A high-quality and well-designed website is an absolute necessity no matter what your industry. Your online presence is powerful to the extent it can make or break your reputation — and your revenue. According to the inbound marketing experts at HubSpot, website design has the potential to increase your year-over-year (YoY) online revenue by as much as 132%.
If your business doesn’t currently have a dedicated website, or it’s been a while since you’ve had your website revamped and updated, it may be time to identify changes that can boost your YoY earnings.
Here’s an in-depth glance at the impact of website design on revenue and reasons to consider investing in web design for your business.
Why Businesses Should Invest in Their Websites
A poor website design can harm your business in the long run, as it can affect your credibility and reputation. A website that is unattractive, confusing, or broken could dispel visitors to other websites that offer better functionality and ease of use. However, investing in your website to make it more appealing and user-friendly can help you win back your target audience.
Some reasons to consider investing in your website design:
It Sets the First Impression
HubSpot says 94% of first impressions are directly related to your site’s web design. The average user spends about 50 milliseconds, or 0.05 seconds, to determine whether they want to stay on your website or leave.
Several design factors play a role in first impressions, including font size, color, and pop-ups. A busy layout, lack of navigation tools, and large blocks of text are some reasons people will leave a website.
A good design that leaves a positive first impression can encourage visitors to stick around and explore your content, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
It Showcases Your Industry Authority
Owning a website gives you the opportunity to shine as a leader in your industry. It’s a great place to feature and showcase your best work and expertise through valuable content such as blogs, videos, and case studies.
The greater authority your website has, the higher it will rank in Google Search. To establish your business as an authoritative entity, your website must fulfill certain criteria that make it stand out from your competitors. Well-written content, backlinks (links to other authoritative websites), and page speed are some of the many factors Google’s algorithm takes into account when determining your search ranking.
Other reasons your business should consider investing in web design:
- Keep up with your competitors.
- Broaden your reach.
- Increase brand awareness.
- Increase user engagement with your social media accounts.
- Create a home for user reviews and testimonials.
- Increase your visibility.
- Control the narrative about your business by telling your own story.
- Enhance the user experience for those buying your products and services.
- Maximize your return on investment.
How Website Design Impacts Business Revenue
A well-designed website will attract new visitors and keep them engaged for longer periods of time. A positive user experience will compel them to explore your website and keep coming back in the future. They may even share links to your site on social media or link to your site from their own websites.
Here are some important ways website design can have a positive impact on your revenue.
It Attracts Local Leads
Many professional business marketing firms will make sure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for local search. A website that is easily viewable and functional across mobile devices has the potential to attract a greater number of local leads. According to Synup, 57% of local searches are executed on mobile devices, and 61% of mobile users are more likely to contact a local business if their website is mobile-friendly.
If the desktop version of your website is already well-designed and optimized for SEO, ask your marketing agency if it can check and evaluate whether your site is mobile-friendly. If not, make the necessary plans to make sure it is optimized for users across all devices.
It Keeps Visitors Engaged
User engagement, also known as customer engagement, is an important aspect of digital marketing, given how high engagement can lead to repeat customers. Engagement is a combination of capturing the attention of your audience and fostering an ongoing conversation about your business, products, and services. Bounce rate, page views, and time spent on your website are some metrics used to measure customer engagement.
An estimated 73% of web designers say that a non-responsive design may be the number one reason visitors leave a website. WebFX reports that 39% of people will leave your website if your images take too long to load or don’t load at all. Low-quality content, lack of customer loyalty, and targeting the wrong audience are other factors that contribute to poor engagement.
A great website design plays a major role in engagement, as it can attract and maintain the attention of your audience and foster a stronger emotional connection. Engagement can also reduce your sales cycles, which translates to faster sales.
It Helps Close More Sales
A website that is easy and enjoyable to use can help your business grow and close a higher number of sales. All the factors mentioned earlier in this blog contribute to your conversion and revenue.
Here are some other interesting statistics about the link between web design and revenue:
- 89% of consumers will begin doing business with a competitor after having a poor experience with a given business. This is why it’s important to have a stellar website design that is superior to those of your competitors.
- A tall page can increase your conversion rate by 30%. Tall pages allow visitors to scroll through your content without having to perform additional actions, such as clicking through to the next page and closing extra pop-ups.
- About 21% of cart abandonments occur due to complicated or too-long checkout experiences. Many web design firms can tweak and improve your shopping cart as needed to enhance the user experience.
- 38.5% of users say that an outdated web design is the top reason they leave a website. Updating your website can help your business avoid becoming part of this statistic.
- The top three visual elements most valued on a company website are images (40%), color (39%), and video (21%). Your website development team can sit down with you to choose the best color scheme for your brand or business, and may also create high-quality images and videos to feature on your site.
- 21% of visitors will leave a website that has “outlandish” colors. While there’s no proper definition for “outlandish” in this context, some tips to keep in mind to avoid being outlandish include using a neutral background color (not black) and primary and secondary colors for the remainder of your color scheme.
- When looking at a website for the first time, 38% of visitors will examine its page layout or navigational links. These features contribute to high engagement — especially navigational links that make it easy for consumers to explore other products, services, and content on your website.
If you run a business, set aside time to evaluate your website to see if it needs updates or a new design. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and interact with your website as if you were interested in learning more about your business and its products and services.
If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of evaluating your website, reach out to a digital marketing agency that specializes in web design and development. An agency that specializes in website development can help ensure your site aligns with your mission, voice, culture, and business objectives.
At Katava Marketing, your vision is our mission! Our full-service marketing agency offers website development, design, video, photo, and everything else your business needs to increase its revenue. Contact us at 973-998-8008 to get started today!
