According to a report published by HootSuite and We Are Social, the average Internet user spent six hours and 42 minutes online each day in 2019. Indeed, people have become accustomed to receiving entertainment and information via the web, within seconds.
Considering just how much the internet has grown and become such an integral part of our lives, creating a clean, intuitive, and discoverable website can improve your small business in a variety of ways, ultimately resulting in an increase in revenue. While you might be tempted to simply develop the site yourself, here are some important reasons why your small business needs a professional web designer:
Website Professionalism
Appearance
When a potential customer stumbles upon your website, they will form an opinion on what they see almost instantly. In fact, it takes a user only 50 milliseconds to judge a website and choose whether they wish to stay or leave! That’s why having a site with a professional appearance is important. A website designer knows how to envision and create an appealing website. Web development companies understand the technical aspects of building a flawless site, and they also know what consumers are looking for.
Not only does a website’s appearance make a difference in the number of visitors that stay on the page, it can also bolster your credibility as a brand. Your website may be the first point of contact that a consumer has with your small business, so you want the first thing they see to count.
If your website doesn’t appear to be of high quality, people may infer the same about your products or your business. By hiring a professional web designer, you can be certain that your visitors will be much more trusting of your company. Users will feel comfortable interacting with and purchasing products from a clean and professional website.
Usability
After making a solid first impression, you must ensure that customers look around the site long enough to make an online purchase or plan a visit to your brick-and-mortar small business. That is where a user-friendly interface will come into play. A professional web designer will create a site flow (a map-like diagram that provides an overview of the website’s pages and elements) and a user flow (paths taken throughout the site by a user). They will also build a website with an effective layout that is intuitive to navigate on many different types of devices, from mobile phones to desktop computers.
That said, people are more likely to access your website from their phones than they are from their computers. Roughly 68% of people in 2020 visited websites via a mobile device. A web design company can develop a site that is mobile responsive — nobody enjoys scrolling around the desktop version of a website on their phone! The goal is to provide every potential customer with the most straightforward and pleasant experience possible.
A professionally designed website will also run faster and more smoothly than one that you build yourself. Your visitors shouldn’t have to endure long waits while the site loads different pages. Excessive waiting time can frustrate potential customers and turn them away. Professional website designers use plugins and other tools to optimize the site’s efficiency and ensure that viewers don’t get stuck on loading screens.
The web development field is constantly changing, and new technologies are emerging rapidly. Professional website designers follow these developments closely and are familiar with the most recent of tools. A website design company will be sure to build your small business an up-to-date site that appeals to today’s visitors.
Content
The actual content of the website must encourage visitors to make purchases, and a website designer can equip your site with polished written content. Web designers are well-versed in search engine optimization (SEO), and they will incorporate keywords into the site to make it easy to find with search engines. They also know how to engage target audiences and turn visitors into customers.
If your website is attractive, well-designed, and full of exciting content, your small business will fare better against the competition. A professional appearance gives website credibility and builds consumers’ faith in your product. A user-friendly layout encourages visitors to browse the site and explore your products. Strong written content following SEO best practices will bring in more viewers and engage them as they explore your website. Hiring a website designer will bring all of these attributes of professionalism to your small business site, which in turn will lead to more consumers and more revenue for your business!
Social Proof
Social proof is a concept in psychology that states that people are likely to look at the actions of others when they do not know what to do in a particular situation. This idea relates heavily to marketing and the Internet in particular. People will believe that products are worth buying if they see others purchasing them, and the Internet has an incredible amount of influence on the visibility a product has. Products that receive plenty of positive online reviews and garner attention on social media are much more likely to be successful than those that don’t have much of an Internet presence.
Professional website designers can easily make your website an interactive experience for users. Interactive content is important to your site and your revenue because people are significantly influenced by others’ opinions of products. In fact, 63% of consumers reported that they would be more likely to purchase a product if its website included reviews. A professional web designer will be able to seamlessly integrate product reviews and customer photos into your website.
“Share” buttons help get the word out about your small business, and they also display the number of people who have shared the content. This counter will encourage even further interaction because visitors will see that others have enjoyed the content on your site. A web development company will utilize plugins and tools such as “share” buttons to enhance the social proof of your company’s website.
