As a marketing major, I never thought I would be doing as much web designing as I am doing. As I started to get into the marketplace, website maintenance and website designing has become a big part of my day-to-day job. As I graduate in a few weeks, I wish I would have taken more web designing classes and been more interested in how to do basic coding and other web designing basics so that I was more prepared for my current role. One of the best articles that explain the perfect relationship between marketing and web design has is Digital Influence: Web Design’s Impact On Marketing Strategy written by Goran Paun, Forbes Councils Member. This article is a great reminder that these two things can work together to create something beautiful. As I walk through this article, I hope that you are able to see that web design is a part of marketing and your business should invest in creating a website if you do not have one already because it is essential for your business to succeed.
In this article, Goran stresses that way websites are used now is different than how they were done in the past. The goal with websites now is to have the user interact with your brand based on your website. If the website is not up to the current standards and only focuses on functionality, you will lose customers. Garon states that “…no matter what the industry is, a website that is up to date, informative and aesthetically pleasing builds trust with potential clients and, therefore, can impact customer acquisition and conversion rates” (Garon, 2019). One of the big points Caron points out is that websites are easy to track when it comes to providing insight on what your company might need to work on and what is working well. You also want to make sure you have a website that is unique and matched with your brand. You want to steer clear of websites that are clunky and not up to the current standards. This is a big thing that will build trust with your customers. You want the user experience to be fun and inviting! Try adding interactive and engaging content to your website so that you can hook your users. Ultimately, your website should reflect your brand in all of its glory. Stay away from putting something on your website that does not line up with your brand vision or mission. Garon brings up the necessity of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a very important step of the web design process and if you are not sure how to put those practices into play, you should hire someone who knows. SEO focuses on linking your website to keywords that will help you reach your target market. This is a good step to come back for those that are looking to better their current website.
This article was written in 2019 before the pandemic. As we try to figure out what life looks like post-pandemic, we need to shed the old wineskin and step into the new wineskin or companies will start to lose customers. If in 2019, they were starting to see that change in how customers built trust with a company, I believe it is even more important to have a high-quality website post-pandemic. Shopping and interactions have moved to be almost all online. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, “E-commerce sales jumped nearly 32 percent in 2020 compared to the prior year” (Boudreau, 2021). This just goes to show that as marketing is taking a look at how to change their marketing plans, they need to consider updating their current website or creating a high-end website.
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/18/covid-retail-e-commerce-environment-522786
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