Web design and digital marketing go hand-in-hand.

One cannot exist without the other. Or shouldn’t anyway.

Without proper web design, it’s almost impossible to market online successfully because a website is what potential customers see and interact with when they search for your company on Google or Bing.

In this blog post, we’ll outline 6 reasons why web design is important in digital marketing as well as some tips for designing an effective website with limited resources.

1. A Poorly Designed Website Can Hurt Your Company’s Brand

Web design is important to digital marketing because it provides a platform for the company’s branding and identity. Whether you’re selling products or services, web design can showcase your business in the best light possible while also conveying professionalism.

Not only does it highlight your business but it does so in a unique way. A well-designed website can also speak to the unique qualities of your business in a way that can’t be done with your physical store.

2. Web Design Directs Conversion Rate

A well-designed website can influence your customer conversion rates as well as their experience.

People will not buy from you if they don’t find what they’re looking for.

Strategic placement of elements such as headings, CTA’s, images, etc can help significantly boost your website’s conversion rate. Which makes web design an integral part of digital marketing because people are more likely to purchase from a business that prioritizes user experience.

Think about it.

Apple’s is all about how users interact with their brand. They make sure every new product that comes out is intuitive and easy to use.

3. Your Website Tells Your Company Story

Your website is your company’s marketing tool. Web design affects the success of your message to potential customers, in fact, it can be a defining part of brand identity.

Your message is what customers connect to.

It tells your story and allows potential customers to identify with your brand. A great way to do that is by making sure your website is designed to tell your company story.

Headstream says, 55% of people are more likely to buy from your company in the future and 15% will buy immediately if they love your brand story.

Building a website that does the job of telling your company story is a worthy investment of time and money.

4. A Well-Design Website is The Center of Any Successful Digital Marketing Strategy

Your website is the basis of a successful marketing campaign.

It doesn’t matter what digital marketing strategy your company uses, if you have a poorly designed site, then it’s usually not going to be effective.

You need a professional web designer who specializes in digital marketing. They know what works online and can create a design that drives the right message home using digital marketing principles and strategies that position your brand for success.

Strategies like SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, and PPC (pay-per-click) should all be implemented around a well-designed website. Using your website as the hub of all company marketing initiatives creates harmony and establishes your brand as a trustworthy company in the eyes of your customers.

5. Google Loves A Well Designed Website

Website design is not only crucial to potential customers but also to Google.

A beautifully designed website is more likely to do well on Google’s search results which will create new leads and customers for your company.

When it comes to SEO, there is so much more to it than just web design, but Google now values reader experience over almost everything else. A fast website that is very user-friendly is Google’s best friend. Not only does this show customers that you care about their experience but it also positions you to get more leads through Google’s search engine.

According to Oberlo there are 3.5 billion Google searches a day.

That means your targeted customer is definitely on Google searching for your product or service every day. An optimized website that is mobile-friendly and puts the user first is on its way to getting to the top of Google.

6. Web Design and Marketing Should Mean More Revenue and Profit

A website’s design goes hand in hand with digital marketing for another crucial reason, your CTA.

Your business’s website should have one overall purpose; convert more leads and traffic into paying customers.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Web design has a direct influence on how your website converts traffic into real paying customers. If your CTA, call-to-action, is not clear and visible in a way that stands out and draws attention to it you’ll end up having a hard time converting readers to customers.

Make sure you hire a web designer that understands digital marketing and what it takes to turn a website into a legitimate revenue stream for your business.

In Conclusion

Every business has its own story they want to tell through web design and marketing strategies. But in order to do so successfully, you need to hire a web design firm that understands digital marketing on a high level. If you’re like to hire a professional web design firm that has been building websites for over 10 years please call Phillip W Marketing at (213) 394-6780 or fill out our online contact form.

Digital marketing is one of the benefits modern technology has brought for business owners worldwide. According to statistics, approximately two-thirds of small businesses use sites for online marketing. There are critical factors of a website that determine how much traffic the site converts. There are definitely a few major differences between landing page vs homepage. This short guide will help you determine the best way to use both. 

