Effective web design is the key to developing a successful and profitable online presence. In many respects, your web site acts as the virtual equivalent of an offline sales representative. In other words, it should help develop leads, instill confidence, share information, solve problems and ultimately, close the sale. Unlike a face-to-face sales professional, your web site can't rely on developing rapport with potential customers over time. Instead, it has only a few brief seconds to capture the prospect's attention and start building that all-important online relationship. Fortunately, an effective web design strategy can help accomplish this.

Effective Web Design Is Based on These 2 Key Concepts:

1.    Keeping Your Ideal Customer in Mind at All Times. A business web site should never become a corporate vanity project. You'll know your web design plan is veering dangerously off-track when it becomes more focused on "we" than on "you." Too many business owners try to establish credibility by providing too much background information about themselves and their companies. While this makes sense in theory, it can quickly overload the short attention span of online surfers.

Instead, be sure to think about what matters most to your customers and focus on how your products or services can help solve their problems. When you relate information about yourself or your firm, keep in mind the old sales adage "What does this mean to you?" Asking - and answering - this question from your customers' perspective will keep your message focused on addressing their wants and needs as you plan your web design project.

2. Getting to the Point - Clearly and Quickly. Imagine having to sit through a lengthy sales presentation that never quite gets to the point. To be polite, you try to stay focused as the salesperson go on and on about all the great features surrounding his company and product line. Unfortunately, he never really explains why these things matter to you. Instead, he keeps plowing ahead without checking to see if you have any questions or concerns. To make matters worse, he neglects to close the conversation by asking for your business, so you are left looking at each other in awkward silence. After a moment, you politely thank him for his time and show him to the door, while you silently lament the hour of your life you'll never get back.

Of course, this scenario will never occur online because visitors to your site will never hang around that long! Which means your web design team will want to focus on ways to quickly grab their attention and get them to take some specific action, such as completing a contact form, requesting more information, or buying your products. You will have a very narrow window to accomplish these goals, so the design and message of your site will need to be clear, concise and easy to follow.  Powerful attention-grabbing headlines, an easy-to-navigate site structure, and a clearly defined call-to-action are all great ways to achieve these goals.

If your business operates online, certain web design choices can make or break the overall success of your web site. Although a lot of people prefer a “pretty” or visually compelling web site, there is a lot to be said for simplicity in many cases. This is because there are a number of important factors which must work together in order to convert first-time site visitors into long-term customers of your business.

From a marketing perspective, there are three important factors you want to consider before beginning any web design project. These include:

1.    The Web Site’s Major Purpose. Before a site is designed, it is important to define what it is supposed to do. A lot of businesses seem to skip this step and instead forge ahead simply because they’ve been told they need an online presence. Although they most likely do, addressing this issue first could lead to a much more successful outcome for them. Developing a clear understanding of what the site is meant to do (i.e., sell products or capture visitor contact information) increases the likelihood that the site will perform as intended. At the end of the day, there is no point in having a great-looking web site if it doesn’t add directly to your bottom line.

2.    The Graphic Elements. These essential components of effective web design add visual appeal and interest to your site. They include images, font types, color selections and other style choices that determine how the site “looks.” What makes these features so important is that they are what first captures your visitors’ attention (or not) and pulls them into your site (or not). Without a pleasing graphic presentation, it is very difficult to get web surfers interested enough in your site to stick around for a while. Think about it. How many times have you landed on a blinking, flashing, or otherwise visually chaotic web page and scrambled for the back button as fast as possible?

3.    The Web Copy or Content. Of course, these are the words found on your web site. Keep in mind, web copy and content are two different things: web copy is created in order to get your prospect to actually do something through a clearly defined call-to-action. Well-written web copy is compelling and spells out exactly what you want your prospects to do next, whether it is to pick up the phone, subscribe to your mailing list or submit a contact form. On the other hand, web content is generally informative in nature and adds value to your site by entertaining or educating visitors to your site.

The key to achieving strong conversion rates with your web site is to make sure that these 3 factors work in harmony with one another. Of course, you’ll want to introduce web copy that is aligned with your site’s (or individual web page) primary purpose. You’ll also want to make sure that the graphic elements don’t compete with or conflict with either the overall objective behind the site or the copy conveying that message. For best results, you’ll need to get all three pulling together in the same direction.

There are many advantages to choosing a custom web design service for your company’s online presence. Your web site is one of the most important marketing decisions you will make, so it is important to make the right choice from the outset. Although a customized web site will cost more upfront than a pre-designed template, there are a number of distinct advantages to selecting this option. In fact, working with a professional web design company can translate into a great long-term investment for your business.

Here are 3 Great Reasons to Consider Custom Web Design over Pre-Designed Templates

1.    One-of-a-Kind Design. It goes without saying that your business and your brand are unique. With custom web design, you can convey that originality via a professionally crafted and imaginative web site. Unlike the many cookie-cutter templates on the market, a customized solution created just for your business won’t be duplicated all over the Internet. Instead, your web site will enhance and reinforce your marketing efforts by conveying a distinctive look and feel that is uniquely your own. This will increase customer recognition of your company and its products and services – and will help build greater trust and credibility with your potential clients. The end result is a more robust bottom line for your business.

2.    Better Search Engine Optimization.  As more and more people are taking their search for information, products and services online, the importance of this aspect of web design is becoming increasingly important.

