10 Website Design facts you need to know
In January 2022, there are 4.95 BILLION people using the internet globally which is close to 63% of the world's total population!
With this in mind, most businesses choose to have some form of online presence. Some small businesses go for a simple Facebook page, others for a Google Maps listing and the next step is of course to also have a website with your own domain name.
Setting up a website involves more effort and a higher financial investment so you want to make sure that you’re doing this right. Here are 10 important website design facts that you want your website to be aligned with.
How many of these is your website ticking off? Let’s have a look!
In 2021, around 71% of small businesses made the choice to have a website and this is up from 2018 when only 50% of small businesses had a website.
So if you're part of the 29% that don't have a website yet, you can skip reading this post for now and check out my Website Design services here. 😉
For those who do have a website, these ten facts about website design will help you understand what turns a website into a tool that supports your business’ growth rather than just another page on the web.
1. First impressions are ESSENTIAL
Our brains work fast and when we land on a new website page it only takes the blink of an eye for us to decide if we like it or not. I mean this quite literally as studies have shown that “the visual appeal of your site can be assessed within 50 milliseconds” that’s 0.05 seconds!
Google validated these findings in their own research and went a bit further in trying to understand what generally drives a GOOD first impression.
It turns out that websites with low visual complexity and high prototypically (conformity with the standards of the website’s category) were perceived as highly appealing.
In summary, to make a good first impression keep your website’s design simple and follow key site conventions.
2. You only get one chance to make a (great) first impression
First impressions stick. A positive first impression about your website has been found to lead to ongoing higher user satisfaction and can have a priming effect on your customer's future interactions with your business.
Research shows that positive priming can boost user satisfaction and conversely unfavourable first impressions have a significant ongoing negative effect on future user satisfaction.
3. Small mistakes have Big impacts
You want to avoid website errors of all types, no matter how small they seem. Stanford University researchers found that broken links and typographical errors have a significantly more negative effect on users' opinions of websites and businesses than people may first assume.
This is why when I work with clients on their website, I always recommend following these steps to write their content:
Write
Proofread
Edit
Have someone else repeat the last two steps…
And of course, I always keep an eye out when designing.
4. Web Design influences your perception
According to web credibility research from Stanford University, 3 in 4 web users admit to making judgements about a company’s credibility based on its website design.
It was also demonstrated that something as simple as consistent branding can increase conversions by 33%. Branding throughout your website and social media platforms influences purchase decisions in a major way. Keep your imagery, language, and colours consistent.
5. It’s not just about the looks 😉
We know it, people can be skinny and yet not be healthy and/or fit. It’s the same with your website, it’s not just about the looks here. What you “feed” your website has a major impact on your site’s performance. Behind your website, the underlying source code can affect your search results.
A professional web developer will know how to implement SEO & coding best practices in order to improve your rankings for search engine optimisation (SEO).
6. Be the most relevant site for your ideal client
Studies show that nearly 8 in 10 website visitors will “bounce” if they don’t like what they find on one site and will go back and search for another site. A bounce is defined as a single-page session on your site (with of course no action on your site).
If you've done the hard work of ranking for the keywords and convincing the user to click through to your site, don't let poor design and a complex online experience make it go to waste.
7. Care for your site regularly, like a plant
Stanford research shows that internet users assigned higher credibility to websites that had been updated regularly and often. You should look after your site on a regular basis. Consider setting up a task to review and update your site every month, in addition to ad-hoc updates.
Businesses often make the mistake of investing every few years in a website refresh and then neglecting the site once it's been updated. You want your website to grow with your business.
8. Mobile-First is key
Over 92% of all internet searches are now completed on mobile. Probably no surprise here when you think that most people would never leave home without their phone (and maybe their keys).
So what does this mean for your website? It means that an increasing number of your users will view your website on a small screen, so your website needs to be not only mobile-friendly but also will likely need to include elements that are specifically designed for mobile.
9. Time Really Is Money
In today’s world, people do not hang around. The average attention span of humans is 8 seconds and the average time spent on a website is less than 15 seconds.
Meaning that’s how long you have to capture someone’s attention when they land on your website. If you haven’t generated interest in 15 seconds, then you probably aren’t going to.
It all comes down to your bounce rate and I’ll dive into the 5 main reasons why visitors leave a website in an upcoming post.
10. Five in Ten Google searches result in Zero clicks
Half of all searches won't progress past the search engine results page. Perhaps this is because many search queries are answered aptly by Google searches without the need for us to even open the website where the information was coming from.
It's hard to say for sure, but one thing I can say with certainty is that if you manage to get a user to click through to your site, you'd best be sure you're getting them to convert. Try to keep on top of your site’s traffic and site visitor’s behaviour so that you can make adjustments where required.
Having a website is nice, but having a well-designed Website is what your business needs.
There are costs associated with a website as you need to pay for your domain name and website hosting so you need to make sure that there is a return on investment and that your website is actually serving your business in the best possible way.
As these ten web design facts illustrate, the tech world is constantly evolving and online credibility is something that is hard-won, and easily lost.
Make sure your website is as professional as the rest of your business.
SOL Web Design is always there to help you navigate the complexities of the techy bits, designing a great online experience for your current and future clients as well as explaining how to manage your website for your daily business operations.
