Web design is one of the most important parts of any Internet marketing strategy. It has a huge impact on the digital customer experience in several different ways. Your site’s aesthetics, usability, any other crucial factors are essential to your company’s long-term online success.
Four Ways Web Design Impacts Customer Experience
1. Appearance
Web design most obviously impacts your site’s appearance. You choose how your site looks, which plays a huge role in your company’s first impression on new online visitors. Often, you’ll hear marketing experts talk about web design in two extremes:
- Older websites that look like they were made in 1996
- Newer, sleeker websites that adhere to modern web design standards
Many websites fall between those two options, but they represent opposite ends of a spectrum. It’s possible to have a site somewhere in the middle — one that looks attractive, but maybe it was last updated in 2007. Regardless of how your site looks, the goal is to have it as current and up-to-date with modern design trends as you can.
Modern web design trends include:
- Responsive design
- Parallax scrolling
- Big, bold fonts
- Eye-catching “hero” images
- Multimedia
Web design most obviously impacts your site’s appearance. You choose how your site looks, which plays a huge role in your company’s first impression on new online visitors. Often, you’ll hear marketing experts talk about web design in two extremes:
- Older websites that look like they were made in 1996
- Newer, sleeker websites that adhere to modern web design standards
Many websites fall between those two options, but they represent opposite ends of a spectrum. It’s possible to have a site somewhere in the middle — one that looks attractive, but maybe it was last updated in 2007. Regardless of how your site looks, the goal is to have it as current and up-to-date with modern design trends as you can.
Modern web design trends include:
- Responsive design
- Parallax scrolling
- Big, bold fonts
- Eye-catching “hero” images
- Multimedia
2. Professionalism
Professionalism refers to the impression you make on your site’s visitors before they ever start reading your site. When someone arrives on your site, you want them to understand that you’re a modern, respectable business. This impression is largely based on how your web design represents you.
Several web design elements contribute to professionalism, including:
- A culture page - part of your site that’s exclusively dedicated to talking about your company’s approach to daily operations
- Photos of staff
- Customer results
Professionalism refers to the impression you make on your site’s visitors before they ever start reading your site. When someone arrives on your site, you want them to understand that you’re a modern, respectable business. This impression is largely based on how your web design represents you.
Several web design elements contribute to professionalism, including:
- A culture page - part of your site that’s exclusively dedicated to talking about your company’s approach to daily operations
- Photos of staff
- Customer results
3. Clarity
Clarity means designing your website so visitors can find what they want as quickly as possible. Most often, this means improving your navigation. Intuitive and familiar navigation styles allow your visitors to quickly find the information they want.
Today, navigation comes in a few well-known styles:
- Breadcrumb
- Drop-down menu
Clarity means designing your website so visitors can find what they want as quickly as possible. Most often, this means improving your navigation. Intuitive and familiar navigation styles allow your visitors to quickly find the information they want.
Today, navigation comes in a few well-known styles:
- Breadcrumb
- Drop-down menu
4. Load time
Load time refers to how long someone has to wait for a page on your site to display on their device(s). Load time is a major Google ranking factor, and it’s become crucial to online success as more consumers move toward using the Internet on mobile devices.
The modern Internet user is concerned with websites that load in the blink of an eye and more importantly, use minimal data.
So how can you reduce your site’s loading time?
- Optimize image sizes
- Remove auto-play multimedia
- Use white space
Load time refers to how long someone has to wait for a page on your site to display on their device(s). Load time is a major Google ranking factor, and it’s become crucial to online success as more consumers move toward using the Internet on mobile devices.
The modern Internet user is concerned with websites that load in the blink of an eye and more importantly, use minimal data.
So how can you reduce your site’s loading time?
- Optimize image sizes
- Remove auto-play multimedia
- Use white space
