Maintaining an easily navigable, well-designed and informative company website is vital to any organization seeking to communicate effectively with its audiences. When someone is looking for information related to the work your organization does, one of their first steps will be to check you out online.
In today’s digital economy, having a mediocre website is not an option. Presenting a website that connects with your audiences in a compelling way and offers important information is essential.
If you’re looking to improve your website and develop a stronger online presence, you might be wondering where to start. Keith Bates, our Senior Director of Technical Development, shared insights on the importance of maintaining a quality company website and how we approach creating a smart web presence for our clients.
Why It’s Important to Invest in a Strong Web Presence
If having an online presence is so important, why would a company not invest in a quality website? While it may seem cut and dry – it’s 2022 and most business is conducted online, thus having an easy-to-use and informative website is necessary – it doesn’t always get the time, attention and investment required to get it done right.
Even if you’re hesitant to invest in a quality website, it’s a necessary platform to connect with customers, expand your reach and make valuable connections. Business services and consumer purchasing research is increasingly done online. Eighty-one percent of consumers report that they conduct online research before buying, and a McKinsey survey shows that business-to-business suppliers who provide outstanding digital experiences are more than twice as likely to be chosen as a primary supplier than those who provide poor experiences.
“Ultimately,” Keith says, “it comes down to user confidence.” Maintaining a solid, easy-to-use website can significantly improve credibility and add further legitimacy to your business in addition to increasing client awareness and helping reach new consumers.
What Makes a Quality Website
Standards and design aesthetics for company websites have evolved over the years. In order to stand out, it’s important that you keep user expectations in mind while developing your site and consider what potential users are looking for. Beyond creating an aesthetic website, the number one thing our development team keeps in mind when developing a website is the audience journey.
The audience journey includes why users are looking for your business, how they get to your website and what options we present to them when they visit. When developers and designers create a website, they consider what the business’ end goal is – whether that’s getting users to buy a product, contact them or access a resource – and design the website in a way that subtly guides the user to that end goal and addresses anything that might prevent the users from navigating to the information they need. We also ensure they see the brand messages that our client wants to convey.
Another important consideration when developing your company website is ensuring that your site is accessible to all people by focusing on ADA compliance. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, in part, puts standards in place that enable people with disabilities to easily access and use websites. These standards, which can include font and color standards, audio descriptions and high-contrast options, can be incorporated into your website’s design and added as options for people who need them.
Behind the Scenes Considerations
Not everything that makes a quality website happens on the user-side. In our conversation, Keith stressed the importance of creating a secure website. “At CONNECTIVE, we’re emphasizing security,” he says, “particularly for websites on a CMS platform, like WordPress.”
When someone is visiting your website, they’re trusting you with their data. Take the additional step to ensure that their information is safe. Even if you’re not asking users to enter in any information, like an address or phone number, cookies are still collecting data that could be targeted by bad actors.
Look to the Pros
If your business currently has an outdated or ineffective website, creating a new, more functional site may seem overwhelming, especially if no one on your team has web development or design experience. While there are numerous user-friendly options to build your own website, like Squarespace, seeking out professionals will give you a better website in the end. Because professional web developers and designers have the experience and resources to create a highly effective and secure website, you can save yourself the stress of building your own.
Professionals have access to the best tools and are able to provide guidance throughout the process, ensuring you have the best, most effective website possible. This investment into your business may be daunting at first, but developing a quality online presence is one of the best ways you can continue to establish and grow your business.
If you are looking to update or develop a website for your company, CONNECTIVE is here to help. With top-tier developers, designers and copywriters, your business can reach new heights. Contact us or visit our services page to learn more.
