The importance of a website cannot be overstated in this day and age of the Internet and digital technology. In 2014, 38% of the world’s population was able to access the Internet daily. Today, 63% of the world’s population is online every day.

Think about that.

Every day 4.9 billion out of the 7.8 billion people on Earth are clicking in and out of websites searching for information that could answer questions, provide references, solve problems or fill their needs.

That’s a lot of clicks!

These people are the consumers. They consume information, products, or services.

The Internet is the Global Business District and the website is your office online. If your business doesn’t have a website, you won’t be able to capitalize on the sea of opportunities on the Internet daily.

And as the global population increases, so will the number of people using the Internet.

The Role Of A Website In Establishing An Online Presence

The website represents your business; its brand and showcases the products or services that you offer.

It contains all the key information a potential customer needs to know about your business; who you are, where to find you, how to reach you, and what your products and services are.

From contact forms to functional buttons to chat support services, a well-designed website has all the features a customer needs to interact with your business.

Collectively, the answers to these questions will lead the potential customer to the information he’s looking for.

Why your business is the best choice in the industry.

Don’t be misled by people who tell you that having social media pages for your business is enough to build a solid online presence. The business pages on social media represent the social media network, not your brand.

Put it this way, in the real world, would you do business with someone who uses a coffee shop as his place of work?

The Role Of A Website In Customer Acquisition

The website is both the destination point and central hub of operations where customers can do everything they need to do to avail of your products and services.

Your business website is where customers are acquired and retained.

But setting up a website for your business will not automatically acquire you, customers. It has to be well-designed, optimized, and useful.

The Benefits Of A Well-Designed Website In Attracting Business

A well-designed website ticks off all the boxes for quality and functionality.

It’s aesthetically pleasing to the eye but at the same time, the website is easy to use.

By “easy to use”, we mean:

  • Mobile responsive;
  • Fast download time;
  • Highly navigable;
  • Fully-functional buttons;
  • Complete, useful, relevant, unique, and updated content.

Yes, you can have a beauty of a website, but it must perform like a beast! Otherwise, you might forego these amazing benefits of a website for attracting business.

1. Build Your Business Brand

As the popular saying goes, “first impressions last”. When you have a well-designed website, it will give your business brand a boost.

  • Customers will take your business seriously because you invested in a well-designed website.
  • The website will be a visual representation of your brand. Its colors, graphics, images, content, buttons, level of navigability, and degree of responsiveness will contribute to building a favorable image of your brand.
  • Customers know you’re concerned about them because a well-designed website makes it easier and more convenient for them to find information or to transact with you.
  • Having a website shows your business is “with the times” and has embraced the innovations of technology.

Trust us that some of your competitors have a website that falls below the expectations of their customers. If they prefer their experience with your website, they’ll patronize your business over your competition.

2. Get Found Right Away

A well-designed website is one that’s optimized for search engines. We’ll discuss optimization in the next section in greater detail.

Suffice it to say that unless your website is optimized, it won’t be found by search engines. And if Google can’t find your website, it won’t be among the choices potential customers can make on the first page of the SERP.

3. Harness the Power of Mobile Technology

By 2017, mobile devices already accounted for 50.3% of online traffic worldwide. Mobile technology is one of the game-changing innovations of digital technology. With mobile, consumers have information in the palm of their hand.

A well-designed website is responsive and friendly to mobile devices. Once a mobile device accesses your website, its pages will set up nicely on the user’s screen. Its functions will run perfectly as if the user was on a PC.

When you harness the power of mobile technology, there are no barriers to your business. You won’t be confined to a specific geographic area. Anyone with a mobile device can reach your website and do business.

4. Professionalize Your Business

Sure, nothing wrong with an email address that reads [email protected]. But what will impress your customers more is a webmail that reads [email protected].

Having a company email will make you stand out from your competitors who still use Gmail or Yahoo. Anyone can sign up for a Gmail or Yahoo account but your webmail is unique only to your business.

5. Virtual Word of Mouth

If customers and site visitors enjoyed your website, they will share your URL with their community. Call it word-of-mouth advertising in the virtual world!

And what do they say about word-of-mouth advertising? It’s one of the most effective forms of advertising because it’s perceived as honest and sincere.

To realize these benefits of a well-designed website for acquiring new customers, don’t take chances and sign up with a reputable professional agency that can provide website design services.

10 Tips For Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines And Improving Your Visibility Online

When consumers look for information, they will type in words or phrases on the query box before they click the “Search” icon. These words or phrases are called keywords and search engines use them to find and index content on the Internet.

Without high-ranking keywords on your content, search engines won’t find your web page. Thus, the strategic use of keywords is one of the key strategies of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Other than keywords, what else can you do to increase the online visibility of your website?