A landing page is a web page that acts as the website’s entry point, with the intent of translating the views to conversions. On the other hand, a homepage is the default page that serves as the introductory page for a site. It acts as a table of contents for the visitor. 

Both have different purposes, audiences, and functionality. Understanding the comparison between the two is vital as it helps you translate leads to conversions. To do that, you have to comprehend the key ways that the pages differ. 

Landing page vs. Homepage

Although a landing page might seem similar to a homepage, there are ways to tell the two apart. However, it is essential to utilize both for a more successful business website. 

1. Your audience

This is the first difference between a landing and a home page. When it comes to the former, the viewer is already interested in your services or product. The viewers on your landing page are sure they are interested in what your business offers and have a high chance of converting to clients. 

Therefore, the audience for a landing page is a specific target demographic that is more likely to convert. 

For a home page, the audience gets a navigation tab and additional links related to the business. The goal is not only to convert but also to help your audience interact with your website and social media relevantly.

2. The content 

It is prospective that a landing page and home page may share some information; a landing page usually has more explicit content. Successively, the information on the page should be in relevance to the paid search ads the viewer clicked. 

For instance, if you own a medical institution and potential client is interested in pediatric services, make a landing with content based on that exact department. The page will assure the viewer that those precise services are what they are after. 

Homepages attract organic traffic, which means you do not know what drove the viewers to your site. The content on the page is comprehensive and offers more than a particular product or service you are marketing. In a similar case of a medical institution, a homepage will have content on all the services offered. 

3. Call-to-Action

Since a landing page has only one target; to pursue visitors to convert, it typically includes an appropriate CTA. A homepage may or may not have a call-to-action as its primary target is to be resourceful to the viewer.

Here are a few design strategies and tips to increase conversions for landing page vs homepage.

Every business owner needs a check-list on how to boost their landing and home pages productivity. Gladly, the list below is your go-to roster to increase conversion rates for your landing and homepage page alike.

• Use an attention-grabbing headline
• Include visual content 
• Always start with the essential info
• Take advantage of lists/bullets to mention the benefits of your product or service
• Include social media references or proof
• Use an unambiguous call-to-action
• Keep distractions to a minimum

You should note that the answer to a successful and highly converting website is to test the site and always put your audience first.

In conclusion, every business owner or manager should get consistent customers using a reliable website. Call (424) 221 – 5742  or fill out the form below to have your website built by the best agency in the digital marketing industry. 

It’s 2021 and getting a website up and running is so easy that almost anyone can do it. What is not easy is creating a website that looks great and delivers value at the same time.  Maybe you’ve created a basic site that gets the point across, but could be a lot better. If that sounds like your situation let’s talk about the 10 steps to take for the ultimate  website revamp.

Even expert web designers and online marketers will tell you there’s no such thing as a perfect website, and that much is true.

Still, it doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your website design for functionality and give visitors some goddamn heart-warming cyberspace experiences.

Yes, website design matters. Did you know that it only takes 50 milliseconds, i.e., 0.05 seconds for visitors to form an opinion about your site and decide whether to browse further or leave?

The cyberspace is characterized by rash judgments and blink-of-an-eye decisions based on how visually appealing your website is.

Everyone is on the move. Therefore first impressions matter!

Website design also affects your credibility and conversions and marketers are all familiar with the following statistics: 9 in 10 Americans don’t trust brands with a poorly performing website.

In a SOASTA survey to determine the impact of CyberSpace experience on brand performance, 88% of 2,044 adult American respondents said they would not trust brands with poorly performing websites.

In fact, they confessed to harboring negative feelings about brands with a poorly-performing website: 75 % said they would be annoyed, 69% would be angered, 12 % would feel disrespected by slow-loading pages.

For businesses, what these statistics mean is that websites are more than just a bundle of related multimedia content under a single domain.

It’s your sales pitch, a presentation of the business idea, an invitation for internet users to take a look at your products and services.

How your website is designed, therefore, impacts your credibility and, thus, brand performance.

