If you're running an online business, then your website is the thing that many of your potential customers will use to form a first impression about your company.
This may seem obvious - after all, if you're visiting a business with a real-world location then you'll make judgments about it based on the way its premises looks.
But often, business owners can neglect their website and unknowingly put off potential customers.
In this article, we'll look at why professional web design matters, and how you can you can get your website professionally designed without breaking the bank.
First impressions are made instantly
Studies suggest that viewers form their first impression of a website in just 0.05 seconds.
Clearly, that's not long enough to decide if you're selling the product they want, or if your site is easy to navigate.
But it is long enough to tell if the site looks good, or if it looks like it was designed in the early 2000s and hasn't been updated since.
Remember, just because you think your website looks good that doesn't mean potential customers will feel the same.
Design really matters to people
According to research, 38% of people will stop using a website if its content or layout is unattractive.
That means just because your website makes a good first impression, it doesn't guarantee people are going to stick around.
Professional web design is about more than just making sure your website looks good, it's also about making sure people can navigate your site easily.
And while putting off 38% of people so much that they leave your website is bad enough, it's likely that yet more visitors will be unable to successfully navigate your site and as such will fail to make a purchase.
Speed is crucially important
People don't want to wait for a website to load. In fact, 47% of people expect a site to load in under two seconds, while 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if it takes too long to load.
According to research by data platform QuBit, this hatred of slow websites translates into an estimated loss in global sales of £1.73bn.
So if your website isn't fast, you're leaving money on the table.
People now expect websites to be mobile-friendly
Until the rise of the iPhone and 3G mobile networks, visiting a website on your phone was something of a novelty. Not many people did it, and those who did weren't expecting a good experience.
In 2019, however, consumers expect the websites they visit to work just as well on mobile devices as they do on desktop computers.
In fact, 85% of people think that a website should perform just as well (if not better) on mobile as it does on desktop.
To make matters worse, 80% of people say they would leave a website if it didn't work well on their device, while research from Google shows that 61% of people are unlikely to return to a site on mobile if they couldn't use it properly, with 40% saying they would visit a competitors website instead.
So it's clear that if your website isn't mobile-friendly, you're going to suffer.
Professional designers understand what your website needs
What would you consider to be the most important pages on your website? The chances are you're going to say your product pages and maybe your homepage too.
But did you know that 44% of people will leave a website if there is no contact information? Or that 52% of people want to see "about us" information on a website homepage?
Professional web designers spend their entire career investigating what people want from websites and how people want to interact with websites.
So hiring a professional web design service means you're also hiring that experience.
Looking for a professional web design service?
If you're looking for a new website - either because you're starting a new venture or because your existing site is out of date - then GoDaddy can help.
The GoDaddy Web Design service will build you a fast, mobile-friendly website based on the popular WordPress platform.
To speak to our team of experts about getting GoDaddy to build your site, just give us a call on 020 7983 9944.
Alternatively, you can request a call back about the Web Design service by using this form.
