As technology advancements keep influencing human behavior and affecting such aspects as to how we socialize, how we shop, how we consume information, and so on; marketers have to arm themselves with website development best practices to remain relevant in these fast-paced times.
The internet is ever-evolving, and so it’s imperative to keep up with all the latest updates and algorithm changes so that your website doesn’t sink into obscurity. A multi-domain wildcard SSL certificate is always a great tool that takes care of your site’s security and identifies you as secure in search engines.
Although website design and development have gotten quite comfortable with the introduction of simplified drag and drop site builders like Weebly, Wix, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and HubSpot. It is essential to be knowledgeable on killer strategies you can adopt in your website design process to be easily found by customers and to translate that into increased conversions.
You need to understand what search engines like Google and Bing consider when ranking websites and you also need to understand the needs of the modern customer in your niche to serve them with exactly what they want. Web safety is a significant concern for search engines and customers alike, and so a multi-domain wildcard SSL certificate comes in handy.
Effective Web Design Strategies For Marketers
- Web Design For SEO
Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the techniques and tricks used by webmasters to appear on the first page of organic search engine results. Although the term may seem like pure rocket science to beginners, a recent study by HubSpot found that over 64% of marketers invest heavily in search engine optimization.
This is because the main objective of creating a new website is to be easily found by prospective customers, and with billions of websites out there, it’s hard to make an impact unless you are on page one.
There are many aspects that you can work on for an effective SEO strategy. Keywords are the core part that stands for the words that best describe the theme of your website or niche.
As such, you should employ highly relevant keywords with a high search volume meaning that a lot of people should be searching for that specific keyword. Ideally, the keyword should also have low competition to help you stand out.
You can incorporate the main keyword in your domain name and URL for better ranking. Ensure your URL is short and straightforward without unnecessary characters.
The next most crucial part of SEO is your website’s content. Every successful marketer will tell you that Content is King in SEO. It’s important to note that search engines have set a high bar on the quality of content that they crawl and index to give users highly informative, quality content.
You should work on attractive titles, meta descriptions, and headlines using your keywords appropriately. The content body should also contain rich content and be original as copied content can make you get penalized. Avoid keyword stuffing too as it lessens the quality of your content.
Other essential SEO aspects to note include using proper ALT tags for your images and creating sitemaps that guide search engines on your site structure and content. You can create an XML or HTML Sitemap using free sitemap creators online then submit to Google or Bing webmasters.
Inbound and outbound links also come in handy for SEO purposes. Whenever search engines identity a lot of quality backlinks leading back to your site, they pick that as a good signal ascertaining your authority in the niche.
- Web Design For Conversions
Let’s say your SEO efforts have finally paid off and now you have managed to bring the visitor to your website. Now you are faced with the most crucial part: how do you get them to stay and engage and most importantly to convert?
If you put a lot of effort in creating your website and optimizing for SEO but then you have no sizeable conversions to write home about, you will have wasted your time, energy and resources. A translation is the end game that you want your visitor to undertake which could be buying a product, subscribing to your newsletter, registering for an event, downloading an eBook, watching a video, etc.
One outstanding quality that most millennials seem to possess is impatience and quick irritability. New technologies have brought so many options to the table such that were they to sense any annoying points like slow loading speeds or overstuffed links on your navigation bar; they will most definitely bounce.
You, therefore, need to employ a laser-sharp focus on the visual appeal of your website. Different niches will call for different designs, and you have to get your spot-on to stand a chance for converting leads.
It’s essential to come up with an attractive color scheme for your website that rhymes well with your niche. You can use this appealing color code in your call-to-action buttons like a well-placed ‘Buy Now’ feature.
Make sure that your products are well listed with high-quality images and videos and a killer product copy. Slideshows can also work quite well. It’s also helpful to introduce an urgency aspect to help customers convert faster like by having limited-time offers with a running countdown.
Another crucial factor in optimizing for conversions is to get social with your customers. The modern customer wants to connect online with a brand first before making a purchase decision. You should, therefore, incorporate features like Live Chat and a Social Feed on your website.
Contact forms can also work magically where they can raise any queries or issues on your site, and you can address them in real-time. You should also consider having an open forum where they can comment and interact with other customers as well as your support staff. Last but not least, incorporate social media.
Social media has been proven to reach all age groups and demographics, and so you should have buttons for all your social media handles where clients can follow you and engage with your brand.
- Factor in Video Content in Web Design
Video has shot in popularity as the most preferred mode of content consumption. It’s no wonder that now YouTube is the second most visited search engine receiving billions of views per day. Any serious marketer needs to come up with a strategic plan of incorporating video content into their web design process.
For instance, instead of just posting product images, you could post product description videos showcasing the appealing features of your products. A customer is more likely to buy after seeing the said product at work.
Webinars are also very popular the world over. If for instance, you offer informational courses, you could have live webinars on your website that can reach a lot of people. To take advantage of YouTube’s popularity, you could create a channel where you could be posting videos regularly and embedding them on appropriate areas of your website like the homepage or product pages.
You can also post video snippets on Instagram and Facebook linking back to the videos on your website or YouTube channel.
- Incorporate Mobile Responsive Design in Web Development
Everyone uses a smartphone these days. Even your grandmother probably does! Search engines now report that most online traffic comes from mobile devices as opposed to some years ago when desktops dominated this space.
It’s therefore understandable why mobile responsiveness has been listed as a ranking factor for websites on search engines. Any severe marketer seeking to succeed must, consequently incorporate the very best mobile-first approach in web design so that you don’t lose the hugest portion of online traffic.
When mobile-first was first introduced, the mobile version of a website was a bit different from the desktop version with lesser copy, number and size of files contained, and so on. The server-side configuration was also mostly used where a website conforms based on the type of device in use, e.g. an iPhone or Android device.
However, modern website builders use client-side responsiveness where the site will work with any smart device regardless of screen size or operating system. The user can also choose the version they wish to see on their smartphone.
Parting Shot
It’s easy to feel like a small fish lost in a vast ocean when you first make your debut on the webspace. With billions of websites out there, this is totally understandable. However, the most successful man is the one with the best information. Above are some effective web design strategies that a marketer can implement to succeed online.
It’s also essential to stay alert for new trends and algorithm updates and to act accordingly when they happen. Website security should always be top on your agenda, and a multi-domain wildcard SSL certificate can do you justice for all the domains in your company.
