Website = Shopfront

We all know that first impressions matter — especially in the business world. Imagine opening your brand new shop with cracked and damaged signage (complete with spelling errors) and a half-painted façade featuring cobwebbed windows? Your interior design company probably wouldn’t last long.

Yet time and time and time again small business owners do exactly that — well, at least the online equivalent.

Your website is your business’s shopfront. It is your main point of contact for your online audience. Your customers expect to find you online (that includes on their mobile devices too) and, if they don’t see you? Well then you are invisible and irrelevant. If your site is dated, neglected and poorly designed then don’t be surprised to see your customers bouncing from your site to your competitor’s.

Tick All the Web Design Boxes

So how do you make your website stand out and attract and convert customers? Here are 6 key website design elements every site should have to convert those window shoppers into buyers.

1. Beautiful Images.

The key to encouraging a resistant consumer base to buy products that they can’t try or touch, is stunning imagery. It goes without saying that if you are selling lovely red leg warmers then it makes sense to have an image of said leg warmers. Showcase your products in the best way possible. Think like the customer and show the item’s features through images.

Images work for services too. Maybe you’re a kitchen designer or a roof cleaning business? Showcase your work with before and after photos. You’re an accountant? Introduce your team. Your customers are humans so interact with them like a human and use images to emotionally connect them to your businesses.

If you sell ANYTHING do not underestimate the power of high resolution images.

2. Keep the Camera Rolling.

If an images can speak a thousand words then a video can reel off a novel. What better way to showcase your business than with a professional and sleek video? Showcase your event, new office, products, service or location you are advertising with an engaging video.

3. Make It Easy For Customers to Pay.

E-commerce has revolutionised the way we live life and do business. More and more and more (and more) people are shopping online. E-commerce sales reached $2.3 trillion worldwide last year which is a 24.8% increase over the previous year — It’s a trend that is showing no signs of stopping.

So make it easy for your customers to buy your products or services. Invest in a safe and secure online payment system like eWay or Payment Express so your customers can use their credit/debit cards to buy your goods.

If you provide a service and quote your clients then have a clear pricing structure in place and make the process more transparent.

4. Include Testimonials & Case Studies.

You’re super proud of your work (and so you should be). You provide a stellar service and your clients love you. SO TELL PEOPLE.

As Kiwis we are sometimes too humble and tend to play down our skills but be proud of your work and include your favourite case studies (complete with stats showing how your service benefited your clients) and product testimonials from customers.

If you don’t have testimonials then ask your most engaged clients / customers to offer you one.

5. Invest in Graphic Design.

Graphic design is more than just creating a sharp logo and an attractive colour scheme. Clever graphic design and branding represents the quality of your products and services, how you interact with your customers and the impression you leave in your customer’s mind.

Graphic design helps your customers understand your brand’s story and conveys a message that your business wants to broadcast. Read this blog to learn more about why you should hire a clever clogs graphic designer.

6. Create Engaging Content.

“Build it and they will come”. This may have been true for casinos in the 50’s but that isn’t necessarily true for websites in 2018.

Search engines such as Google will rank your website higher or lower than your competition depending on the amount of relevant information you provide on your website.

Images and videos help to boost your website ranking but a great way to increase your traffic is in clever copy that incorporates words that your online customers will type into search engines. This is known as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

The key is to write your website’s content in such a way that is both informative yet also attention grabbing and interesting. Curate engaging online marketing material to bring in customers. This is known as inbound marketing. To learn more about inbound marketing and find out how this can increase your profitability check out this blog.

Bill Was Right After All

Ages ago some guy called Bill Gates said it best when he quipped, “There will be two types of businesses in the next 5 years, those that are on the internet, and those that are out of business.” Bill was bang on. Every business has a website nowadays — and if you don’t? You NEED one.

However, it isn’t “job done” once you build a site. Your website has to be a lot more than just “there”. It has to reflect who you are as a business and tell potential customers that you are exactly the business they are looking for.
By adding these 6 elements to your new website you will be well on the road to owning a successful website that’ll grow your business.

At Quentosity we are a Tauranga website design agency and experts in website design and development. We have the experience and expertise to showcase your business in the digital age and increase your profitability through our digital marketing techniques.

Whether you are based in Auckland, Tauranga or the rest of New Zealand, we are the digital agency that can take your business to the next level.