614.224.6226
What is Website Design?
As recently as a decade ago, you could get away with having a small business website that was little more than an online brochure. In fact, it wasn’t all that uncommon to come across local shops and retailers who still didn’t have any web presence at all. While some forward-looking owners and executives were embracing search engine optimization and email. They were generally thought of as being in a separate category from mainstream marketing. Let’s review how to build the ultimate website design
In the years since, however, the internet has gone from being a new way to generate business to affecting virtually every part of our commercial (and personal) lives. Dial-up and DSL have given way to broadband and the mobile web. Tens of millions of Americans carry around high-speed web connections in their pockets. Most buyers are as likely to get advice from Facebook or Yelp as they are to phone a friend.
Looking back at the growth of online marketing this way makes it easy to understand why so many business owners feel as if they were living within a blur. Every few months it’s something new. A change to Google search algorithms. And a new way to interact with mobile phone users, a tweak on email newsletters. Or the invention of a whole new topic like UX (user experience).
Who are Your Competitors?
As all of this takes place, there are businesses getting ahead of their competitors, and others that are falling behind. The ones at the front of the pack are gaining ground continuously. They are enjoying prime search engine visibility, a strong social media following. And the sales advantages that come with having dozens of positive reviews spread around the web. Many of their competitors, meanwhile, are wondering how they manage it.
The short answer is that they either make a point of keeping up with the latest trends and best practices or work with ultimate website design partners who can do it for them. That way, they can make lots of small adjustments that help them get ahead and stay ahead. Rather than trying to do everything at once, they simply follow a few core strategies that lead them to new customers week after week.
Whether you already have a strong web presence and just want to continue moving in the right direction. Or find yourself needing to stop holding on to old ideas about online marketing and catch up with your colleagues, this is a article that can help your business grow.
Online Marketing is Part of the Process
As we move into 2024, the online marketing industry is still reeling from a number of recent changes. And we are poised for a very interesting and tumultuous year ahead. In the coming months, we are going to find out which companies can adapt to what works on the web today. And which ones are going to face the digital world with outdated strategies.
In this and other articles, I’m going to share a 10-point guide to finding success in ultimate website design and online marketing. The information I’m going to provide is based on real-world experience, industry perspective, and a look into the near future. I’m not just going to show you what works, but also how you can take advantage of proven and affordable techniques to improve your bottom line.
The internet has changed our lives and transformed the way we do business. Those changes are going to keep coming in 2024 and beyond. If you’re ready to make the most of the opportunities that are going to come your way this year, then let’s get started.
Give Your Ultimate Website Design a Job
If I could fill a room with hundreds of business owners or marketing executives and ask them how many thought a company needed a good website. Nearly every hand would go up. But if I asked a simple follow-up question – “Why?”. Probably fewer than half could give a good answer.
In 2024 “having an online presence” has come to mean something like “always eat your vegetables.” Businesspeople know it’s a good idea, and that it affects the health of their business. But they can’t always describe the science behind building the ultimate website design.
You might be thinking to yourself that this is a silly notion. You may know, as most of the people I meet do, that the purpose of an ultimate website design is to attract sales. That’s a good answer, but an incomplete one. It misses some of the other important roles a website can fill and isn’t nearly specific enough.
Your Website Should Close Deals
When you’re trying to “increase sales,” it’s difficult to decide which activities you should pursue. Search engine optimization and social media marketing are the most popular and important, for example. But what percentage of business owners could tell you precisely how a better Google ranking or a strong Facebook following will turn into a healthier bottom line?
If you want to succeed in today’s digital world, and to make your website a profitable part of your company. It’s important to have clearly defined goals and objectives. Your ultimate website design needs to have a job, and you need to know what that job is. Then, you can create the kind of layout and user experience needed to achieve those goals.
With that in mind, I want to use this short chapter to look at what specifically you can do to zero in on the purpose of your website. Then, you can be sure it’s well-designed for the job.
Everything Starts With Your Business Model and Target Market
Hard as it might be to believe, I talk to a lot of new clients who have trouble describing what it is their company is all about. Or they can tell me exactly what their plans and profit models look like. But haven’t actually identified any group of buyers that might be interested in working with them.
