7 Good reasons to have an effective website

As a Director of an internet based marketing and graphic design agency I always encourage our clients and indeed any other business owners and Directors to consider their online strategy on a regular basis, at least annually. The main questions are, is the website fit for purpose, is their search engine optimisation strategy up to date and what else could we do for online marketing.

At the core of all this though is the quality of the website itself and I do not specifically mean with regard to search engine optimisation but rather to the quality of design of the website. There are a good many websites out there with good Google Page Ranking and strong position on the search engines but in terms of design I can sum them up with one word – TERRIBLE!

Now many of these websites may still convert sales but it is certainly my assertion that if a website is of high quality design as well as being well optimised then it will be a far more effective website in terms of generating revenue.

So what are the key elements of a well designed website?

• The website should be quick to download as few potential visitors will wait long.

• The design style must be interesting and professional so as to engage the visitor and encourage them to look further. The design style should also reflect the design style of your other communication materials so that it is consistent with your branding. This will be in terms of typeface, colours and images.

• Clear and uncluttered page layouts. Good colour, typeface and image selection.

• Clear and concise copy which gets your message across in a quick and easy to understand manner – this is particularly important on the Home Page.

• Make navigation as easy as possible, think through your menu logically to make everything as easy to find as possible wherever someone is on your website.

• Try to include some ‘organic’ content, possible a video, a flash presentation or a PowerPoint presentation – this will help make a visit to your website an interesting experience.

More than anything else don’t cut corners when you have your website designed and built, there are many option available. By all means seek a good deal on price but make sure that the people building your website are professionals, if you end up with poorly designed website you will almost certainly end up having to pay to get it re-designed in the near future.

So what are the 7 good reasons for having an effective and well designed website?

1. A well designed and professional looking website will project the correct image to visitors to your website, it will convince them they would be dealing with a professional business and it will convey trust. A poor website will do quite the opposite.
2. Build your brand. If you maintain the design style of your offline communication materials when you develop your online presence then you are developing your brand. This will ultimately be your businesses biggest asset.
3. Build awareness. Even if you don’t make an initial sale to your visitor so long as they enjoy their visit to your site it is likely that they will tell others about it. This builds awareness of your website and your products and services.
4. Email marketing is the most cost effective form of direct marketing. Most respondents to an email marketing campaign will have your website as their first ‘port of call’, you must therefore have an effective landing page and website.
5. Social media is one the big growth areas online, you can use it to drive traffic to your website and from there develop sales.
6. The merger of Yahoo and Bing may give Google some serious competition for searches. If this happens it will open up the internet for more businesses.

7. An effective website will enable your business to build an ongoing relationship with visitors. It can be an information interface providing them with updates on your products and services whilst also enabling them to give you their feedback and hence assist you to develop new products and services to meet their ongoing needs.