Today, every business needs a good and professional website. It forms the basis for a successful business. It is important that the online presence reflects your business and associated values as closely as possible. This means that your website should look as professional as possible. But how exactly do you get this done? In this article, we will discuss the importance of a professional web design and all its components. Curious? Read on quickly.
A professional web design: what exactly is it?
Professional web design refers to a website or web shop design that meets high standards of aesthetics, usability, functionality and performance. The ultimate goal of a professional web design is to leave a positive impression on visitors and potential customers. In addition, good design supports your company’s goals, increases conversions, helps build brand loyalty and serves as a means of sharing information with others.
And why is it so important?
Today, more than 80% of consumers make their purchases on the Internet. In addition, the Internet is also widely used by them to research certain products or services. When a potential customer lands on your website, you naturally want him or her to stick around. A professional web design can help tremendously in this regard. It is important to stop underestimating the importance of good design.
Professional appearance: the first impression
Website visitors decide within two seconds whether they want to either linger on your website or “bounce” back to the search engine they came from. So it is important to have a design that ensures that people remain captivated for as long as possible. When your web design is out of date, it makes for a bad first impression. You want to avoid this, of course. A strong, professional web design gives a reliable appearance. You show as a company that you have your affairs in order! Your company immediately exudes more professionalism, reliability and confidence. So leave a good first impression with your website!
Brand identity: the perfect picture
A good website reflects a company’s values and identity. A professionally designed site takes a company’s corporate identity into consideration. Think about the colors and fonts you use as a company, but also the tone of voice and, of course, your logo! A good web designer ensures that all these elements are reflected in the design in a consistent way. Don’t have a corporate identity yet, or is it outdated? No problem, we are happy to help with this!
UX: the user experience
Not only the appearance is important for a first impression, the user experience also plays a big role! When your site has unclear navigation, slow load times and overcrowded pages, the user experience of your website visitors is affected in a negative way. When a visitor cannot easily find what they are looking for, he or she quickly drops out. So a professional web design is not only about the aesthetics of a website, but also about its ease of use!
SEO: search engine optimization
A well-designed website is optimized not only for the user, but also for search engines such as Google. Good search engine optimization ensures that your website appears in Google’s search results. Fast load time, mobile optimization, structured data, content optimization and link building all contribute to improving SEO. Good search engine optimization will get more people to your website.
Conversion optimization: click, click, click
A professional web design ensures that visitors find your site easily and spend more time on your website. They like what they see and find the information they are looking for quickly. Heartfelt! A strong design focuses on driving visitors to desired actions. By adding call-to-action buttons, a layout based on the AIDA principle and implementing Cialdini’s seven principles, you can increase the conversion rate on your website or online store. This means more clicks, more leads and more sales!
Distinction from the competition
The online world is vastly populated. So it is very important to stand out among all your competitors. There is a huge chance that a potential client will compare your business to two, five, ten, maybe even fifteen competitors! Therefore, it is crucial to have a website with a strong, professional design and eye-catching elements. Take the reins (or outsource the tasks) and get consumers to choose you!
A professional web design: the perfect recipe
User Experience
As you have already read above, the user experience is very important for a professional design of your website or web shop. The visitor’s experience can be optimized by working on a strong website layout, clear navigation and responsive design.
Website layout & navigation
A website visitor has a number of requirements when he or she lands on your page. Thus, a potential customer wants to be able to find the most important information as quickly as possible. They are also looking for a website that is easy to navigate. In addition, they prefer websites that are clearly designed. Is your website not meeting these needs of online consumers? Then you can get your website revamped. When designing your website, keep your target audience in mind and ask yourself what they are looking for.
Do you have a book blog? Then people are probably looking for recommendations rather than a contact page. Of course, this can also be the other way around. When you have a massage studio, people are more likely to look for the contact information than a blog about the best massage oils. Based on the needs of the target audience, you can organize your page so that the most important information is easy to find.
Responsive design
More and more people are using their mobile devices to surf the Internet. Therefore, responsive web design is really a must! A responsive website or webshop automatically adapts to the size of different types of screens. From laptops to cell phones and tablets. When your website is not optimized for different devices, it can lead to irritation and a loss of trust with potential customers.
Visual elements
The visual elements on your website should go hand in hand with your corporate identity. The visual components of a corporate identity include the logo, typography, colors and, of course, visuals. The colors of your brand identity are reflected in all of these elements, so they are hugely important! As an online business owner, you want to influence your potential customers somewhat. When choosing the colors that fit your corporate identity, it is important to keep color psychology in mind. After all, colors evoke certain emotions in your website visitor. So choose a small palette that is visually appealing, reflects your brand identity and evokes the right emotion and mood.
Content
A professional web design is worth little the moment the site is filled with content of mediocre quality. To keep visitors on your website, it is hugely important to provide them with valuable, compelling and relevant content. This will increase your authority and credibility. In fact, strong web copy shows that you have a lot of knowledge within your industry. Good content also contributes to your ranking in the search results of search engines such as Google. A good position means you will be found faster by potential customers. All in all, professional content is essential to attract, engage and retain your target audience. Creating (or having created) content is a valuable investment for your website and business.
Outsource professional web design
Designing and developing a professional web design is a profession. With the right tools, you are able to create a simple design, but developing a strong design requires a lot of knowledge and experience. Therefore, it is a good idea to leave the task of professional design to a digital agency.
At Gaia Digital, we love to help create professional web designs. Here it is important to dwell on your company’s identity. Questions will be asked such as “Who are you and who do you want to be?”, “How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?”, “Who is the target audience?” and “What core message do you want to convey to them?”
Developing a new, strong and professional web design requires a good process. At Gaia Digital, we follow this roadmap:
- Introduction. As mentioned earlier, a company’s identity is one of the starting points for creating a professional web design. We will also ask questions about the target audience and your mission and vision.
- Competitive Analysis. To ensure that you can stand out from the competition, we will perform an analysis. What are they doing that you can do better?
- Gut test. We want your input. It’s not just about what we like. We would like to hear from you what your preferences are. Through a gut test, we find this out.
- The first design of the home page. We work out different designs based on the introduction, analysis and gut test. We will present these to you for feedback.
- Website design. Based on the feedback, we design the remaining pages on the website. Again, we welcome feedback. With this, we create a website that truly suits you.
- Building the website. Are you satisfied with all the designs? Beautiful! We will now begin building the website. Once this phase is complete, your new professional site can go live!
Professional web design can take a long time to think about, and we are happy to provide the extra help. Through close collaboration, together we arrive at a beautiful, strong and professional web design. We are looking forward to it! You too?