Websites can no longer rely on mental-stimulating content only; the design is key to capturing internet users. 

Otherwise, what is the use of having the best content if no one reads it because your website is inconvenient?

(By the way, this is the perfect time to mention…We design beautiful websites. It’s what we do. We can redesign yours too. Affordable prices, great customer service. We’re pretty awesome. Get in touch.)

The good news is, the advanced machine learning and sister-like technologies have made it easier to analyze internet user behaviors and come up with tips on how to improve their cyberspace experiences.

Different industries prefer different website designs.

But in 2021, there are a few standard rules you should follow to give your website the best appearance and functionality.

Here are the tips you should keep in mind when considering a website revamp:

1. Declutter the Homepage & Landing Pages to Revamp Your Website

Sure, for a blog post, you want to say much, and that’s okay because the information is the new currency.

But filling your landing pages and homepage with text is another matter altogether and it’s the surest way to scare internet users away. 

When it comes to the homepage and landing pages, just tell your story in a few words. Otherwise, internet users are going to feel like you are overselling.

2. Use Dynamic Landing Pages

Content vs. context marketing, know your internet marketing jargon, and the tools at your disposal to put the ideas at work.

When it comes to the internet business, content is king, but context is queen.

Content marketing generates lead by capitalizing on internet users’ needs for information and making that information available.

But context marketing makes use of consumer interests, hobbies, browsing platforms, etc. to serve content at the right time hence making it hard to ignore.

One of the ways to achieve context marketing is by use of dynamic landing pages that fine-tune the message displayed based on internet users browsing history.

According to a survey by periscope, adding this touch of personalization increases conversion rates by 9.2% (on desktop devices) and 25.2% (on mobile devices).

 3. Instead of Telling, Show 

It means that now more than ever, internet users are consuming graphical content more than text.

Among the 18-34 demographics, YouTube has outperformed cable networks. Videos and images are more engaging, memorable, and share friendly.

Videos also contain more content: Did you know that a 1-minute clip is equivalent to 1.8million words?

So, visitors have been bouncing off of your site after just a few seconds? Revamp your website by engaging them with graphical content instead and keep them for longer on your site.

For example, instead of just writing how your product works, use images, or shoot a video demonstrating the goddamn thing.

Graphics help internet users consume more content. Videos have been revealed to up conversion rates by about 86%. But keep in mind that not all graphics are created equal.

Here are the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to website graphics:

Do’s and Don’ts on website graphics are upload easy-to-follow graphics that are short, helpful, and with a clear call to action.

Additionally, remember to make your graphics engine-friendly: Avoid excessive graphic library documents, keep videos shorter than 2 minutes, research your keywords, and include video transcripts tags and subtitles.

4. Revamp and Streamline the Navigation on Your Website

 Make your website navigable because, as I asked before, what is the use of having great content if no one reads it because your site is unnavigable?

The greatest design sin is making multiple browsing windows available but with no easy way to move back and forth between them.

Multiple pop-ups are annoying. The same is with ad-covered content

Search engines reward websites with reliable navigation and logical flow of content.

For easy navigation, put a logo on your homepage, and a structured menu in the header of the site. Search boxes on the homepage are great, too; they help users locate items quickly.

And don’t forget an easy-to-use map to give users a quick look at your site’s layout.

To help users move up and down a web page quickly, provide vertical navigation. But for a more clean and modern design, guided navigation is the way to go.

Guided navigation leads visitors to sections of the site by asking them questions and gauging intent from their answers.

5. Maintain a Logical Flow of Information

Ensure that content on the site is arranged clearly.

No one wants to spend time exhuming leads buried in the final paragraphs of blog posts.

Remember, it only takes 0.05 seconds for internet users to decide whether to proceed on your website or use the back button.

Most of these judgments are on how your site looks visually.

Simplicity and familiarity are vital, so stick to conventions and draw attention to sections of the webpage by applying color, contrast, spacing, and size to your work. 

Part of a successful website revamp is maintaining a clear information hierarchy by providing breadcrumbs that make it easy to navigate the pages’ XML tree.