Most reputable design firms are familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and will leverage that expertise on your behalf. This technical know-how is invaluable in terms of delivering highly targeted organic search engine traffic to your web site. On the other hand, if your site is poorly constructed from this standpoint – as is often the case with pre-designed templates - it can negatively impact its overall performance for years to come. In most instances, the amount of traffic your site receives is directly proportional to its overall success. It is very difficult to convert traffic that isn’t there into loyal customers!

3.    Design with Future Growth in Mind. Another great feature associated with hiring a professional web design firm is that they can help plan for the future growth of your company from a technological standpoint. This is great for many start-up operations working on limited marketing budgets. While it is important to establish a web presence as soon as possible, many young organizations are unable to invest large sums of money right out of the gate. However, by working with a professional web designer, you can quickly establish a near-term web presence that can be expanded as your business grows and prospers. In this sense, the web design firm you select is a true partner in terms of the long-term success of your business.

Although having your web site professionally designed will cost more at the outset, the long-term benefits of doing so make it a worthwhile investment in your business.

Quality web design can mean the difference between success and failure for your online business efforts. Whether your business is primarily “brick-and-mortar” or completely “click-and-order” (or somewhere in between), there are a number of ways that effective web design can help make your operation more profitable. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep these factors in mind before you launch a new website or revamp one that already exists.

One way quality web design can make your online venture more profitable is by making your website more visible to search engine spiders. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished by optimizing your site “behind the scenes.” One way is to incorporate targeted keywords into your title, “meta” and “alt” tags. Another is to develop an intra-site linking strategy which makes it easier for search engine spiders to find and index all of your web pages. When done correctly, effective search engine optimization techniques such as these can lead to more and more free (organic) web traffic coming to your site over time. This, in turn, creates more opportunities for you to convert those first-time visitors into satisfied repeat customers.

Another important aspect of effective web design is how well it appeals to and engages human visitors. The reason for this is quite simple: for a business to exist at all, it must have a steady supply of new and repeat customers. Therefore, your website must be designed in a way that grabs your prospects’ attention and holds onto it long enough for them to take action. After all, what is the point of having a website if the vast majority of your potential customers hit the back button within the first few seconds of landing on it?  It is really hard to make a sale to a prospect who has already left!

Good website design can also improve your bottom line by helping your site appeal to a wider audience. This can be accomplished by offering a value-added, content-rich layout enhanced by strong aesthetic appeal and intuitive navigation. The goal is to create a visually rich and welcoming destination that is easy to use and understand. As with other types of design, a simple and consistent approach is often best. For example, you may want to select only 2 or 3 complementary colors and use them consistently throughout your entire site. Same goes for font choices, formatting and text size. Using a limited number of options repeatedly is much more appealing than a random hodge-podge of choices that don’t follow any pattern. Without question, these and other bad design choices can be distracting – and can result in lost sales opportunities.

Remember, the key to effective web design – and a profitable online venture - is to stay focused on providing the type of products, services or information your potential customers are seeking. Keeping these basic principles in mind can help maximize the profitability of your own online business efforts.

Effective web design goes beyond simple aesthetic appeal. In fact, there are many factors which can contribute to the overall success or failure of a website. Therefore, it is important to have a solid understanding of the common pitfalls you will want to avoid before starting this process.

Here are 8 specific ways to avoid some common web design mistakes:

1. Avoid fancy, flashing or too-small fonts.  Less is often more in the world of web design and this concept definitely applies to making font selections for your site. Remember to keep your human visitors in mind while making your selections and stick to those that are clear and easy to read.
2. Break content blocks into bite-sized pieces. Internet readers tend to prefer material that is easy to scan over novel-length dissertations. Try to break up long paragraphs by incorporating bullets or numbered lists whenever possible.
3. Clearly communicate what the site is about - fast.  Your visitors should be able to understand what your site is about right away. You have a brief window of opportunity to convert a first-time visitor into a repeat customer – so the more clearly and quickly you can communicate your message, the better.
4. Skip the fancy introductions. This applies to anything that makes it harder to visitors to get to what they want. The fewer steps between landing on your site and finding what they are looking for, the better. As always, make decisions based on what is best and easiest for your human visitors.
5. Avoid auto-playing music. You may absolutely love the Red Hot Chili Peppers – but there is no way to guarantee that every single visitor to your site will. Even if they do, odds are they don’t want everyone at work to know they are surfing the Internet during the day – and a sudden blast of loud music coming from their computer is a definite give-away.
6. Incorporate value-added audio (or video). Audio and video presentations can be a great way to enhance the user’s online experience.  Just make sure they don’t significantly increase your page load times and enable your visitors to start and stop each presentation at will.
7. Avoid clutter.  Too many badges, banners, association labels or other items can take away from or confuse your ultimate message.  Again, good web design is usually simple and straightforward – so try to stay focused on only those elements which enhance your primary message.
8. Limit scrolling.  Some amount of vertical scrolling may be necessary, but try to limit it as much as possible as web surfers have notoriously short attention spans.  On the other hand, horizontal scrolling should be avoided at all costs – you want the width of your entire web page to display upon opening (vs. needing to scroll across to see the whole thing).

Clearly, there are many factors to consider when deciding on the right web design options for your business. This list and the recommendations of a reputable web design firm can help you avoid the most common mistakes as you establish a successful online presence.