  1. Consistently publish high-quality content.
  2. Give detailed descriptions of your products and services.
  3. Regularly update your content.
  4. Validate the information shared on the content by referencing only relevant and reputable sources.
  5. Stay active on social media.
  6. Look for guest blogging opportunities.
  7. Use alt-tags or alternative text descriptions on your images and videos to make it easier for search engines to “understand” and find them.
  8. Make sure your web pages download fast – 3 seconds or faster.
  9. Prioritize User Experience (UX). If your site visitors are happy, then Google is happy.
  10. Your website must be 100% mobile responsive.

Keep in mind that search engines such as Google have an algorithm that ranks websites. If your website ticks off the boxes of ranking factors, it will be more visible to Google.

6 Strategies For Using Your Website To Generate Leads And Convert Visitors Into Customers

So your website has been effectively optimized for search engines because you signed up for Workroom’s web design services.

The next question is how to turn your website into a lead-generating machine that can convert interested visitors into paying customers.

  1. Use analytics to identify the web pages that generate the highest number of traffic and integrate contact or signup forms.
  2. Take every visitor who signed up for a newsletter subscription, filled out a contact form, or availed of a promotion to a “Thank You” page or automatically send them a personalized thank you email.
  3. Use Calls-to-Action (CTA) that are definitive and don’t leave room for second-guessing such as “Buy Now”, “Sign Up For Free”, “Get Now Before Offer Expires” or “Limited Offer Starts Now”.
  4. Offer the potential subscriber something of value such as an informative e-book, limited-time access to special modules or content, special discounts, or free items.
  5. Include live chat support service.
  6. For e-commerce websites, send out a cart abandonment email for every foregone sales opportunity.

It’s also important to maintain an active presence online. In addition, to posting on your social media at least once a week, join focus groups that might be interested in your business and frequently engage with the community members.

The Role Of A Website In Sales And Revenue

Think of your website as a sales funnel.

Every person who visits your website is a potential sale. He wouldn’t click on your URL if he wasn’t interested or at the very least, curious. When someone lands on a webpage, the role of the website will be to guide the visitor down the funnel to turn “interest” into a “sale”.

The Benefits Of A Website For Generating Sales And Increasing Revenue

In 2014, fewer than 45% of businesses had a website.

By 2022, 71% of businesses had put up a website.

What happened? The pandemic happened in 2020.

Within the first 3 months of the global lockdown, businesses realized what was obvious all these years – that having a website gave you another stream of revenue.

The businesses that survived, and in fact, thrived during the pandemic were those that had websites.

Consumers who were holed up in their homes for months had no choice but to transact with online businesses to buy food, groceries, medicines, clothes, and other needs.

Gym equipment and musical instruments enjoyed a surge in sales during the pandemic and the companies that made money were those with e-commerce sites.

Other than opening another stream of revenue, how else can a website help your business generate sales and give revenue a boost?

  1. The Internet never closes shop. It’s open 24/7, 365 days a year. There are opportunities for your business to ring in sales long after offices have closed.
  2. Having an e-commerce portal makes it easier and more convenient for customers to shop.
  3. The customer doesn’t have to leave his chair or couch to look for support or assistance. All he has to do is click the “Chat” button.
  4. The customer isn’t pressured by a sales agent to buy a product. Everything he needs to know can be found in the product description.
  5. You can highlight your Brand Value Proposition (BVP) so the customer can have a better understanding of the factors that make you the best choice.

The best time to put up a website is NOW. If there was a silver lining to the pandemic, it was to prove that a website protects your business from uncertainty.

8 Tips For Creating An Effective Online Sales Strategy

Similar to a brick-and-mortar store, you should have an online sales strategy to increase your website’s chances of having a busy checkout counter.

Here are 8 useful tips for creating an effective online sales strategy.

  1. Know your market. Create a buyer’s profile that defines the characteristics of your customer.
  • Where do they come from?
  • What are the demographic markers?
  • How do they go to your website?
  • How did they learn about your website?
  1. Study your sales report.
  • Which products are fast-moving?
  • Which products have the best margins?
  • How much is the average purchase per customer?
  • Which are the busiest days?
  • Where do most of your buyers come from?
  1. Conduct a survey and solicit the opinions or suggestions of your customers. Find out what they think about your product images, content, and of course, the quality of your items.
  2. Make highly detailed, well-written, and effectively optimized product descriptions.
  3. Offer products and services that can only be found on your website.
  4. Post positive customer testimonials on the home page and e-portal. Include glowing product reviews, 5-star ratings, and images of awards received if any.
  5. Be active in social media BUT create less sales-type content. Instead, of aggressively pushing your products online, create content that’s useful or interesting for your customers.
  6. Connect with an influencer who can push your business to his followers. An influencer can be expensive but the reported ROI is US$5.78 for every US$1.00 spent. That’s higher than e-mail marketing!