Lastly, remember no one likes an ocean of continuous information, so use white pages to declutter and avoid overwhelming readers.

6. A Website Revamp Should Also Focus on Safeguarding User Data

Visitors love it when you show that you value their privacy.

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal is 2 years behind us. However, we are still shocked at how the company we trusted with our information could breach that trust at such a significant level.

User data privacy is the current trend in online marketing and website design.

Avoid suspicious activities such as asking users to fill in a lot of forms on your site, malware-carrying phishing ads, etc. guarantee user privacy and data safety using SSL scrips on those lead forms.

You can even make yours a McAfee secure website.

7. Avoid Unwanted Pop-ups

Yes, we know you make money from ads, but must the ad cover the content? Must you also allow a sea of pop-up ads and unwanted redirects?

Come on, lovely, don’t be that guy.

Unwanted pop-ups and redirects that leave visitors confused on which page they were browsing are damn annoying.

Thank God for the back button, internet users won’t tolerate that.

8. Get Rid of Excessive Graphics, Redundant, Old and Irrelevant Pages

If you have been experiencing higher bounce rates than your competition, consider increasing your website speed.

Causes of slow-loading pages include broken links, bad hosting, heavy pages due to excessive graphic library documents: dense images and long videos, etc.

Fix these issues and transfer the website to HTTPS to reduce your bounce rate.

You can use image compression algorithms to encode dense images with fewer bits.

These will not only lead to fast-loading web pages but also make the image more shareable and more convenient to store.

9. Making Your Site Mobile-Friendly is a No Brainer for a Website Revamp.

Data from Alexa rankings show that 8 out of the top 10 highly performing websites are optimized for mobile platforms.

According to a 2018 survey from Statista, 52.2 percent of internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

That means more than half of internet users want their web pages served on mobile platforms, and the trend is only going to rise, so don’t lose on these numbers.

A mobile responsive site is vital for both user experience and SEO purposes.

57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a brand with a poorly designed mobile site to their friends.

And Google algorithms are designed to allocate 70 percent of the top page results to websites optimized for mobile platforms.

 10. Utilize the Fold Well

Above the fold is the top half of the front page of a website.

It used to be a publishers’ favorite spot on the website real estate.

They would cram content, ads, contacts, etc. above the fold because the idea was that no one scrolled below the fold anyway.

However, with the advent of mobile devices, users learned how to search brand information on their own, and scrolling became a habit.

You no longer have to cram information above the fold. But still, the top half of the front page is relevant. 

Here is where you do value proposition using headlines that appeal to the readers’ emotion and not just viral marketing gimmick.

Studies show a clear value proposition boosts conversion rates by 30%. But declutter and keep the headline minimalistic with a clear call to action.

The Take-Home? 

Okay, there you go lovelies, the internet world is freaking dynamic.

The technical fine-tunings that landed you on top of search results yesterday may not cut it today.

Search engine algorithms are now “perceptive,” so consider using the above tips to make your website functional and user-friendly. 

If your interested in building a beautiful website for your business but don’t want to worry about all the technical stuff, give us a call.

We love working with small to mid-sized businesses. Our prices are affordable and we offer great personalized customer service.

Call (424) 221 – 5742 or contact us using the form below. 

Building a website is not easy. With the abundant do-it-yourself website builders on the market today, it seems like building a website from scratch is not all that hard. 

Well, it is. The amount of work that goes into creating the perfect website for your business is like having a second full-time job. Especially if you’re not a coder or skilled graphic designer. 

The good news is that it’s easy to find someone who is. 

There are thousands of skilled freelance web designers in Los Angeles. This guide will help you find the perfect one to build your dream website. In this guide, you will learn the difference between web designers and web developers. You’ll learn how to write a good job description to avoid costly revisions and time delays. And most important of all, you’ll learn how to judge if a web designer is good, even if they don’t have a portfolio. 

First of all, should you even hire a Freelance Web Designer or Web Developer?

