Everyone knows when they see a well designed website.
It gives an immediately good first impression, builds trust and reassures you that the business knows what they’re doing…even if they don’t.
On the flip side, if you’ve ever landed on a bad website, chances are you’ve left straight away with a negative impression of that business…even thought their service or product might be the greatest thing available.
Hopefully we can all agree then, that a well designed website can elevate your online presence.
And if you’re an ambitious business in Reading, Berkshire with a great service or product and a professionally designed website, then you’ll thrive online.
What is “good” web design in Reading, Berkshire?
It’s how it looks of course.
But a number of things combine to create that look.
To us, good web design is that first impression, the chance to gain or lose a potential customer in seconds.
Good web design is that first impression, the chance to gain or lose a potential customer in mere seconds.
But good web design isn’t just about how a website looks.
1. Clear purpose and focus
Every website has a goal that it wants it’s visitors to acheive.
This could be showcasing services, selling products or generating enquiries.
Once the end goal is understood, web design is used to guide users exclusively towards that goal.
For businesses in Reading, this often means understanding a local audience, what they’re looking for, how they browse and what builds trust.
2. Simple, intuitive navigation
A visitor to your website should never feel lost.
A well structured menu, clear page hierachy, logical content flow and breadcrumbs make it easy and quick to find what a potential customer wants to find.
If you have an abundance of content, web design will ensure that there is a simple to use search facility so users can really dig into the information that is most important to them with ease.
3. Industry relevant
The design of a website must be industry relevant.
For instance, the website of a psychologist will be very different to that of a luxury property developer.
Both need to build trust, infact all websites exist to build trust, but a psychologist will want to put a potential client at ease whereas a luxury property developer will want to dazzle a potential homeowner with imagery.
4. Brand relevant
Most businesses have an established brand.
Some aren’t even aware that they do.
For instance we recently worked with an electrician in Reading who has a black van.
It’s very recognisable and unbenknown to them, their brand.
Whenever we see it, we think trusted electrician.
5. Simple design decisions, big differences
Let’s take a very small but important decision that happens in the design stage.
Button names.
Which of these two buttons on an architects website are you more compelled to click?
- Click here to find out more.
- Start your home transformation today.
The latter is more emotive and conveys a greater sense of urgency.
There are numerous examples of small web design decisions that have a big impact on the success of businesses in Reading, Berkshire that have an online presence.
Another great example is landing page web design.
The idea of a landing page is to capture traffic from Google searches and then only offer a single way forward on that page.
Remember we have a visitor with very high purchasing intent, so clever web design strips out the navigation in the header, all the links from the footer, and uses a single CTA (Call To Action) that helps funnel a visitor down our desired path and ultimately their desired path too.
By removing all of the distractions from a visitor with high pruchase intent, we greatly increase the chances of converting them into a paying customer.
Why Web Design Matters for Businesses in Reading
Web design is an investment in your business.
Good web design separates your website from your competitors websites.
We all know that when looking for a product or service we compare websites.
Perhaps click on 3 or 4 websites and then make a decision based on the very limited time we spend on each site.
So it’s essential therefore, that that short amount of time impresses our potential customer and makes it very easy for them to take an action of your choice, such as calling you, filling in an enquiry form or purchasing a product.
And sure you or your friend can can have a go at designing your website, but for ambitious businesses who know the value of great web design, they come to an experienced and reputable web designer in Reading like us.