Designing a website, much less a full-fledged internet marketing plan, is virtually impossible under those circumstances. If there’s nothing to market, or no one to market it to, then why should the details matter at all?
The construction and philosophy of your ultimate website design really has to have two sources, or intersecting points. The first comes from your business and the advantages or strategies that separate you from your competitors. The second has to do with the kinds of buyers you want to attract to your website. And who will make up your base of revenue for years to come.
Pay Forward
Everything follows from those two points, and one is virtually meaningless without the other. I hear constantly from people who want a “great website.” What that means, however, depends a great deal on their individual budget, style, and marketing needs. A minivan is great for hauling kids to soccer practice, but a terrible choice on a construction site. A pickup truck can move tools and equipment but isn’t as well-suited for a family road trip. This is an obvious analogy, but it gives an easy way to show an important point. In the same way that four wheels and an engine don’t make the perfect automobile for everyone. One layout and color combination doesn’t meet every marketer’s needs.
If you’ve not taken the time to figure out what your company is about or who your customers are. Do it before you meet with a web designer or get too deeply into this article. Someone with the right creative and technical background can help you take your business to the next level. But they can’t do so if basic questions are left unanswered.
Use Ultimate Website Design to Achieve Specific Outcomes
When you know what your ultimate website design is about. You can ensure that the layout choices, font selections, and color preferences all encourage the right outcomes. For instance, a dental office wanting to attract new patients could work with calming tones of blue. Feature pictures of happy patients and their bright smiles. And (most importantly) have phone numbers and insurance information prominently displayed on every page.
These may seem like relatively minor details, but they make all the difference. Most business websites you come across. Whether they were built from an online template or created with the help of a professional team, have a generic feel to them. They don’t suggest any particular action, and certainly not one that is measurable.
Measure Everything Regarding the Ultimate Website Design
This matters because the job of your ultimate website design should never be to simply “give information.” A brochure could do that, and the world of internet marketing has gotten to be far too complex. For businesses of any size to be content with putting nothing more than a marketing overview online. In addition to telling people about your company. Your website should build your credibility. Drive walk-in traffic, generate online sales, or trigger inquiries over the phone.
You might want your website to do all these things or none of them. What matters isn’t the specific outcome you’re looking for. But that you know what sort of result you’re after and can tell whether that result is being initiated or not. Just as every employee on your payroll should have a defined jo. Description and key performance indicators that tell you (and them) whether they are succeeding or not. Your website should be created and maintained with a specific set of goals in mind.
Make Your Messaging a Unique Strength
For far too many businesspeople, messaging on a website is an afterthought. Text is something that’s put into place to attract search engine traffic, or make a layout look better.
It’s certainly true that the copywriting on your website should do both things. However, it’s also true that your messaging needs to inform and persuade. No one is going to visit your website because of the way it looks. Potential customers are searching for insights into what problems you may or may not be able to solve for them. Likewise, even the best images and graphics don’t convert visitors into leads or buyers. It takes a strong sales message for that to happen with your ultimate website design.
Of course, good messaging is just like good design. It’s really the result of a strong unique selling proposition and the right target audience coming together. If your business has nothing interesting or compelling to offer, then your messaging is always going to be lackluster. Without a group of potential buyers who can respond to your offers. Even well-crafted headlines and bullet points will fail to generate revenue.
Give Your Users Effective Content
Once you find the right message to take to the market, and the tone and personality you want to present to the world. You have everything you need to make your website sing. That doesn’t mean it will convert every searcher into a buyer. It just means that when the right people read your words or see your videos, they’ll know they have found what they’re looking for.
That type of fit and branding is invaluable on your webpages. But it also carries over to social media, email marketing, and other tools you need to compete in the digital age. So, don’t settle for communication that’s bland or generic. You don’t want to match your customers point for point or word for word. Instead. You want to let the public know why you’re different and turn your messaging into a unique advantage.