There are plenty of drag and drop website builders that allow you to create a website in (seemingly) no time. So, why pay a web designer hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars to do what you can do for $14.99 a month? 

Well, it depends on what your expectations are for your website. I’ll give you 5 reasons why you might want to reconsider this option. 

1. A Wix or Squarespace website sounds inviting but what you’re purchasing is a very limiting box. If you have any idea of how you want your website to look, you’re stuck dealing with whatever theme or templates they allow you to use.

2. Those template options are customizable, yes, but it takes a certain learning curve to try to get the most out of them. You’ll spend hours trying to figure out how to do something simple; like changing the color of your header, or integrate an email autoresponder to build a list of potential prospects. Ultimately you’ll be a little disappointed because it’ll never be exactly how you want it.

3. You don’t own your website. You pay rent, but you don’t ever really own it. There’s always the option to buy a domain name and they host the website, but the moment you stop paying the monthly charge, there goes your website. A site that a web designer/developer builds will always be yours. Hosting and domain names are the only charges.

4. The amount of time you’ll spend adding products, text, graphics, videos, creating multiple pages, building a contact form, and designing it to look the way you want could be days or even weeks before it’s fully functional. Then there’s the task of making sure everything works and there aren’t any bugs. You’re better off spending that time building your business.

5. Want to add analytics, or how about make sure your website is optimized for Google? Is it Mobile ready? How about page speed? Adding alt tags to images, custom colors or graphics, and countless other examples might require basic knowledge of coding and SEO (search engine optimization). A website developer is a skilled coder and if you find the right one, they’ll make sure your entire website is optimized to show up on Google.

These are just a few reasons why you should invest in a freelance web designer in Los Angeles. We use the word invest because that’s exactly what you should be doing. Investing in your website is creating an asset that will be a 24-hour salesman, build your brand, add a sense of authority in your field and be a functioning part of your business. 

What’s the difference between a Freelance Web Designer and a Web Developer?

A website designer is someone who specializes in designing and/or building websites. 

Their skillset usually includes: 

1. Creating a mockup of something you have in mind. (i.e taking your “vision” of how you want your website to look, and creating a digital representation.)
2. Designing and building the entire website layout by placing images, text, and anything else where you want them.
3. Some form of coding. Their skills can include some HTML and CSS but for the most part, they use code free website builders to create your website.

A web designer’s primary job is to find out what you want on a website, build a quick mock-up from that information and then build the website itself. Sometimes companies hire designers and developers so they can focus on just one aspect of the job. For example, a web design corporation will hire a web designer to build a beautiful image in photoshop or DreamWeaver, and then take that image to a developer who will then create the website using his specialization, coding. 

A freelance web designer can do it all, so to speak. But the thing to remember here is that most of the time, a web designer won’t be a master coder. They may be able to do small coding tasks, but building a website using nothing but HTML, CSS, and javascript is usually the job of a web developer. 

A web developer is someone who specializes in coding. They have skills and knowledge in the field of coding that allows them to create virtually any website because they do it all from “scratch”. These are engineers that don’t need a drag and drop website builder because they know how to code. They are the ones that build WordPress themes, plugins, or third party apps. Because of this specialized knowledge they can build complex functionality in websites and with the help of a designer they can build almost anything you can imagine. 

Most people hire a developer when they want a completely custom made website. With that said, hiring a developer also means hiring a designer which of course will double the cost of your website. 

How to Create a Job Description to Avoid Delays and Costly Revisions

One of the toughest problems to overcome when dealing with a project can be communication. When it comes to designing/building a website there should always be a clear direction. Here are a few ways to make sure your website gets built promptly and completely to your satisfaction. 

Know what you want.

That seems pretty self-explanatory, but there’s a lot more to it than you think. Be as detailed as possible when deciding how you want your website to look. Details such as where you want your logo to appear, what features you want above the fold, or how you want your content to be displayed, etc. A web designer needs to have a crystal clear starting point to fulfill your expectations. Creating a detailed list of how you want your website to look also eliminates the possibility of costly revisions and wasted time. Of course, you always have the option of telling a designer to just build a website, but that’s like telling an architect to just build you a house. 

