7 Good Reasons to Have an Effective Website

As a Director of an internet based marketing andMore than anything else don't cut corners when you
graphic design agency I always encourage our clientshave your website designed and built, there are many
and indeed any other business owners and Directorsoption available. By all means seek a good deal on
to consider their online strategy on a regular basis, atprice but make sure that the people building your
least annually. The main questions are, is the website fitwebsite are professionals, if you end up with poorly
for purpose, is their search engine optimisation strategydesigned website you will almost certainly end up
up to date and what else could we do for onlinehaving to pay to get it re-designed in the near future.
marketing.So what are the 7 good reasons for having an
At the core of all this though is the quality of theeffective and well designed website?
website itself and I do not specifically mean with1. A well designed and professional looking website will
regard to search engine optimisation but rather to theproject the correct image to visitors to your website, it
quality of design of the website. There are a goodwill convince them they would be dealing with a
many websites out there with good Google Pageprofessional business and it will convey trust. A poor
Ranking and strong position on the search engines butwebsite will do quite the opposite.
in terms of design I can sum them up with one word -2. Build your brand. If you maintain the design style of
TERRIBLE!your offline communication materials when you
Now many of these websites may still convert salesdevelop your online presence then you are developing
but it is certainly my assertion that if a website is ofyour brand. This will ultimately be your businesses
high quality design as well as being well optimised thenbiggest asset.
it will be a far more effective website in terms of3. Build awareness. Even if you don't make an initial
generating revenue.sale to your visitor so long as they enjoy their visit to
So what are the key elements of a well designedyour site it is likely that they will tell others about it. This
website?builds awareness of your website and your products
- The website should be quick to download as fewand services.
potential visitors will wait long.4. Email marketing is the most cost effective form of
- The design style must be interesting and professionaldirect marketing. Most respondents to an email
so as to engage the visitor and encourage them tomarketing campaign will have your website as their
look further. The design style should also reflect thefirst 'port of call', you must therefore have an effective
design style of your other communication materials solanding page and website.
that it is consistent with your branding. This will be in5. Social media is one the big growth areas online, you
terms of typeface, colours and images.can use it to drive traffic to your website and from
- Clear and uncluttered page layouts. Good colour,there develop sales.
typeface and image selection.6. The merger of Yahoo and Bing may give Google
- Clear and concise copy which gets your messagesome serious competition for searches. If this happens
across in a quick and easy to understand manner -it will open up the internet for more businesses.
this is particularly important on the Home Page.7. An effective website will enable your business to
- Make navigation as easy as possible, think throughbuild an ongoing relationship with visitors. It can be an
your menu logically to make everything as easy to findinformation interface providing them with updates on
as possible wherever someone is on your website.your products and services whilst also enabling them
- Try to include some 'organic' content, possible ato give you their feedback and hence assist you to
video, a flash presentation or a PowerPointdevelop new products and services to meet their
presentation - this will help make a visit to your websiteongoing needs.
an interesting experience.