We shouldn’t have to say this but, website design and development is incredibly crucial for online growth and success! Despite its proven benefits, companies invest the least amount of time and money on web design and development. You might think you are getting a good deal on the super cheap website you created, but over time you will notice there aren’t any conversions or inquiries from your website. So if you are debating if you should invest on a reputable website design and development company, read our 5 ways website design and development impact customer retention.
Here’s How Good Website Design And Development Impacts Customer Retention
Design is no longer about aesthetics it can make or break your sales. Here are some ways good design and development is impacting the way customers view your brand.
1. Quick Load Time = More Time Spent On Your Web Page
Websites are getting better at competing for audience attention and this is making customers normalize special treatment. Just a decade ago, a 5 second loading speed was considered acceptable. But as companies started competing to build faster websites, customers started to subconsciously expect websites to load within 3 seconds or less.
Attention spans are diminishing and if you don’t win their interest at the get go, potential customers will take their business elsewhere. Studies have shown that you lose customers with every second added to your loading speed, and if your website crosses the 3 seconds mark, you will lose about 40% of potential customers. God forbid, your website loads after 5 seconds, you will have lost 80% of your potential customers by then!
This is why you need to work with a web developer who uses lighter code and fewer plugins to build a website. Good developers understand the importance of speed and will use it as a criteria for your project. A designer’s input is equally important here as well. A good designer will omit the unnecessary icons and micro animations that may slow down a website.
2. A Breezy Browsing Experience
Customers remember a brand when it helps them get what they are looking for without any hassle. Do not underestimate the importance of design in creating a positive customer experience. Without an experienced designer, we may overwhelm the reader with bulks of written information. To create a memorable experience, web designers work with UI/UX copywriters to build a streamlined front end design that not only provides information but makes everything easily accessible for the customer.
3. Rich Media Placements
This goes back to the fact that customers have a shorter attention span and 100s of companies are competing for their attention. Having efficient video content on your website will add more value to your brand. A minute of video content can add so much value to a customer than reading the same information. However, placement and sizing are incredibly important for customers to click on the video.
A good web design and digital marketing company, will not only help you create rich video content but will also position the videos on parts of the website that will encourage viewership. Good video content coined with higher viewership will create a strong customer-brand relationship.
4. Better Visibility
Search engines reward websites that load quickly and have a good design, usually by ranking them higher than websites with poor UI UX design. This gives you more chances to connect with your ideal audience group which further increases the chances of customer retention.
5. Good First Impressions
If your website loads quickly, looks elegant, and provides customers with what they are looking for, it will grab their attention. Did you know that 79% of netizens will leave a website if they don’t like the design or if it is difficult to maneuver through? In the competitive online world, having a good first impression makes all the difference!
5 Basics of Good Web Design
While we cannot dive deep into the core values of web design, we can provide a few basics. Use this as a guideline to go over the designs provided by your preferred web design company.
1. Navigation Icons
Navigation icons save a lot of time, especially on mobile versions of websites. Hence you must make sure your page navigations are in places where they are visible and uniform throughout the website. Customers shouldn’t have to search for the navigation anytime they want to go to the next page.
2. Following The ‘F’ Pattern
Did you know that customers are likely to view a website in the F-Shaped pattern? We look at a website from the left to right and from the top to bottom, forming an ‘F’ pattern with our eyes. This is our natural pattern of reading.
A good design needs to keep this customer behavior in mind. Ask yourself does your website follow a natural pattern of reading, i.e, go left to right and top to bottom? When content and media replicate an ‘F’ pattern customers will have a smooth browsing experience.
3. Visual Hierarchy
How can you tell your customers what is the most important part of your website? Through visual hierarchy. You can achieve visual hierarchy through changes in color, size, white space, and order of positioning elements. Visual hierarchy is a very important part of website design – it gives customers a sense of intention when they go through your content.
4. Following A Grid
Even the smallest details on your website make a massive difference to the person viewing it. If your website lacks uniformity it may be perceived as unprofessional and make your brand look inexperienced. We don’t want that! Following a grid can polish up your designs and give them the professional look you have always wanted.
Grids help you space out images and texts uniformly. It also balances each page with content and visuals.
5. Call To Action
Lastly why even have a customer visit your website? Because of the call to action. Anything from asking customers to buy your product to asking them to subscribe to our newsletter is a call to action. Make sure the call to action is scattered throughout your website at the right places to avoid overwhelming your customers while still getting a significant number of conversions.
Conclusion
Design and development are two exceptionally crucial components that keep your customers coming back to your website. So, do not let an inexperienced designer do a hacksaw job on your website, which caters to brand identity. Find a web designer and developer who has experience within your niche and can help you build a website that is easy to navigate, looks elegant, stands out amongst your competitors, and keeps your customers happy.
All the best! Netlynx also provides web design and development services in case you didn’t know. Feel free to get in touch with our team and tell them what you are looking for. We are always happy to help.