Include samples of designs you like

If you’ve seen some website designs that catch your eye, make sure your web designer sees them as well. Anything from background images, font styles, to the placement of content will help your web designer understand your “taste”. 

Give a few examples of styles you don’t like.

Some people hate a minimalistic website design. Some people hate Magazine-style websites. Your freelance web designer should have a good idea of what design is more compatible with your company/brand but if you certain styles you hate, that is information he or she needs to know. 

Include a list of “must-haves” for your website.

An example of this would be something like, if you own a restaurant one of your “must-haves” might me a menu section on the website. If you run an affiliate site, an email capture/autoresponder may be an absolute necessity for you. Run through all the options that you have to have on your site and let your designer know so they can work that into the layout of the website.

Stay in communication and set a realistic time frame for completion.

One of the things we’re big on at Phillip W Marketing is staying in constant communication with our clients.  Everything from the initial discovery meeting, where we discuss the objective of your website, to design and development is done with constant one on one communication. By always being in contact with your web designer you are always aware of changes that might take place during the process. 

The process is always two ways. More than likely you will need to send content over to the designer. Your company logo, blog content, information regarding your business, hours of operation, graphics or pictures from your business are just some examples. There will always be content needed from you to make your website fully functional and if you are not in constant communication with your designer the process can slow down or stop completely. Because of the two way communication required as well as the actual construction of the website, designing and developing a professional custom website can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days. Anything sooner than this and you’re in danger of winding up with a poorly designed website that might not even be fully functional. 

Finally, let’s talk about what to look for in a good web designer. 

How to Find the Best Freelance Web Designer in Los Angeles

It’s already a pretty obvious approach to look at a web designer’s portfolio to judge whether or not they have the ability to complete your job. The problem is there might have been a lot going on behind the scenes that you will never know about unless you take a few additional steps. 

Ask them if they are willing to have a meeting.

One way to determine if a web designer is serious about a potential job is to see if they will take a meeting with you. We LOVE to take meetings with potential clients. It allows us to connect in a way that’s more personal than just a few emails. We call the first initial meeting the “Discovery Meeting”. There are two objectives at this meeting. One is to ascertain the scope of what the client is looking for and ask questions to help us better understand the client’s business. The other is to see if we are even able to achieve their expectations. Any web designer not willing to at least make a call via skype is not someone you want to work with. Remember it all starts with communication. 

How quickly do they follow up?

Again this deals with communication, but it also gives you an inside look at how the business relationship between you and the web designer will likely turn out. If it takes them days to send you a follow-up email then their priority is not you. This speaks to the dedication they show because they may have another full-time job to juggle with their freelance work as a web designer, however that’s not your problem. As the client, you have to know your project will be given the time and attention it deserves and that all starts with the first follow up email. By the way, after the first discovery meeting, we follow up with you in less than 24 hours. 

How well does the web designer understand the job?

Understanding the job is half the battle when it comes to web design. A good freelance web designer will ask the right questions and take notes to understand the job and the objective. A website can have many objectives and depending on what those are will determine the cost of the job, the time it takes to complete and if the designer even has the necessary skills to complete it. We do this in the form of another meeting or phone call with something called an S.O.W (scope of work). 

We take detailed notes from the client as we discuss everything the job entails, draft a Scope of Work document and send it to the client for review. This eliminates any misunderstandings and creates an environment of complete transparency.

Ask to see an example of previous work.

The last piece of advice is to check their previous work to see if they are up to the challenge of producing a professionally designed website. Most freelancers will have some previous work/portfolio, but if they don’t hold it against them. 

The reason could be a simple as this is their first actual project. Now while that might not necessarily be a bad thing, it should mean a significant difference in price vs a web designer who has a full portfolio. A less experienced web designer should be willing to come down on the price in exchange for referrals and an opportunity to add to their portfolio.

We are a new web design agency, and although we have previous web design experience, we are looking for new clients right now. Contact the best web designer in Los Angeles or call us now at (424) 221-5742. 

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