Review your website analytics and social media analytics to identify which of your strategies are delivering the best results.

8 Best Practices For Creating A Seamless And User-friendly Online Experience

There’s a popular saying on the Internet that when Google sneezes everyone catches a cold. And Google is big on User Experience (UX). The search engine giant’s ranking factors are mostly related to providing website users with top-level UX.

How can you create a seamless and user-friendly online experience that would make people keep coming back to your website?

  1. Prioritize a clean and simple design by using more white space. The use of white space gives your web page a fresher look and helps organize content.
  2. It’s worth mentioning again – make sure your page downloads fast.
  3. Make it easy for visitors to navigate in and around your website.
  4. Check that all of your buttons and icons are properly functioning.
  5. Check that all links are updated. Remove all dead pages and broken links.
  6. Keep content updated.
  7. Make sure all contact information is complete.
  8. Contact forms must be easy to understand and fill out.

Remember, if the website isn’t good enough for you, it isn’t good enough for your customer.

The Role Of A Website In Branding And Reputation

The best way to summarize effective branding is to understand the concept that your brand is you and that you are your brand. How you want to be perceived by your market is how you conceptualize your branding strategy.

Since the website represents your brand, it should represent you. How would you want your customers to perceive you?

The Importance Of A Website In Establishing And Maintaining Your Brand Identity

An image without substance is no image at all.

If your website looks good but doesn’t perform well, it won’t leave a positive impression on its user. Likewise, the user’s perception of you as the entrepreneur/proprietor of the business won’t be flattering.

The experience a user has on your website will formulate his thoughts and opinions about your brand identity.

A website that makes it easy for the user to find the information he needs, pay for purchases, address concerns, and provide customer information, all while assuaging fears of being victimized by cybercriminals will present a brand that’s trustworthy, customer-centric, and authentic.

4 Tips For Creating A Cohesive And Consistent Brand Presence Across Your Website And Other Online Channels

How can you establish a brand that will be cohesively and consistently viewed favorably across your website and other online channels?

  1. Your brand has to align with your values. Identify your non-negotiable values and these values should influence the content found on your website.
  2. Create an “About Us” page that isn’t about you. Don’t just give a summary of your achievements in school and business. Let your customers know your purpose – the “why” of your business.

Why did you set up this business? How will your experiences help your customers find solutions to their problems?

  1. Develop the personality of your business through your content. Don’t just talk about business and sales.
  • Give your audience a BTS look at your business
  • Introduce your employees to your audience.
  • Share snapshots of your life outside work.
  1. Respond to as many comments as you can – even the negative ones – and maintain professional and respectful conduct.

5 Strategies For Using Your Website To Manage And Protect Your Reputation Online

In business, things happen that are beyond your control. How many times did you find hair in your soup?

No proprietor in his right mind would purposely put a strand of hair in your soup. Things like that happen by accident. Maybe the server or the cook forgot to put on his hairnet.

In this day and age of social media, small things get blown up while big things go viral. Sometimes it only takes one unfortunate event to shut down your business.

But once the unfortunate event happens, you can’t undo it. You have to shift to damage control. A website is an excellent platform to manage and protect your online reputation.

  1. Perform an online audit of your reputation. You can do this by simply running a Google search on your business and your products. If nothing comes up on the first page of the SERP – then good!

If something comes up, read it but don’t react right away. Take down key information and conduct an investigation. After the results of the investigation are in, address it on your website in several ways.

  • Write about it via blog or newsletter.
  • If the issue is about a product, assure site visitors that you’ve taken steps to improve its quality.
  1. Attend to all chat inquiries within 24 to 72 hours.
  2. Aim to resolve all disputes or issues 24 to 72 hours after the initial discussion.
  3. Encourage all visitors to leave a review or comment on your website – and address them right away.
  4. Ask select customers and clients to provide testimonials with their images, then post them on your website.

Don’t stress about negative reviews or unfavorable customer feedback. Flip the switch and recognize that someone took the time to relay a concern or comment to you.

When this happens, use the incident to establish a relationship with the customer. Show him you’re concerned with his happiness and that you’re taking steps to remedy the situation.

Conclusion: The Importance Of A  Well-designed Website In The Success Of Your Business

The Internet is a frenetic marketplace that’s constantly buzzing with activity – buying, selling, giving information, taking information, chatting, engaging, reviewing, commenting, and posting to name a few – from all over the world.

These activities are conducted through websites because these platforms provide consumers with a destination point on the Internet to find the answers they’re looking for.

The destination point is your business address on the Internet – the URL of your website.

But having just a website is not enough.

Whether your goal is to attract and retain customers, generate sales, or build your business brand, you must invest in a well-designed website.