Why website design is necessary for any business

We choose a design in anything we purchase from a car, furniture, clothes, watches etc then why not for websites. For a business, were solely based on e-commerce or an established business looking for digital space exposure, a website is forefront you present. If your business is an e-commerce or you are providing digital services like blog hosting, online course or domain hosting then this is something you have to get it right as your entire business depends on it. It takes 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website. 94 per cent of negative website feedback was design related. If you have any other business but want a website so that you can cater to a wider audience then your business website is the first impression of your business profile and a powerful means for business lead generation. There are nearly 2 billion websites on the internet and to stand you and compete you have to pull your designer socks.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. You cannot decide which design people find beautiful and which one not but what you can do is make use of different website designing tools, understanding colour palette, typography and many more tools and techniques to make an aesthetically pleasing website. You can get inspiration from the voted best-designed website such as seriously unsweetened, Crypton trading, Apple, lemonade etc. What makes these sites beautiful is that they are simple, minimalistic and in touch with what their brand represents.

What is web designing?

Web designing or website designing is a process of designing, planning, conceptualizing the web content that is to be hosted on the internet. Web designing is not limited to how good the website should look but also entails how it should work. Website functionality, navigation, action on any icon clicks or button press, an arrangement of content, display details for images, videos, layout, the shape of icons and buttons speed, animations, ads, cross-browser compatibility and cross-device compatibility all come under the purview of web designing.

There are two ways to create a website design

1 Adaptive website – There is two or more version of the website created to various devices and a user agent can inform the server to load which version.

2 Responsive website – These uses flexible grids that adapt to the screen size of various devices.

Although various tools such as WordPress, Squarespace etc are available online through which you can create your website without writing a single code. Some of these tools are based on WYSIWYG(what you see is what you get) approach. They make web designing a child’s play.

These tools can be used when you have to create a website based on individual content or small business. When a business scale is medium or large or business is solely based online then taking professional web designer help is advisable. Web designing is nowadays not just simple formatting through HTML but is more complicated than that.

Also Read: What makes WordPress the best CMS for SEO?

Why website designing is important?

A good website is something you cannot do without if you want to stay relevant on the internet. A business website is not just a website but your digital showroom for your products and services and it has to be appealing.75 per cent of consumers judge a business’s credibility by the design of its website.

First Impression

You cannot make the first impression twice. When you market your brand through any means like social media, word of mouth etc, you want people to reach out to you or visit your site and make some purchase. When people visit your website the first time, it makes a lasting impression on them. It is the first step a major step through which they form an image for your brand. If the design of your business is outdated or unappealing then visitor won’t return to your website. A bad design can also hamper the process of trust-building with clients and also make them think about a future issue like query or customer service issues could be solved through your website or not. There is a saying that never judges a book by its cover but in case of the website, it is the digital cover of the business book that people are judging and this judgment is long-lasting.

Defines your brand

A good website can make your brand image and a bad website could break it. Good website design is the one that is in line with your brand image and vision. Like you have a meditation, health and wellness centre then your website should be such that it conveys the peace that you are offering at your centre through the website. Light pastel shades, soft edge buttons and image display, the de-cluttered webpage with bare essential information will represent what your brand project that is peace and tranquillity. Every brand has a logo. The website of your brand should be in sync with the logo of your brand. The website colour scheme and typography should match the design and colour of your logo. Your brand vision should be reflected in your website design. 88 per cent of online consumers are less likely to return to a site if they’ve had a bad experience.

Engages the customer

When a customer visits a shop or a showroom the shop keeper will engage the customer to find out what he wants and what else he can be sold. In the digital marketplace, that salesman is replaced by a website. When a customer visits your website he or she should feel welcomed and find your website engaging. The interactive animation and link should take to the product that he was looking for and during this navigation, he should be made aware of the amazing deals that you are offering right now. Your website homepage should be simple enough so that customer doesn’t feel overwhelmed and attractive and aesthetically pleasing enough that it holds his attention.

