As the world grows to embrace ecommerce more than ever before, businesses are acutely aware that online trading is more than simply a necessary evil to keep up with the competition – instead, it’s a promising opportunity to connect with new, far-reaching audiences.
Your website will often be a customer’s first exposure to your brand. That’s why web design is key to providing them with a positive experience that encourages them to make that first purchase and come back for more.
With that in mind, these are just five top facts about web design and consumer expectations in the 21st century, and what it means for your business.
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More than 50% of searches take place on mobile phones
With mobile and tablet devices within reach almost 24 hours a day, it has never been easier to find what we’re looking for instantly.
This means your site needs to be optimised for these types of devices to ensure they deliver the same fantastic user experience, however a potential customer comes across your site. If not, you could lose customers just as quickly as you find them.
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Users judge your site in as little as one twentieth of a second
They say it takes a split second to form a first impression.
And when it comes to websites, research suggests that split is probably around one-twentieth of a second.
That’s why you need a website that customers click with instantly – visual appeal is crucial to making the most of that short decision-making moment. Hone your site with striking images and carefully selected colours schemes to demonstrate, as fast as possible, why they should stick around for your brand.
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Content is king – but think bigger
It’s the old adage of marketers that ‘content is king’ – an expression which means the quality and quantity of your content is ultimately what will convince customers to convert.
This is basically true, and the skills of your copywriters should never be underestimated. But an all-encompassing content strategy designed to foster engagement is about more than just words. For instance, many businesses underestimate the value of visual engagement such as infographics,
That’s why it can be useful to invest in web design services from a web design agency that does it all, like Maratopia Digital Marketing, whose experiences ranges from specialist website development to PPC and SEO.
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Communication is key
44% of customers will leave a website if they can’t find essential contact info such as a phone number or email address.
Your site should be built to facilitate communication as easily as possible – whether that’s contact forms or links to social media – but basic contact info is an absolute bare minimum.
Plus, your contact information should always appear on your Google My Business. It’s just good SEO practice.
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47% of customers will likely expect your site to load within 2 seconds
We’ve talked about how first impressions count.
But if your website is too slow to load, your customers will often bounce back to the SERPs before they’ve made theirs.
Not to mention, search engines will often penalise sites with slow loading times and high bounce rates – the latter of which is often caused by the former, meaning it’s a vicious cycle.
We hope these five facts about web design help your business to boost its performance.
