Marketing strategies are different across each platform. But, the core principle behind these strategies lies in your brand’s visibility. Brand popularity distinguishes successful brands from those that are not.
So what will people find when they search for your business? What experience will they have when they eventually land on your website?
Your website is the face of your business in digital marketing. How you see your website is how other people will see it as well. Therefore, everything that your business has to offer should be on your website.
Take the above nonprofit website for example. There is a different feel when you look at a nonprofit website design rather than a for-profit. Every element and detail that you’ll find on a nonprofit website tells a story.
Website design, no matter how hard and challenging it may be, is a necessary component when building a website. Your website’s design is the backbone of your website. This dictates the appearance, personality, functionality, and overall user experience of your website.
The concept of online/digital marketing
With the ever-increasing number of internet users, putting your business on the internet is not only beneficial for your business, but it’s also essential. And as the global internet population increases, so do your potential customers. Your website will reach as many as 4.5 billion customers and counting!
The pandemic drastically changed how we use the internet and how often we use it.
When the pandemic broke out, we were obliged to stay inside our homes. The boundaries COVID-19 forced upon us skyrocketed the amount of time people spend on the internet. And if we’re talking about digital marketing, this opens up a lot of opportunities.
The magnitude of your potential audience provides an invaluable opportunity for your business. You need to put your website out in front so that your intended audience will be able to see it. Increasing your search engine ranking is the place to start, and your website design will play a crucial role.
Establish your brand using website design
What your brand says about your business
If you’re living in Iowa and you’re conscious about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you’ve probably heard of TheMac. Their website has a high page rank because of their brand’s popularity.
TheMAC ranks 5th on SERPs because of its brand.
Let’s get into the website and find out how this brand got so popular.
TheMAC’s landing page highlights its tagline.
As soon as you get onto it’s landing page, you’ll notice how the website looks pleasing to the eye. The landing page showcases a luminous and futuristic color scheme, which was a trend for website design in 2020.
What people see on your landing page leaves a lasting impression on your visitors. If you can hold their attention and interest, you can sway their intention and lead to their conversion. Higher conversion rates mean more sales.
A call to action is strategically placed on the landing page of TheMAC.
In this case, the highlight of their landing page is their tagline. This catchy tagline subtly influences visitors to subscribe, and the call-to-action button encourages the visitor to act now.
Every function that the visitor needs can be accessed from the landing page.
Aside from its catchy tagline, the website offers a wide variety of options from which to choose. By navigating through these options, a visitor will be able to find everything they need to know.
But how did this website design help in shaping their brand? Your brand is your face in the digital world. What people see on your website is how they will see your brand.
Design your website based on what your business offers to your customers. Everything a customer could want and need should be accessible on your website. Providing your visitors a good user experience leads to a positive and lasting impression of your brand.
Using WordPress as a CMS
Having a content management system (CMS) allows you to design your website and manage it with ease. These browser applications save you from the complexity of coding.
The most famous example of a CMS is WordPress. Even if you are not aware of the codes that run a website, you can still design your website using WordPress website design themes and plugins.
You can choose from over 50,000 plugins to incorporate on your website. It can be a contact form or a Google Analytics plugin that tracks user engagements on your website. An example of a Google Analytics plugin is MonsterInsights.
Using MonsterInsights, you can see your website activity easily.
Because WordPress is very easy to use and operates on an open source, you can access this even without the help of a web developer. You’ll be able to see how your website performs and tracks user engagement using plugins.
Design is about functionality
“The design is not just what it looks like and feels like. The design is how it works.” -Steve Jobs
Designing your website is not just about visual aesthetics. It is the culmination of all your work that has gone into its development. From establishing the layout to micro-managing keywords in your content, the design encapsulates the totality of your website.
There are some factors, however, that affect the functionality of your website. These factors are:
- User experience
- Website loading speed
- Website responsiveness
- Content management
Ease of access and navigation
One of the most overlooked aspects of website design is user experience. Many designers focus too much on what a visitor will see on the site instead of how the visitor will feel about the experience. If you want your visitors to stay on your website for longer periods, you will want a user-friendly website.
Your website should include plugins that are meant to make your visitors’ lives easier. You can also include a free chatbot that caters to any concerns your visitors have. This lets you know the intentions of your audience and allows you to deal with their concerns individually.
Many people think that a website’s appearance outweighs the functionality, but this could be a dangerous gamble. What if your website has a slow loading speed? What if potential customers need to go through three extra pages to get to the order form?
According to a 2015 report, these are the elements on your website that drive your visitors away. 
This causality can lead to frustration and disappointment that will push your customers away, leading to lower click-through rates (CTR). Expect lower sales and lower page-ranking if your CTR takes a dip. Ouch.
Pro tip
Here is a checklist of your website’s must-haves to improve user experience.
Your website must include the points on this checklist to have a good user experience.
A definite call to action that leads visitors to a subscription to your website or to an order form is one step forward. Make it easier for your visitors to navigate your website.
The website for nike.com offers a great user experience because you can see everything on their homepage.
Fonts and color schemes should be pleasing to the eye. Avoid flashy pop-ups and hard to read fonts on your landing page. This can annoy visitors and send them away.
Lastly, remove elements that slow down your website. If your website has a slow loading time, visitors tend to leave the website. Always assume that your visitors are in a hurry.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your website must also follow SEO practices so that it will rank higher in SERPs. This includes website optimization to reduce loading time and also prevents page unresponsiveness due to unexpected crashes.
Several factors may slow your website’s loading speed. Some of these factors are:
- Inefficient coding
- Bad servers
- Overuse of plugins
- File sizes
Some helpful tools for your website
GTmetrix
To keep your website in top shape, check your page-loading speed. You can use GTmetrix to see it for yourself.
GTmetrix tool shows your website’s loading speed performance scores.
GTmetrix also has recommendations for you to optimize your website.
This online tool also shows what parameters are problematic for your website. Upon analyzing your website’s speed, it gives recommendations for optimization. It’s a remarkable tool if you want to improve your website’s page-loading speed.
Hotjar
I came across this very interesting tool recently and it caught my attention. It lets you see how your website’s visitors maneuver through your website.
You can see what they click on and which pages are visited the most. You’re even able to record your visitor’s activity through this tool.
Heatmaps in Hotjar allows you to see how your visitors navigate your website.
Hotjar puts you on even ground with your visitors because you can see the path they take to get to where they want to go. You can also find out how far your visitors are scrolling through your website and which sections are seeing the most interaction.
With this information, you can design your website and optimize it to work the way you want it. If you want your visitors to click on a certain element, place it where you know they’ll see it.
Content
You have to take content creation seriously when you want your website to have a higher ranking in SERPs. Having multiple content can have drawbacks for your website, crippling your page rank and your website’s credibility.
Your content is the blood that flows throughout your whole website. Visitors see your content almost everywhere on your website.
If you get your visitors reading your content and the blogs on your website, they stay longer on your site. If you can manage to write good content, better conversion rates will follow, and your page ranking will improve.
Always having new and fresh content keeps your visitors updated. They will keep coming back to your website as long as you provide them quality content worthy of their time.
Final word
Understanding the importance of website design to your website allows you to get a step ahead of your competitors. Establish your brand and your website as fully-functional units of your business.
Building your brand is not an overnight project. It takes patience and effort to solidify your brand in your market. It also means working to make your website clean and easy to use through thoughtfully planned website design.