Navigation is vital for pleasant user experience. As a customer accesses your various web pages, he should feel ease in navigation. Good design makes it possible. A good design will be such that it uses the basic online customer behavioural aspects into consideration. Like most visitor focuses on the top right part of the website when accessing through desktop or laptop so try to put the content you want the customer to focus on in that area. Your homepage can be used to make people aware of new product arrival, flash sales and discount you are offering.

Visual content like images, videos and animation can make your site eye-pleasing. As customer attention has shifted towards infographics, images and visual content, nobody has got time to read large paragraphs. If you try to cram content on your website it will look overwhelming and nobody got too much time in their hands these days to read each line. That is why quotes are more famous these days than poems and prose. Your design can make use of infographics and images to get your point across with minimum words.

Nowadays there is a paradigm shift in how the customer accesses your website. Most people are comfortable in navigating the web through mobile phones, mini-laptops and tablets thus your website design should be adjustable to accommodate various platforms. 85 per cent of adults think that a company’s mobile version of their website should be better than their desktop version.

Also Read: B2B Customer Engagement Strategy and How You Can Make It Work for You

Point of sale

Your website is the point of sale for your business. The customer visiting the site will contact you, view your products and services and will place an order. Bad design can make these simple tasks too complicated for the customer. Like if you are doing some online purchase and added few things in your cart now want to remove them or reduce and increase the quantity then the design should be such that allows that with ease or for example your have filled your entire details for subscription and loss the internet connection if website design makes use of cookies then you don’t have to type the details again. They will get an auto-fill. These are basic things that your website design will have to get right because sometimes small things grate on the nerves of your customer and make them abandon their session.

SEO optimization

Your website design is the placeholder for all the keywords that get your website on the top pages on search engine listing. Your website design will aid your SEO strategy to win the uphill battle for visibility on the internet. Your website design must be SEO friendly. There is no use of an amazing website if nobody can see it.

Also Read: 10 Things Google Loves to See on Every Website! Does your Website have them?

On-time

If your design is bad without javascript optimization, CSS optimization or poorly designed script it will increase your website loading time. 47 per cent of website users expect a maximum loading time of 2 seconds. If your website takes longer to load customer is most likely to abandon session in middle.

In conclusion

When so much money is spent on digital marketing through social networking sites, SEO optimization, web scraping services, data verification, data appending services, data mining services, data scraping, data scrubbing, skip tracing services, address search and email appending services then why make your site look like this

When it could look like this

Scaling your eCommerce start-up in the age of Amazon

The popularity of Amazon is indisputable. From a humble bookselling start-up in 1994 to eCommerce business giant, Amazon has come a long way. Amazon is holding its share of business in the cut-throat eCommerce business. No other competitor in many countries is anywhere near it. Amazon itself has an inventory of about 12 million items across all its categories and services but on a broader level all the items that Marketplace sellers list, that number expands to about 350 million. Amazon was responsible for 45% of US eCommerce spending in 2019 and is expected to rise to 47% in 2020.

With the driving force of Amazon web services, it seems impossible to stop this juggernaut. Amazon is a market place where cheap manufacture meets sellers for branding. Amazon’s strategy of flooding of cheap products and free shipping has toughened the survival of small and medium scale competitors. The small e-commerce businesses neither have the capital nor reach of Amazon. Some e-commerce businesses opt for the strategy of competitive pricing. A competitor based pricing strategy can be sustained during the initial stages of market entry but as you progress you cannot use it effectively. The eCommerce business with low pricing, high operating cost, and expanding its supply chain and distribution network will suffer from the loss.

The above statistics paint a dire picture indeed but all hope is not lost. Amazon competitor in many countries has proven that even the dragon giant as Amazon can be slain using the sword of ecommerce solutions and data mining services.

The ecommerce solutions to this modern-day problem can be found in the traditional business model which is still surviving and thriving in this online global marketplace.

Knowing your self

Amazon is become so large and selling everything under the sun that its brand image is turned generic. No consumer in this wanted to link to a bland and vapid brand image. It is a chunk in the armor that can be explored. Why ecommerce businesses like Esty, Myntra, Casper, etc are successful because they know what they are offering. In the bookselling market, Barnes and Noble are giving Amazon run for its money. Knowing your brand and building its image can help small ecommerce businesses in holding their own in this competition. Be courageous enough to be authentic. Just as a shopkeeper will know what it is offering that shop around the corner is not.

