By now, you already know how important having an online presence is to your business. But it’s not simply about having a website. The design and functionality of your website will have an impact on how customers perceive the quality and credibility of your business.

Very few business owners have any idea just how colossal this effect actually is.

A lacklustre website will grossly underperform and hinder your efforts to gain credibility and generate high-quality leads online.

If you don’t believe us, these five website statistics will change your mind and reshape how you approach web design. You will be more determined to move from simply building a website to having one that is enticing, user-friendly and conversion-driven.

Let’s get right into it:

1. You have 0.05 seconds to make the first impression

The first impression matters a lot. Visitors take just 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about your website. In 50 milliseconds, they will have known whether they like your website or not and whether they will stay on it.

There’s nothing much you can do about users making snap judgments about your website. You have no option but to improve your web design. Visitors are more likely to hold your website in high regard if you have an impressive design.

2. Thirty-eight per cent of visitors will leave a website if the layout or content are unattractive

You probably think you’re safe after passing the 0.05-second rule. Wrong! You need to do more than just make a good first impression. Thirty-eight per cent of your visitors will leave your website if the layout or content are unattractive.

Your website isn’t an online brochure. It should be an interactive digital marketing tool that not only informs and educates your visitors but also delights and leaves them with a lasting impression of your brand. Infuse impactful messaging with compelling visuals and innovative technology that turns your website into an effective business development tool.

3.  Almost three-quarters of internet users globally will access the web solely via their mobile devices

According to the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC), 72.6 percent of internet users globally will access the internet solely on their smartphones by 2025. Only 69 million users will still rely on desktops as their only means of accessing the internet.

In Ireland, 78.59 percent of users are expected to own smartphones in 2022. If you thought that a mobile-friendly website isn’t necessary, you need to rethink your online marketing strategy. Your website needs to be adaptable to mobile devices with fluid layouts, flexible grids, and different font sizes. Most users think that a business website when viewed on a mobile device should be as good or better than the desktop version.

4. Smartphones accounted for almost 70 per cent of all retail website visits worldwide but had lower conversion rates

Almost 70 per cent of retail website visits globally were from smartphones. But tablets and desktop visits still resulted in higher conversion rates. Why is this so? There is a gap in the quality of retail mobile sites that causes conversion rates to be lower.

While 82 per cent of Irish businesses have a website, only 40 per cent of them actually sell online. Most of the websites just provided links to references to their social media profiles.

Moral of the story: optimise your website for online conversions.

5. Users hardly give you a second chance

Life is full of second chances. But internet users aren’t that much forgiving. Studies show that 88 per cent of internet users are unlikely to return to your website after a negative experience. You need to get your web design right and get it right the first time.

You shouldn’t trust your web design to an amateur. Instead, enlist the services of an experienced web design company that guarantees results. The following web design guide can also help you to attract high-quality visitors and improve your lead generation.

Web Design Tips That Will Improve Your Lead Generation

A good web design is essential for the growth of your business. Every aspect of your business, from its appearance to usability, should be well-thought to offer a top-notch user experience. If you want to attract more visitors and increase lead generation, you need a conversion-focused web design that will boost customer trust and profits.

Here are a few web design tips that can help to improve your lead generation and sales:

Invest In Chatbots and AI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots are making online businesses more scalable. They can offer your visitors assistance around the clock. Chatbots are pre-programmed with instructions and personalised answers that improve the user experience on your site.

Offer Social Proof: Include testimonials and customer reviews among other trust signals on your website. They build your credibility and make your brand more trustworthy. You can also showcase awards, accreditation, and industry recognition on the site.

Create Diverse Content: When developing your content marketing strategy, don’t restrict yourself to only one type of content. Think out of the box and leverage content diversity to keep visitors hooked on your website. Create blogs, podcasts, infographics, and even surveys to improve engagement.

Use Simple, Intuitive Forms: You need to collect data for your email marketing campaigns and to improve your marketing efforts. Make it easier for your visitors to give you this data. Use simple and intuitive forms that encourage visitors to fill them out. The forms should also be short. If you can automate the input format so that they are easier and faster to fill, the better.

Conduct Constant A/B Testing: Lastly, don’t forget to constantly test your website to see what’s working and what’s not. A/B testing is crucial to growth hacking. Some of the conversion-focused areas you should A/B test include the home page, landing pages, contact page, sales pages, and end of blog posts.

There are also other tips you could also use to increase your online sales. These include leveraging white spaces, having effective Call-To-Action on your pages, creating compelling content, and offering a value proposition.

Case Studies

1. Lois Bridges

Lois Bridges, an Irish eating disorders treatment centre, was having problems with its web design. It was ruining users’ experience due to its problematic navigation. Other challenges that arose from the poor web design included:

Unclear brand presentation making it difficult for visitors to understand Lois Bridges’ product offering

Ineffective forms that impacted the lead generation

Negative brand reputation

Salt Marketing took over the brand’s online reputation management and developed a strategy to improve brand positioning. We signed the brand up for Google My Business, Google Analytics, and Search Console. We also tracked the performance of the business’s URLs, checked for errors, found search terms where the Lois Bridges website got ranked and improved the performance of the organic results.

Since then, the total number of traffic to the website increased by 133 per cent while new users increased by 136 per cent. Web sessions also increased by 131 per cent. Fifteen of the keywords optimised for rank in the top ten and, out of these, 10 keywords are in the top three.

As a result, Lois Bridges’ conversion rates shot up by 62 per cent while on a daily budget of just €25.

2. AMSL Group

AMSL is a member of the Fire Engineering and Systems Association (FESA). It provides fire protection detection and suppression systems, installation and inspection services across Ireland. Its engineers are trained and certified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

The poor user experience on its website, coupled with high-budget social media marketing, was impacting the business negatively. Despite the spending, conversions were still low.

Salt Marketing helped to rework and improve the web design for a more pleasant user experience. We also improved the brand clarity, restructured social media campaigns to reduce costs, and audited its existing digital marketing campaigns to identify areas of weakness.

We managed to increase lead generation while lowering the cost per lead to an average of €38.08. You can review the impressive results that were achieved after a given period here.

Improve Your Web Design With Salt Marketing

Our team of expert web designers and developers are ready to help you to grow your brand.

We have a reputation for creating compelling web designs that drive traffic to websites. Reach out to find out how we can help you!