Is my website design affecting my digital marketing strategy? According to information from Mac J Web, this is a question many clients are now asking, especially now that business owners are increasingly aware of the role websites play in attracting visitors.
A few years ago, websites were all about design, functionality, and visibility. However, that has changed today. Websites are more about customer engagement. Your website’s design elements should work to attract new customers and convert new customers to paying customers. Only then will you see your website design support your digital marketing plan.
So, how does web design influence your brand’s digital marketing efforts? If you want to find out, keep reading.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
It’s impossible to think about SEO (a digital marketing strategy) and not associate it with a website. SEO plays an important role in helping websites rank high in search engine result pages (SERPs). That’s why many business owners pay thousands of dollars to rank their site on the first page of SERPs. However, most people forget the main role of SEO. SEO’s main role is to help your target market find you through an online search.
So, to ensure you’re easily discoverable on search engines, you have to maintain the following SEO practices.
- Creating powerful and relevant content
- Continuously updating old content
- Inbound linking and outbound linking
- Providing mobile and desktop-friendly designs
- Optimizing site speed
Once you’ve adhered to the above SEO practices, you will have improved your site’s chances of ranking on the first page. Research data shows that sites appearing on the first page of SERPs receive about 91.5% of the web traffic. That’s a huge amount of traffic that will ensure your business enjoys continuous growth for years to come.
Differentiates You From Your Competitors
What do you think differentiates you from your competitors? Do you think you can transfer those ideas to your website?
For many businesses today, their websites are the faces of their brand. The same should also apply to your website.
As your target market spends more time online, you must ensure these people feel your online presence. Since you’ll largely be using your website as the face of your brand, you need to own a unique website. So, don’t go for a website created based on someone else’s template.
Build a custom website with a unique storytelling perspective and strong visuals that are unforgettable. Give your visitors a unique experience when they visit your site. If you do this, you will earn your customer’s loyalty. As a result, your site will have a lower bounce rate, and your conversions will increase.
Strengthens Your Brand Influence
As the face of your company, your website’s design must make it easier for you to interact and engage with your visitors. Customer interaction and engagement are important when you’re trying to build your brand’s influence. What’s the goal of building brand influence? The goal is to establish strong brand loyalty from your customers.
Therefore, you have to ensure that your website is interactive. The following elements will help you build an interactive website.
- Search bar
- Navigation menus
- Feedback gathering methods
- Forms and buttons
- Images, videos, and animated content
- User-generated content, i.e., Guest posts, visitor comments
- Chatbots
Once you’ve incorporated these elements into your website’s design, you’ll experience significant growth in brand loyalty. When you command strong brand loyalty, you will find it easier to convert your customers into your business’ advocates. With such a strong marketing foundation in place, your overall digital marketing strategy will receive a massive boost.
Conversion Rate Optimization
One of the goals of a digital marketing plan is to improve conversion rates. Your website’s design directly impacts your conversion rates. Digital marketing strategies use conversion rates as a performance metric. Therefore, you must closely monitor your website’s design elements that directly influence your conversion rate.
Don’t forget that conversion doesn’t refer to product purchases alone. It also refers to
- Newsletter subscriptions
- Email subscriptions
- Filling contact forms
- Signing up for free trials, etc.
Design elements that influence your website’s conversion rate include navigation, visuals and coloring, content, and branding. If these elements don’t work as they should be, users will leave your website and potentially visit your competitor’s website. Loss of customers to your direct competitor will affect your bottom line and negatively influence business growth.
Your website’s design plays an important role in supporting your digital marketing strategies. Other marketing strategies like social media, email, and content marketing won’t work if your web design is poor. If you’re not sure how your website stacks up against well-designed websites, have your site audited to see what’s missing. You can commission a redesign or build a new website with this data.