Did you know that there were over 557,000 businesses active across New Zealand in 2020? (Source: New Zealand Government)

When you run a business, it is essential to ensure that your company stands out as much as possible. One of the ways you can do this is by having your own website.

However, it’s not just enough to have a website – the website needs to work well, look good and answer all your prospective customer’s questions. If it doesn’t, customers may not buy your product or service.

Join us as we look at the importance of web design and why it really matters to your business.

It provides the first impression of your business

Your website is the equivalent of your business’s storefront. If the sign is broken, the window display isn’t enticing enough or your visitor can’t get through the door, they aren’t going to stick around.

According to Stanford University research, three out of four web users make judgments about the credibility of a business based on how their website looks and feels.

An unattractive, out-of-date or hard-to-use website will make prospective customers think negatively about your business. This means that they may not buy from you or even worse, go to a competitor’s website instead.

Conversely, high-quality web design will encourage leads to stay on your site.

It gives your website a boost in the search engines

Did you know that the average New Zealander spends 16 minutes a day on Google? If visitors are using search engines to find the answers to their questions, you want to make sure you are as close to the top of the search results as possible.

Good web design can help your search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. By optimising your web design, you are not only reducing page load speed but increasing the amount of time visitors spend on your site. Both are positive ranking factors when it comes to SEO and will help your business rank highly in search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo.

It makes you more credible

Close your eyes and try to recall the last spam email you received in your inbox.

What made it look spammy to you? Was it the poor spelling, the clumsy design or the lack of brand awareness?

A similar concept applies to your website. You want your web visitors to trust in your business and if the web design is outdated or low-quality, they’re going to lose confidence in you. In this case plan a website redesign

For example, if a customer lands on your website and you bombard them with loads of ads, your credibility will quickly tank. According to HubSpot, nearly three out of four people dislike online pop-ups.

Provide customers with a transparent and professional web browsing experience, and they will put their trust in you.

High-quality web design is something that is no longer ‘nice to have’ but is essential for a business to thrive.

We hope that this article has inspired you to audit your current web design and make changes where needed.