Good Web Design And Customer Engagement
|If there was ever a logical or self evident observation about the Internet it’s that it is a really big place. The last estimate of how many websites there are on the Internet came up with a number that staggers the imagination. It is estimated that there are well over 1 billion web sites out there. Of course many of these sites are no longer active, but this is offset by the many new sites that are becoming active every day. For the business owner this means that the website established by their company has to really shine if they want to have their voice heard over the noise of the rest of the Internet.
Of course most business websites will not be competing against all 1 billion of the other sites on the Internet. Firstly most business have a clearly identified market segment within which they operate, which cuts down n much of the competitive activity from other unrelated sites. Secondly, although the power of the Internet is in its reach many businesses operate on a strictly local level, which further cuts down on the competition.
This still leaves a lot of competition. So what can the business do to make sure that they are maximizing their opportunities to feed the sales funnel? Firstly there is good web design. A great website, which is easy to navigate and provides the Internet user with valuable and unique content will make the business website stand out from the competition.
Good website design starts with the user experience the moment that they require a specific service or product. The website needs to be highly visible in the search engine rankings. If it is not easily accessible through these rankings it is unlikely that it will be bale to reach its ideal target audience. There are a number of ways that website design can help elevate search engine rankings.
Firstly the business should work closely with a content marketer and SEO specialist. These experts will provide content that is both embedded in the website and not viewed by the visitor (such as meta tags). Secondly they will provide a strategy for the content that can be viewed on site and in some cases downloaded by the site visitor. This sort of content is shared among social media users and can increase the reach of the business dramatically.
Then there is the design of the site itself. Navigation should be simple and the unique selling proposition or value proposition of the company should be prominent on the landing page and allow the visitor to access relevant information immediately. Failure to do so will result in a high bounce rate, which means site visitors will stop by for only seconds before leaving the site without engaging with the content.
The site also needs to have both calls to action which motivate the visitor to engage with the company or its brands. Ideally this should be the start of the sales conversation and with this step the company is well positioned to begin a long pasting brand relationship.