Knowing your market

It is like opening a shop of frozen yogurt where everyone is offering ice-cream. The massiveness of Amazon can be used for business advantage as it cannot focus on every market opportunity. When you sell from toothpick to table lamp focused on the quality of every listing becomes sloppy. Another ecommerce giant like Flipkart in India has covered the market of mobile and electronics extensively which Amazon has not focused on. Myntra has covered the market for fashion that Amazon till now is not offering much. Cosmetic market, which is now a fast-growing market, ecommerce brand like Nyaka has covered it. There are many unexplored avenues in e commerce business that can be explored.

Seeing through the eyes of the customer

A traditional shop owner will keep the focus on the ambiance and neatness of the shop. That traditional customer experience is replaced with user experience UX in ecommerce. E-commerce business websites should be eye-pleasing and user friendly. An out of place color icon can even turn off some customer and can vow to never return. A single bad experience on a website makes users 88 % less likely to visit the website again. The data mining techniques can be utilized that capture various parameters of user behavior on the website. With the analysis of this data, various inferences to visitor behavior can be made.

Ecommerce sites can look for customer’s stay time on-site to track whether it’s up to visitor liking or not. If visitor time of too short or too long both are problems. If it’s too short or abandonment in middle signify that it has not to find a site to his liking. In the case of abandonment, something before abandonment was not working for him. If staying too long means that either website was confusing or it has not found something he was looking for.

Not getting lost in the crowd

Amazon is offering consumers with quantity with flooding of products but users prefer quality too sometimes. This trade-off can be managed if the quality product offers at somewhat competitive pricing. But presented with quality products people will choose even if pricy. The demand for Apple products is a living example of this. If you are offering a genuinely good product, without advertising, you will be lost in the sea of cheap products. In traditional business, advertising is done by pamphlets and hoarding. In ecommerce SEO will help you reach in forward pages of search engine listing. The majority of web users are likely to view up to three pages of search engine listing. Your presence of different social media outlets can be like Instagram, Facebook, etc will build brand image, new product advertisement, customer reach, and in turn will increase site visits. As the customer base, today is millennial with ages from 18 to 34 social media presence is essential. Brand storytelling through videos and customer experience promotion have a high social impact on the customer. You can also reach in the prime listing of the search engine when users search for no particular product in mind just through social media presence. When users hit your site even when no sale is made, it can improve your search engine presence.

Also Read: The Ultimate B2B SEO Guide

Knowing your customer

When we visit a shop and shopkeeper remember our name, preference, or item we have recently purchased as a customer we feel validated. The same could be offered through sites too. The Amazon also utilizes these tools but customer engagement is deep when business is small and customer connects to brand image. With the utilization of customer behavior data analysis tools customer behavior can be tracked. Customizable site theme, a suggestion based on previous searches, pitching for more items based on online searches, a suggestion for you may also like gives the customer an individualized experience and could hike sales of connected items. Beautiful packaging adds to customer satisfaction. By making packaging interesting so that opening the product itself is an experience for the customer and inspire him to post on social media so that your product gets to advertise for free. Amazon free shipping is difficult to compete but with the help of an efficient and reliable logistic service, this hindrance can be overcome. The clear shipping policy, package tracking, and clear return policy can keep customers happy without free shipping.

Customer a true promoter and reviewer

Some shops offer customers with suggestion boxes and reviews shop experience that collecting feedback will help in the improvement of services and removing loopholes that can be used by competitors. On b2b website reviews, storytelling, and suggestion by the customer can be included so that engagement is felt. Sometimes customers like your product but forget to review it. Email appending services, email verification services, or email data validation can be used and Emails can be sent to the customer as a reminder for review. Online visitors are more prone to customer reviews in deciding for purchase of product then product description by seller. Customer loyalty programs like providing with pre-sale benefit, exclusive discount offer, limited deals will incentivize customer loyalty and they will felt connected and appreciated. The sellers can be provided with basic and premium membership services through which they can create their homepage, replying to buying leads, and contact buyers. Amazon uses this strategy through Amazon prime services. There are over 150 million Amazon Prime members around the world and they typically spend over $1,000 a year. The estimated percentage of Amazon prime customers is 63%.