Give Your Ultimate Website Design Part-Time Jobs, Too
I’m going to assume that the main job of your website is to help you find potential customers and convert them into active accounts. That’s the goal of 99% or more of all business websites out there. Regardless of whether they take e-commerce orders directly or feed new opportunities to a sales staff.
But assuming that your big priority is generating revenue from your web presence. Don’t overlook the fact that your website should have other part-time jobs, too. Because it’s going to be your main point of contact for both new and existing customers. Not to mention the public at large, there are other roles it could fill.
Keep Putting Your Website to Work
As an example, your website could be your chief tool for recruiting new employees. It can offer information for vendors who want to work with you. It could function as a customer service hub, letting buyers check on their order status, read frequently asked questions. Or even download how-to guides, manuals, and videos. Your ultimate website design can be a press agent, a source of industry news. And even a social hub for people who want to trade ideas and reviews. Best of all, it can do all of these things while still providing you with leads or sales.
Regardless of what your website’s one main job description might be like. Don’t forget that it can do a lot of things that help your company run more smoothly and profitably. In fact, the more you can automate your business by using the internet. The less time and money you’ll have to invest in other parts of your company. Generating revenue is important. But don’t forget you can improve your bottom line by cutting costs and making better hiring decisions, too.
Keep Making Improvements and Renovations
Through the course of time, it’s only natural that your website is going to change and evolve. Its purpose might shift. Perhaps you’ll decide to go after a different segment of the market or change the measurable outcome you’re looking for. This might happen because you discover a new tool or technique. Or simply because of your underlying business model going through changes.
Regardless of how you arrive at that point. It’s important that you keep making improvements and renovations to your web presence. In the same way that you might touch up the paint in an office every year or two. You should consider adding pages or taking away outdated content from time to time. You wouldn’t let carpets in your business get to be dusty and faded. So don’t let the photos on your website paint your business in a shabby light, either.
Your Work is Never Done
No website is ever truly finished. At a certain point, clients are satisfied, and designers put their layouts online, but continual improvement is always needed. Even an employee who knows their job and is wonderful at it will need ongoing training. Both in their specific skill set and in general business knowledge (like time management or using productivity software). Your business website will need some upgrades that are specific to your industry. And others that are required to keep up with the times.
That’s especially true in 2024, and it’s only going to become a bigger driving force in the coming years. The best practices in web design and internet marketing are quickly changing these days. So even if your business wasn’t in a state of flux, you would need to review your web presence occasionally to ensure you’re still relevant and up to date.
Don’t Let Your Ultimate Website Slack Off
Although there is a lot to think about when planning, building, and maintaining a website. The one idea I want to leave you with in this chapter is that the internet-facing portion of your business has an important job to do. Every page and piece of content on your site should reinforce that measurable goal. And you should always be looking for new ways to be more efficient and effective at achieving it.
If you can carry that mindset with you throughout the rest of this article. You’ll have an easier time understanding why it matters that you stay ahead of your competitors in 2024. And how you can do that. It will also guide you toward the best ideas in search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click advertising, and other marketing activities.
When you have a well-defined target, it’s much easier to hit the bullseye. Ensure your website has a concrete job to do so all the pieces that make it work can fall into place. Forbes Magazine has an excellent article titled: How To Design A Website (2023 Guide) by Christiana Jolaoso and Kelly Main.
For Web Design in Columbus Ohio, Call Marcy Design
Finally Marcy Design is named after Mount Marcy, the tallest mountain in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. The founder of Marcy Design climbed Mt. Marcy over 30 years ago. It was at the top of the mountain that a new company was born. As a Columbus Ohio Website Design company. Marcy Design will work with your business producing quality work and be more effective at marketing. And increase sales through online and traditional methods.
How to Build the Ultimate Website Articles
1. A New Comprehensive Guide On How to Design a Website
2. How to Build the Ultimate Website Design
3. How to Build the UX Website Design
4. How to Build the Ultimate Business Website Sales Funnel
5. How to Build the Ultimate Business Website SEO Optimization
6. How to Build the Ultimate Business Website PPC Campaign