In today’s technology-driven, highly competitive world, having a website isn’t a perk; it’s an absolute must. If you want to reach your target market, you need to be where they are, and for billions of consumers, that’s online. Local restaurants, dentists, accountants, movie theaters, women’s clothing, men’s shoes; the vast majority of 21st century shoppers open up their computer or pull out their smartphone to locate whatever it is they’re looking for. They simply type in a word, a term, or even the name of a specific business they want to find and presto, with the push of a button, the click of a mouse, or the tap of the screen, they’re directed to a massive list of companies and websites that have what they need.
With all of that said, if you’re a business owner and you want to achieve the success that you desire and deserve, having a website is essential. Whether you’re a bootstrapped start-up or you’re just getting around to bringing your brick-and-mortar shop into the cyber world, when it comes to website development, you may be wondering whether you should attempt doing the job yourself or if you should work with a dedicated web design company. The former may sound appealing, especially if you’re trying to keep costs under-wrap, as there are lots of cost-effective tools out there that you can use to get your site up and running; however, a low-budget site may not be the best way to represent your brand, attract and convert visitors, and attain the success that you’re hoping to achieve. To achieve those goals, the latter – hiring a team of professional website developers – is definitely the best way to go.
Here’s a look at four great reasons why professional website design is one of the best investments you can make for your business.
1. Better usability
As an online shopper, there’s no doubt that you’ve visited a website that popped up in your search engine results, only to find that when you clicked on it, it was poorly laid out, you couldn’t find what you were looking for, it didn’t fit on the screen you were visiting it on, and/or it took forever to load (if it ever fully loaded at all). Chances are that if you’ve ever had that type of experience, you clicked right off of the site and took your business elsewhere. Well, the same thing will be true for visitors to your site. By failing to have a user-friendly design, your website could be costing you a fortune!
A professional Manchester web designer will ensure that your site is user-friendly, highly interactive, and easy to use, which will encourage your visitors to stick around a while, explore more, and increase the likelihood that they’ll make a purchase.
2. Increased brand recognition
No matter what industry your business is in – even the seemingly most unique niche market – you’re going to have to deal with competition. When there’s a specific product or service that you’re interested in, there’s a good chance that a particular business comes to mind because you know that they’ll have what you need. You want your target audience to think of your business when they need a product or service that you offer. A professionally developed website will help to increase your brand recognition so that you’re the first company that comes to mind.
3. Improved search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to a set of strategies that search engines use to index websites. That is, search engines use bots that crawl through websites to analyze their content and index those sites according to specific algorithms, and those algorithms are constantly updated. SEO practices help to make a website more appealing to the search engines, thereby increasing your ranking. Professionals are highly knowledgeable and experienced in SEO and they will employ those practices when designing your website, thus improving the search engine ranking of your site and making it more visible to your targeted audience.
4. Greater success
When your site is visually appealing, it’s easy to find, and it’s easy to use, it will have a profound impact on your success. With professional website development, your site will be more appealing, its ranking will be higher, it will be a lot easier to navigate and use, and the likelihood that visitors will convert into customers will be a lot higher. The more conversions you have, the more success you’ll achieve.