Customer forum helps customers connecting and making even pitch for product sales. FAQ section can help in resolving doubt. Live chat tools can provide that and may redress many customer issues. A site should provide a room to vent customer frustration or another will. Proper customer complaint mechanism is important and so is its prompt resolution.

Also Read: B2B Customer Retention Strategies – How To Retain Your Best B2B Clients

The foundation of Ecommerce Empire

All the strategies are just a building block for e-commerce business but the driving for is SEO, data analytics tool, and skip tracing services. Data verification, address search, web scraping services, data scrubbing, and data appending services play a major role.

These tools will help in b2b lead generation. Many web services provide ecommerce solutions, cloud computing services, and data servers for storage. With limited investment in dedicated servers, these online services could be used. Analytics tools are crucial to today’s marketing success. Google Analytics, Bitly, Piwik, Open Web Analytics, etc tools are available for free.

Amazon is truly far-reaching as Amazon River with a dominating presence in 16 countries. B2B giants such as Alibaba, Indiamart, e world trade, etc prove that as uphill the task may be, it could be done. 

5 Ways to Increase sales After the Corona Holidays

As the end of corona holidays are near, the world rejoices as life returns to its normal route. People are also filled with apprehension. With some countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Georgia, etc have managed to contain the outbreak of COVID 19, other countries are still reeling from this pandemic. The death toll as of June is 380265 and still infecting millions.  India despite sincere effort has been unable to contain it with the death toll due to the coronavirus rose to 5598. As vaccination of COVID 19 is still an elusive dream, learning to live with it is the only option.

Corona outbreak has shown the fragility of human life against nature. Corona has impacted the world on all levels whether it be social, economic, and psychological. Corona effects have been positive on the environment and flora- fauna. The other repercussions are nowhere positive.

The world economic ecosystem has got disrupted and from the looks of it, recovery will take years. The world economy has estimated to lose 9 trillion dollars due to the coronavirus. The World Bank has estimated India’s growth rate to be lowest in three decades. The lockdown has affected people socially and psychologically. As the world adjusts with social distancing, distancing with profit has filled business with uncertainty. According to the IMF report, the world economy will shrink by 3 percent in 2020. This slowdown is sharpest since the great depression in the 1930s.

Image source

The world economy is heading towards a deep recession. The COVID 19 induced economic shutdowns and market instability have to lead to a sharp rise in unemployment, the decline in government income, collapse of tourism and hospitality industries, stress on supply chains, and reduction in consumption of products and services. The majority of companies are forced to reduce or completely stop production as demand has fallen. The new start-ups are struggling for funds as the market has dried up. Stock markets in India have announced their worst losses in history. The plight of migrant workers is not hidden. The government is obligated to spend its revenue on food security and medical facilities. The prime minister has announced a package of 20 lakh crore rupees. The effects of loss of lives are immense. 

The halting of industrial production, exports, and allied economic activities has plummeted b2b sales. Even after corona holidays get over, the momentum of b2b sales as prior still unpredictable.  There is one thing in business that is certain, is uncertainty. The uncertainty fuels business with opportunities. With well thought out action plan and courage, rebound for these turbulent times is possible too. The five ways that will keep you afloat in stormy COVID 19 times are

Keeping the spirit high

We cannot control situations in our life but we can control our reactions to them. An upbeat attitude will keep us sailing through tough corona time. Corona pandemic has affected people immensely. People’s hesitation and reluctance are genuine. The halting of the economic machine has broken the back of many and dried upmarket with money flow. Many have faced income cut down while others have been laid off. The manufacturer and seller both have faced major losses. The manufacturer lost by stopping production and seller lost by steep fall in the purchase of products. The instability of the market has tied the hands of both manufacture and sellers. These factors have in turn led to a drop in b2b sales and new b2b leads are abysmal.

These are the facts that should be accepted for what they are. These are the problems that every business i0s facing right know. The economic packages of government are ventilators for an economy that is struggling with corona symptoms but completer recovery uncertain. Acceptance of the situation will open the doors for change. The belief that too shall pass is the need of the hour. The eradication of corona is a difficult nut to crack. People along with businesses have to learn to live with.

