicated or clunky a website is, other people do.
It becomes especially important when you’re trying to use your website to promote your business and sell a product or service.
How can web design and layout impact business?
Imagine you’re a consumer. You’re in search of a particular product or service; for instance, you’re looking to hire a graphic designer. You find a few listings, but none seem to catch your eye.
Or perhaps, you find a designer who knows what they’re doing and has a range of clients listed, but their portfolio isn’t available. Or their website looks like it was made on—we daresay—Microsoft Paint, is pixilated, lacks information, the colors are horribly contrasted—and not artistic at all.
Do you see yourself hiring someone whose own business can’t reflect the quality of their services?
Imagine, perhaps, a business that sells high-quality products, such as designer watches, but you can’t even get past their first page, or find their entire layout is poorly displayed and organized. A true navigation nightmare!
Not only would the poor web design make you feel inconvenienced, it would also make you doubt the legitimacy and authenticity of the products and the seller.
When consumer psychology and web design overlap, you have a formula that shows you the secret for success. It may not guarantee sky-high sales, but it can influence how your customers interact with your website and base their judgment of your work on it.
There are a few elements of web design that directly tie into the business side of things. Here’s what they are:
Brand recognizability and uniformity
For a brand whose entire aesthetic is very specific, the web design cannot be random. It leads to a sort of consumer dissonance to see a company that markets minimalistic designs to have a crowded visual presence online. This uniformity will reflect your physical and virtual presence.
Navigation
If your customers can’t move seamlessly from page to page, whether it’s the home page or your product and service pages, or your contact page, they’re not going to invest time and energy into figuring things out. Nobody will spend hours figuring out your website, no matter how popular you are.
Visuals and Content
Plus, to see visuals and aesthetic choices—from things like the color scheme, to the font and layout—to differentiate between pages, can make your website seem incredibly unprofessional.
SEO
This one’s a big factor. In order to stay on top of your game, you must invest in SEO. A web design that doesn’t account for the way algorithms filter out businesses, is a web design that has failed.
So, be sure to discuss this with your developer and designers, because you won’t be able to reach new clients without it.
If you’re ready to transform your business and venture into the world of e-commerce and affordable web design—and you’re based in Longmont or anywhere in CO, I can help you. Check out my portfolio and reach out here.
Nice discussion.