Does Good Web Design Really Make a Difference? Stats Say Yes!
“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”
If you wanted to bring people into a physical storefront, you’d make sure that the storefront is in tip-top shape. You’d replace faulty light fixtures, paint over faded surfaces, and make sure that your location tells potential clients that you are ready to exceed their expectations.
A website should be no different! After all, would you rather shop with a business that has loose floorboards and doors leading to nowhere or one with sharp, eye-catching features and convenient accommodations?
We all know how important it is to have a good website to represent your brand, make sales, and generally serve as your business’s digital “storefront”. The truth, however, is that many small business owners aren’t quite ready to invest in professional design to make sure that their site is the best that it can be.
In this blog, I want to share with you a handful of statistics that show just how important your digital “storefront” really is. Ideally, your website will work on your behalf to assure clients of your expertise and your ability to solve their problems. A poorly designed site can actually hurt your business by driving those clients away.
Website traffic is extremely valuable, and a great site design can ensure that you turn that traffic into money in your pocket: real sales, and really happy clients! But don’t just take our word for it - check out these stats!
“75% of people [judge a business’s] credibility by [its] website”
Source: UK Web Host Review, Jan 2022
Yup, 3 out of every 4 potential clients care a lot about how your website looks and performs. That means that if your website isn’t designed with the client experience in mind, those 3 out of 4 people might decide against giving you their business before you’ve even had the chance to show them all that you offer.
For what it’s worth, I would definitely count myself among that 75% of people. When I’m struggling to navigate a dull or tricky-to-use site, I tend to find myself questioning whether or not that particular business is the best choice available.
Even if you’re the best in the world at what you do, your website alone is going to be your pitch to a multitude of consumers. Can you afford to lose 75% of potential business because you didn’t prioritize web design? Is your web design working for you or against you? To find out more about what makes good web design, check out our post about what to do and what NOT to do when building your site!
“Only 11% of individuals surveyed believe their brand’s digital experiences exceed customer expectations”
Source: 2022 Digital Trends
We have good news and bad news. The bad news: 89% of respondents to an Adobe survey do not believe that their online presence is good enough to wow their clients. The good news is that if you feel the same way, you’re certainly not alone.
That’s where a highly skilled web designer comes in. Taking your business’s digital storefront to the next level is something that not only will help you succeed, but also will give you peace of mind. In any business, it’s crucial to be ready at all times to serve and impress your clients, and that especially includes your site. Thinking about hiring a web designer but you don’t know where to start? Check out our post to find out more about what questions you should be asking before hiring someone to build your site.
“Mobile accounts for over 50% of web traffic worldwide.”
Source: Statistica
“In the second quarter of 2022, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 58.99 percent of global website traffic, consistently hovering around the 50 percent mark since the beginning of 2017 before permanently surpassing it in 2020.”
The post-desktop reality is right around the corner, and we may already be right in the middle of it. Mobile web traffic is a rapidly growing reason for businesses to make sure their site is as smartphone friendly as possible.
Desktop and laptop computers, though still accounting for a large portion of total web traffic, are quickly losing the battle to mobile devices when it comes to how people prefer to surf the internet. In light of this reality, it’s imperative that you make sure your website is properly equipped to handle this transition in usage.
I’ve visited quite a few websites that look awful on mobile devices, and it usually encourages me to go back to my search results and find a different option. Like a lot of people, my smartphone is my first choice for browsing the internet, and if a site’s mobile version gives me frustration, I’m not going to take the time to fire up my desktop just to see if it works better that way.
“Websites promote you 24/7: No employee will do that.”
94% of people cited web design as the reason they mistrusted or rejected a website
Source: BP Studios
Design profoundly impacts visitors’ perception. Simple elements such as layout, color, and text size strongly influence if a potential client trusts or mistrusts a website.
And as any savvy entrepreneur knows, trust is a huge part of making purchases, especially online. A poorly designed user interface means clients are less likely to trust your company, stay on your site, and buy from you.
If your web design is not responsive, visually unappealing, or disorganized, it increases the chance of creating a bad impression and a lack of trust. If your website design is up to date, attractive, and well organized, clients will perceive you to be far more professional and legitimate.
Do you have a legit business, but no one can tell? It’s time for a site redesign.
.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website
Source: SWEOR
It takes only 50 milliseconds for someone to decide if they like your site or not. In the blink of an eye, they decide if they want to stay or leave. And as we know from some of the previous stats, a person’s first impression of your site immediately influences their perceptions of credibility and value.
Billions of sites exist and if someone lands on yours and their opinions are negative (for whatever reason), they’ll just move on to the next. If your homepage bounce rate is high, it’s very likely that you need to make some changes to your site’s design.
46% of consumers base their decisions on the credibility of websites on visual appeal
Source: A Psychology of User Experience
Your website’s design, layout, and content seriously impact your user experience. People are drawn to sites that are visually appealing. Attractive websites increase engagement, and increased engagement means a significantly higher chance of making a sale.
70% of small business websites lack a Call to Action (CTA) on their homepage
Source: Small Business Trends
Does your website have a call to action? The most successful sites have many!
CTAs are much like street signs in that they provide direction and guide users of your website through the useful content the site contains. They guide your web visitors effortlessly toward the end goal and remove confusion from the user experience.
Based on our experience, we recommend that you place your main call to action in the upper right-hand corner of the page and on the top section of your home page, above the fold.
Brightly colored buttons are best for CTAs because they make them more visible. Use action phrases that are creative and compelling. Here are a few examples of the types of CTAs you can use on your website and in your marketing: subscribe, sign up, contact us, start your free trial, treat yourself to 10% off, take the quiz, find out how to join the team, shop now, get your score, let’s do it!
Repeating duplicate calls to action multiple times on a page (especially long pages) can increase click rates. Repeat CTAs consistently, in design and verbiage, as many times as it makes sense.
“Great web design without functionality is like a sports car with no engine.”
Conclusion
Having a website is a must for any business, whether it’s a corporation or a start-up headquartered in a home. But simply having a site isn’t enough - your digital presence should inspire confidence in not only the services you offer, but more importantly, your brand as a whole.
If your website is your online storefront, the design is like your expert receptionist working the front desk: guiding your clients smoothly through your process, providing clarity by answering their questions, and demonstrating the skill and care you put into the work you do.
Did these stats surprise you? Check out our other blog posts for additional insights about the value of great web design and more!
