Importance of web design in content marketing
The general idea is that your marketing through content will only be successful if the web design is good enough to attract and keep visitors or audience engaged.
If you’re a small business, you can’t avoid the fact that good web design is a must. This key concept works in a service-based industry. A small business service provider must be able to engage visitors and explain what they do and how it will benefit the customer. This needs to be done in a clear, modern, and professional way. Your web design is the first thing that a potential client will judge you on – it needs to be good. If it’s not, the chances are you’re losing a huge amount of potential clients and money.
Let’s say a mortgage adviser has a gloomy website, text is very small, nothing is clear, and there are no pictures at all. A potential client will most likely leave this website and look for another adviser. Now if this same mortgage adviser had a modern website that is clear with well-sized text, pictures, easy navigation – the chances of receiving an inquiry would be a lot higher than that of the first example. Visitors can be attracted or deterred away by how good or bad your web design is. This will reflect on your content marketing results and business overall.
You could have the best content and services in the world, but if your web design does not reflect this and is not engaging or convincing enough, then the visitor will simply not believe you are the best and purchase what you are offering. A good successful business needs to be able to prove visual credibility as well as good services, and this is all determined by the quality of web design.
Strategies for optimizing website design
Accessibility
Accessibility to the website and good design go hand in hand. How the design is put together will affect how accessible the website is. No case is the same.
Color contrast
The next thing to do is check the color contrast of the website. There are many contrasting tools out there to ensure that the colours can be easily read. This will allow people with vision deficiencies to be able to read the text.
Heading structures
Following this you need to ensure that the heading structures are in place e.g. H1, H2, H3. This will ensure that screen reader users can have a more pleasant experience reading the page.
Page layout
Finally, you should ensure that the page layout is consistent so that it is easy to follow. Any changes in the design layout should be reflected with an explanation, or else it will confuse both users and screen reader users.
Enhancing user experience through web design
Studies show that good web design increases an individual’s satisfaction of their browsing experience. This is due to the aesthetics of the site and its ease of use. A site that is well designed not only is visually appealing but also has a feel to it that can be immersive.
In doing so, it will only better the user’s experience. If a site is easy to navigate and is consistent in layout for each page, then this will only make the site more appealing and easier to access for the user. Simplicity is also key.
Using color effectively and having good contrast between the text and background can only improve aesthetics and the readability of the site. If a site is easy to read and provides valuable content, the user will be more inclined to learn more about the service. Good designs will give the user a sense of professionalism which in turn instills trust. If a site instills trust in a user, then they are more likely to purchase the service. This is key for a service provider or coach looking to market their content.
Utilizing SEO techniques for online visibility
As a small business service provider or coach, the web will be your most essential marketing tool. One of the biggest mistakes service providers do is usually to overload their site with graphics and flash in tries to make it “look good”. This can be a tragic mistake. Believe it or not, your target market will not at all times have a high-speed connection and will not wait for all those graphics to load. Additionally, search engines like Google only read the written content on your page.
It is a balancing act to get a website that may be both attractive to humans and search engine friendly. To realize search engine visibility that ends in positions on the first page of search engines, you have to find out how search engines read your website. It’s best to generally avoid using technology that search engines like Google can’t read. If the major section of your website is made using an enhancement that keeps you from adding textual content and links, then the various search engines won’t be able to learn what the page is about, and it is using that data that the various search engines determine which searches your website can be found in.
Knowing this, the most important step for search engine visibility is the keyword research. This step is often minimized, but it is a vital first move in optimizing a website for search engines. In order to know what to change on your website, you have to know what people are trying to find when they want your service. Some sort of feedback from current customers is vital also in finding out which phrases are the most beneficial to focus on on your website.
Leveraging social media for increased online presence
When creating a company page on Facebook, the farthest thing from the goal should be to get people to buy your product or service on the spot. This would likely not steer people to the page and would be a waste of time to try as the end result would not be achieved.
Instead, give away information and tips that your target market would find valuable. For example, a yoga instructor who specializes in lessons for athletics might post a 10-minute video of a sports yoga sequence to help athletes recover. By giving something away for free, people will realize what your business is about and would be more inclined to give it a try.
Videos and other posts that are engaging will also be shared by followers and their friends, thus increasing your following.
Keep in mind that on pages with text, individuals tend to rather scroll through it quickly than read what is on the page. Those same people will, however, slow down to look at photos. On a Facebook company page, you can create albums with photos to show potential clients what it is that you do exactly.
