In a digital-first world, having a high-quality website is critical for business growth. Your website not only establishes your online presence, but also serves as a platform to engage customers, showcase your offerings, and boost conversions.
Read on as Ricardo Lewis, Senior Web Developer at at+m marketing, shares his insights on effective website design and how professional website design services can elevate your business.
What is a web developer?
Web developers make and maintain websites. They may specialise in:
- Front-end development – the side of a website that users see and interact with
- Back-end development – the digital infrastructure behind the website
- Full-stack development – all aspects of a website
Web developers with marketing expertise understand that your website is an extension of your brand.
“Visitors interact directly with this extension and form an impression and attachments based on this experience,” Ricardo says. “The degree to which your website reflects your brand and its goals determines its success as an effective marketing tool.”
For a website that delivers results, web developers and web development companies focus on ensuring user friendliness and adherence to brand guidelines.
Why modernise your website design
Websites work as an always-on tool to encourage customers to connect with your brand and take positive action (e.g. make a purchase). A website that is outdated, difficult to use, or not optimised for conversion is likely to drive potential customers away rather than attract them.
Modernising your website design has many benefits, including:
- Achieving key marketing goals, such as lead generation via contact forms or mailing list subscription
- Improving results from all marketing that refers traffic to your site
- Positioning your brand as forward-thinking and customer-focused
- Strengthened security for better protection of company and consumer information
- Advantage over the competition in a crowded digital landscape
Should you hire a company to design your website, or do it yourself?
When building a new website, or revamping an existing one, business leaders have the option to:
- engage a web development company to design the website (usually a marketing agency), or
- use a DIY website builder
DIY websites
DIY website builders tend to offer a cheap solution, providing pre-made templates that can be suitable for basic informational sites.
However, common pitfalls are as follows:
- Fixed templates may not adequately represent your brand
- Restricted customisation options, with elements that can’t be removed
- A lack of polish, which may affect customer perceptions
- Time-consuming processes for non-technical users
- The need to author your own content
- Difficulty exporting data if moving to another provider
- Major site updates down the track may be costly
- The site may fail when you need it most
There is also an opportunity cost to be aware of. While DIY websites may seem cost-effective initially, custom-designed sites often yield significantly higher returns. For example, a custom-designed site may cost more to set up but could generate a higher ROI over time.
Custom-designed sites
By engaging a reputable marketing agency that offers website design services, you receive a website that is purpose-built to fulfil its role in your overall marketing strategy.
“Everything about the website, from the content to page layout, has been created specifically for your business,” Ricardo explains.
In many cases, custom-designed sites outperform DIY builds in terms of the benefits they offer for growing business.
“A website that is a seamless extension of your brand is able to communicate and connect with your audience in a way that an off-the-shelf template cannot,” Ricardo says. “You can provide a unique, tailored experience.”
Additional benefits include:
- A higher ROI than DIY websites
- Better website speed and reliability
- More time available to focus on core competencies and strategy
“A website that is a seamless extension of your brand is able to communicate and connect with your audience in a way that an off-the-shelf template cannot.”
– Ricardo, at+m marketing Senior Web Developer
Ecommerce website design tips
Ecommerce websites, just like informational websites, serve the core function of promoting your brand. They also allow customers to buy products. This is why ecommerce website design has a greater focus on lead generation and conversion.
For successful ecommerce website design, make sure to:
- determine your marketing goals and create your website to achieve them
- know your audience and understand their needs
- optimise your website layout for desktop, tablet and mobile devices
- adhere to international web standards for accessibility
- create great content that gives people a reason to visit your site and share it with friends and colleagues
- be mindful of long-standing and newer conventions, but avoid short-lived trends
- target the right keywords from the outset (this will help your website climb the Google ranks over time)
Finally, it’s important to make sure your website serves as an integral part of your overarching branding and marketing effort.
“Each web page needs to have a goal and reason for existing and should accomplish that effectively,” Ricardo says.
Professional website design services in Launceston
At at+m marketing, our custom website design services deliver measurable results for businesses across a range of industries. Our expert team works with you to create an attractive website that performs beautifully across devices, supports a seamless user experience, and achieves strategic goals.