A well-crafted website can also improve your communication with your customers. For example, a professional web designer can include forms on your website that allow consumers to schedule appointments, make requests, or voice concerns. Tools such as these are convenient for both you and your customers. Opening and maintaining a two-way line of communication with the people who are purchasing your product can be crucial to the success of your small business. You can get a better perspective on what your customers love about your product and what changes you might need to make. Communicating with your website users also improves your social proof.
Choice of Platform
Web development companies build sites using professional platforms, such as WordPress. WordPress has many advantages over other website creation services and hosts almost a third of the websites worldwide.
WordPress
WordPress is incredibly scalable. A professional web designer will be able to customize a site to meet your company’s size and its individual needs, and your website can easily expand if you choose to grow your business. WordPress has a wide variety of add-ons and packages that web design companies can implement as necessary to provide you with a scalable website that best fits you and your company. There won’t ever be the need to start from scratch if you are looking to expand your site.
Your small business’s website will benefit from the site customization that WordPress has to offer. The platform provides a multitude of themes to choose from, which non-professionals might use to build their website. However, WordPress also allows its users to customize sites using code. A website designer will be able to truly personalize the website to suit your business in both appearance and functionality. A site that is unique to your business will give you an advantage over competitors whose websites may look average or bland.
WordPress has a built-in blog feature as well. Having a blog on your website can improve your relationships with your consumers and help build brand awareness. Blogs are a great way to develop social proof by interacting with site users. Regularly blogging about your product and related themes and ideas can also help your site receive more traffic. Professional web designers using WordPress can easily incorporate a blog into your business’ website and either write or provide professional content to draw in readers and future consumers.
WordPress websites also have tools that can improve your site’s searchability. No matter how beautiful or user-friendly your website is, it has to be easy to find. Web development companies can combine their knowledge of SEO with the helpful tools provided by WordPress. A professional website designer will help get your site the highest search engine ranking possible. You will generate much more traffic on your website if it appears early in search results. Wouldn’t it be great to show up before your competitors when a potential customer searches for your product online?
What About the Cost?
Cost is one of the primary deterrents keeping small businesses from hiring a professional web designer; why spend money when you can do it yourself? Creating a visually appealing and user-friendly website that attracts viewers, however, is not a quick task. There are a lot of technologies you would have to learn and quite a bit of information you would have to research. Learning these procedures as you go results in a high potential for trial and error. A web design company will get the job done more efficiently. They will also do it properly the first time, and you won’t have to return to the project again and again.
A web development company can handle the creation of your website while you focus your time and energy on other aspects of your small business. Your business could face setbacks if you dedicate a significant amount of your time to working on a website. On the other hand, if you throw a site together quickly, a lack of finesse will be apparent in the final product. As the saying goes, time is money, and the time saved by hiring a website designer will allow you to continue operating your business and generating more revenue.
Hiring a professional to design your website is an investment in your business. A well-crafted site will reach a wider audience, keep visitors on your website longer, and ultimately convert these visitors into consumers. A poorly designed website would not be able to successfully accomplish these goals. When you pay to hire a professional web designer, you are actually investing in the future of your company and increasing your business potential and client base.
Hire a Professional Web Designer!
The social and economic influence of the Internet is hard to ignore. Your small business needs a website now more than ever, and you should hire a website designer to build a professional one for you. A strong website can reach and attract a large audience, give users confidence in your company, and convert these users into customers. A professional web designer will be able to accomplish these goals for you, and you will not have to take extensive time away from operating your small business to learn website development and design.
Once you have a beautifully and professionally crafted website, you will experience countless benefits to your small business, including:
- A larger market and a wider customer base
- Improvement in the image of your product and your potential consumers’ faith in it
- A strong advantage over your competitors
- Improved social proof
- Increased brand awareness
- All of the above results in more revenue for your business!
A reliable, attractive, and high-ranking website will contribute immensely to your small business, and hiring a professional web designer is the best way to ensure that your website is effective. Now that you are no longer tempted to try to build your own website, contact Delaware Digital Media in Bethany Beach, Delaware to get started building the right website for you!