Also Read: 5-Surefire Methods to Boost B2B Leads and sales

Sense and sensitivity

With the world still recovering from the pandemic and your marketing strategy, oblivion to the sensitivity of matter will create a negative impact. Aggressive marketing approach in these times will leave a bad taste in your client’s mouth. Business in this time should be looked upon as empathic and concerning not money hungry and selfish. Brand image will take a serious hit if even after this global tragedy no compassion is shown. 

B2b website content and social media communication channel should reflect the sincerity of the brand. The creation of video content to educate people could be included on-site and social media. The advertisements on-site should be as per condition right now. The people are apprehensive to travel in their town and your site is advertising discounted world tours. 

The valuable steps were taken by the company during corona times to help people and emergency service personnel will demonstrate the humane nature of the brand.  Like the majority of companies has come forward in making and distribution of mask, sanitizer, gloves, respirators, and other essential medical equipment. The steps taken as CSR (corporate social responsibility) should be publicized so that others are inspired. The people get connected to the brand which is aligned with their values and morals, not some entity that is cold and unfeeling.

For b2b business related to selling, in homepage listing, hygiene and medical products could be included. All e-commerce companies are taking this approach. Even in the appeals section personal protective equipment (PPE), apron, coveralls, etc are found in the first listing.

Website themes and homepage content subliminally convey the intent of a business entity. These are small changes to be made but making a series of minor changes could change the big picture too. The emails forwarding to the current customer base with hoping for the wellness of customer and brand eagerness to standby them through tough times like this will create goodwill.

Without sensitivity in these times, a business will look like Evil Corporation no one want to associate with.

Also Read: 4-ways to amaze your Clients with Interactive Emails and Increase Engagement

Tried and tested

The corona has also affected online trends. Keywords that were once getting website on first search pages have lost their charm. In this uncertainty of b2b lead generation, data mining and data analysis tools are useful like never before. What business intuition cannot predict data analysis of customer behavior and SEO tool can predict. These customer insights are crucial in times like this when stable sources of leads and sales are unstable.

Emails appending, data scrubbing, address search,data scraping, and data verification are all tools as disposal. The quarantine and lockdown have altered customer behavior. These are shown through online trending topics, twitter trending, etc.

Using data gathered through these tools can help businesses to include the keyword in their content which will increase their visibility of the online stage. With people relying on the web for news and updates on corona, correct utilization of data mining services works wonder. If b2b leads are not generated as per expectation online presence will surely increase. That too will be beneficial in the long run.

Exploring the unexplored

B2b leads and sales have tools a serious hit during corona times. Already established marketing channels cannot tap into the lead generation. As corona holidays are over. New leads on old channels are dried up. Unexplored marketing channels can be explored. Never had your business presence on Esty,  it’s time to do so. Never held a business account on VK, it never too late. These new exploring will open gateway for new customer base and new business opportunities. What is not in demand in your current client base can be in high demand for new clients. The customer outreach program through an online discussion forum could be done. Many broadcasting sites are present to which are not explore with a marketing point of view, that can be done. Take this time to explore other channels for advertising. It will take time to return to the normal course of life and with free time in hand online world is safe to explore for people. While they do their part you can do yours too.

Value the bird in the hand

While hoping for the best in new leads it may be possible that it takes time. The loyal customer stronghold should be safeguarded first. The current customer database can be used to identify the high-value clients and sales strategy focused on them. The high-value clients offered with discounts, premium membership benefits, and exclusive offers will respond positively. The clients still ordering during corona times should be valued. Once someone made a purchase they can be pitched for other purchases or reorder. It takes time to develop customer relations. A loyal customer base should always be cherished.

Every b2b is different. What can work for SAAS cannot work for an e-commerce b2b. Keeping that in mind, these five ways are generalized for all b2b. It’s up to you that you choose the way that keeps your boat afloat. The corona times have been tough and right now circumstances are grim. Opportunities can be found in the darkest of times if we remember to turn on the light. When staying homes can save lives, staying in-game can save the business as well.