It is a true yet unfortunate observation that around 1 in 12 businesses closes down each year. That’s not all, as it has also been observed that around 96 percent of business shut down within the first 10 years of their launch.
This percentage is alarming due to the fact that these businesses do not only represent the livelihood of their owners. They also do so for the employees who are associated with them.
This phenomenon is even more prevalent when it comes to online businesses. This includes businesses struggling to maintain an online presence with their physical location.
This is because more and more businesses are now taking their operations online. This is true even if they maintain a store or another physical location of any kind. This action is also being advocated by large scale institutions. The reason is that doing so doesn’t only enhance a business’ outreach. It also provides it with long term traction to scale and grow its operations accordingly.
But designing a website for success is far more daunting than it may seem at first. Website design isn’t all about aesthetics. It is also about user-friendliness, functionality and its overall role in support of the business’ operations.
Striking a Balance is Extremely Important
If your site is all beauty and no substance, then it could have detrimental effects on your overall operations. For instance, if you have a website that is elegant but which takes longer than even 3 seconds to load, you could lose around 90 percent of your traffic.
Pretty doesn’t look that good anymore, does it?
But your website doesn’t have to be ugly to perform well. In fact, for any website to do well, you have to strike that perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality. Otherwise, leaning too much towards either side of this spectrum could cost you your business’ sustainability in the long run.
You must check that your site’s based upon a design and a content management system (CMS) that allows you to present your brand and its offerings in a very interesting manner. At the same time, the design and the CMS should provide you with functionalities that you need to scale your business further.
as such, it is important to keep both aspects in mind while you move forward with your website design. A conscious effort could help you achieve the desired effect. Your website could not only look good but also contribute to your business’ growth.
A Website Marks Your Presence in the Real and Digital World
Thanks to the widespread usage of online modes of business and searches, an online presence is no longer a matter of choice. It is a necessity for a business’ survival.
Even if you have a brick-and-mortar presence, having a website as its virtual office is extremely necessary. That is, if you want your business to be found by your target audience and have it deemed as a credible entity by them.
Online properties such as a website and social media now translate to a business’ credibility. It is akin to having business stationery, an office location, or a customers’ guarantee in yesteryear’s operations. Any business that does not have a website for itself is looked at as a fly-by-night operation which could disappear at any time.
Simply put, your website is your representation on the web that is looked at as your business’ first impression. If the design is off, the content is poor, or the functionality is amiss, then it could all contribute to a bad initial impression on your target audience. Breaking that image afterwards gets quite daunting to say the least.
That is why it is essential that you maintain your website’s presence with a lasting impression in mind. Only then you could actually achieve the goal of having a business that could scale as you desire it to be.
Online Marketing is the Drive to Success
Over 85 percent of business inquiries take place online through search engines, website interactions, and social media. The number has only grown with time and will be increased further in the future.
Given the aforementioned statistics, it is not surprising to see that more and more businesses are now paying as much attention to online marketing as they do on conventional mediums. In some cases, online marketing takes priority over conventional means, given how exceptionally vast its outreach could be for a budding business.
When it comes to online marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) takes the cake as one of the topmost ways to drive traffic to a website. It’s because searching on Google for services is something that has become a norm for us to the point where it can be compared to muscle memory. No matter what kind of services we are looking for, our first instinct is to go on Google and find what the web has to offer to us.
That is why, no matter what kind of a business you run, having SEO done for it is one of the most effective ways to increase its awareness, engagement, and sales accordingly.
SEO enhances your site’s search engine presence so that it appears on higher rankings when a term related to it is searched on the web. This encourages users to land on your site naturally. Since their whole intent is to learn more about your services, this increases the chances of converting these visits to tangible and surefire sales.
Keeping this in mind, make sure to pay ample attention to this marketing statistics. This is something that could drive you to success in the long term.
But having SEO on your website isn’t a matter of installing a plugin or two or stuffing your content with keywords. It is an intricate process that asks for optimal involvement from your end, so you could enhance your website in the perspectives of your users and search engines alike.
Considering this, it is highly essential that you integrate SEO and its future requirements into the very design of your website. Doing so can help you make sure that your website isn’t only set for scale from the start, but can also handle challenges that may arise in the future.
Mobile Presence is More Important Than Ever
The aforementioned statistic of over 85 percent of business inquiries being driven through online searches doesn’t come without its reason. This is because mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have ensured that they allow us to go and search on the internet on our whim, if and when we please to do so.
Such is the level of outreach for these devices that most of the online searches are performed through them instead of a conventional desktop or laptop. Whether it is through the mobile browser or voice search, an app or a search box on the home screen, people now use mobile devices as the primary way to seek an answer to their glaring questions.
No one can blame them either. What they can actually do instead is to make sure that their website is mobile-friendly and ready for the next generation of visitors. After all, it is these visitors for whom mobile devices have almost completely replaced their need for a laptop or desktop.
That is why most websites are now already mobile-friendly. Those that are not, come with the power of being able to transform into a mobile-friendly platform. With tools such as the Google Mobile-Friendly platform, search engines are also encouraging website owners to turn their websites into mobile-friendly portals. just so they could take advantage of this growing trend.
This goes a long way into making sure that your website wouldn’t be termed obsolete over the years. You may think of the websites constructed in 1995 that haven’t been updated since.
That is why, it is essential for a website to now use “responsive” designs, which can adapt to the type of screen that they are being built with. With that, these websites can also perform manual mobile optimization. This way, they could ensure that they are all ready to host mobile users on their site without any issues.
The Key is to Partner with the Right Website Development Team
Want to redesign your existing website or need to develop a website from scratch? Either way, it has to be done by a proficient web development and design team.
As such, your website design is handled by people who don’t only know about the updates. But who is also adept in driving results while meeting these requirements.
At Creative Peppers, we have a wide breadth of experience in building and scaling successful websites. With our knowledge, we ensure that our sites are equipped to handle the competition of the present day.
To make sure that your business could benefit from the expertise and experience of professional web design, do not hesitate from reaching out to us today. We will be glad to answer any questions and inquiries that you may have and have you meet your stellar new website in a timely manner.