Your website is your digital marketing business’s bloodline and plays a crucial role in today’s internet marketing landscape. Whether a startup, a multinational, or a bootstrapped company, every business needs a custom website for growth. But a static website is not the only thing you need to remain competitive. What you need is a site that drives web traffic, leads to conversion, and more revenue. Here’s how a top Houston web design company can help.
Why is Web Design So Significant in Online Marketing?
We have already established that a website is vital for all businesses in this fast-paced online marketing world. But for it to work and attain its digital marketing purpose it should have a web design that speaks volumes. If you get the web design right, you are halfway done. Your digital presence can thrive if you ensure that the web design is top-notch.
A responsive web design can paint your site in gold and drive your digital marketing goals in a timely manner. While a bad design can break and shake your online marketing to the core. Moreover, you also need responsive websites for online reputation management and search engine optimization. So what are you waiting for, go up your internet marketing and e-commerce game now by hiring the top web designers or a web design firm!
Why do You need a Houston Web Design Company?
Web design can seem daunting for most newcomers to the digital marketing world. And those already foot-deep in their sites should know how vital web design can be! So whether you are new or established, it doesn’t matter; what matters is how to get a Web Design that converts!
Even if you have the best software, web designers in Houston, internet marketing agency at your disposal, getting the structure, speed, graphic design, and formatting right can be overwhelming. You can hire experts from Houston Web Design company to help you out.
Therefore, if you are thinking of developing a new website or revamping your custom websites, you must keep some dos and don’ts in mind. Making the web design user-friendly and fluid should be your top priority. And you cannot get it done without these tips.
Before we impart these quick tips to get your web design going, let us first explain what it is?
What is Web Design?
Web design creates the overall look of your website for a digital marketing campaign. It encompasses many different aspects that combine to form a complete user experience. From planning to building elements, everything falls under the web design scope. Unlike web development, which revolves around software, web hosting, and coding, web design focuses more on what’s on the outside.
From the appearance, layout, graphic design, and speed to content, adaptiveness, and mapping, there are many things that Web design relies on. In addition, web design has become essential in today’s digital marketing arena as it is essential for search engine marketing. As a result, many Houston web designers provide customized web applications to suit your design needs.
For example, a digital marketing firm or in-house marketing department can customize your site’s appearance, including formatting colors, style, font, and images. In addition, they can provide custom graphic design, layout, and other custom website design services which will structure and categorize the information on your website.
Some features that a custom web application and web design should have:
- It should be easy to use with a smooth user interface
- The user experience design and interface design should be above par
- The graphic design and visuals should be aesthetically pleasing
- The content and structure should suit your relevant user group
- It should have search engine optimization
- The formatting and style should reflect your brand
- The web design should be responsive and adaptive
If you want feature-rich custom websites with a highly functional web design, contact the best Houston web design company, and ensure that your website has the above features.
To customize web applications with a comprehensive set of features, you need an excellent web designer backed by a top-notch internet marketing agency. It is also essential to keep the 10 things we are mentioning below in mind. At every step of the web design procedure, ensure that your selected Houston web design agency follows these steps:
So, without further ado, let’s discuss how you can take your digital marketing to the next level:
10 Things to Ponder When Designing a Website
1) The Intent: Local Vs. Global
Every business is unique, with different goal purposes, locations, and user bases. So the first step when designing a website is to question what you do or wish to do with your website. And for that, first, you need to answer the big question; are you a local, national, or global business?
Once you know where you stand, you will be able to plan your internet marketing in a better way. Not only will you be able to understand your website visitors and their requirements but also the scale your marketing strategies should take.
Moreover, you will be able to communicate well with your marketing agency if you guide them properly about your reach, location, and user base. Then they can customize your site according to your marketing strategy. For local businesses, the structure might stand differently from global companies, so it is essential to clear that out and have web design accordingly.
2) Content Management System: Caters To Everyone
The next question that comes to mind when planning and designing a site is which software tool to use to manage it. With so many systems in the market, this can be a difficult choice. However, you can leave the decision entirely to your Houston Web Design agency, as experts know best.
But you should ensure that your site is based on user-friendly CMS software so that you can manage your content easily. You cannot run to your marketing agency and web designers whenever you have a problem. So the key is to choose a CMS that offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
A good CMS will help you create, organize, edit, and publish your content without coding. As most site owners are entrepreneurs and have no coding knowledge, a CMS should be easy to understand for them without any technicalities.
There are many content management systems in the market. The ones that dominate the market are WordPress, Shopify, Joomla, and Squarespace. However, there are numerous others as well. The choice can be tricky but look at the features provided by each before deciding on one!
3) Sitemap: Structure Says it All
Once you have set the basis of your site by understanding who it is for and selecting a CMS, the next step is planning its sitemap. This sitemap is the blueprint of your site and can make or break it.
Think of a sitemap as the main structure that the building stands on. If the structure has flaws, the building can fall. So you need to ensure that your sitemap is sturdy. You start with a homepage and then add more pages to your site. Your marketing agency can help you decide how many pages you should have and how to map them.
Moreover, you should ensure that all your pages are fed back into the homepage and interconnected via internal linking. From about us to contact us pages and blogs, the sitemap will decide the scale of your site. Remember, the broader your map is, the more costly it will be.
The minute the sitemap is set, the real work on the web design begins. So ensure that you get this right, as your content will be based on it. All the information you will display will eventually depend on how your website is structured, so pay attention here and guide your web agency accordingly.
4) The Main Design: The Face of your Website
Well, you might be thinking, if this is the main designing section, what was all you read above. All the things mentioned above are components of web design but play a crucial role in the background. The items included in this subsection are the ones that are at the forefront. The main design itself can be broken down into several aspects, such as:
1 . Layout
Picking a layout for a website follows the same principles as laying out a poster. It refers to how you organize your site pages to gain an optimal balance of elements, including images, tabs, menus, CTA’s, and text.
When you are designing the layout, you need to keep usability in mind as well. The layout should be unique yet straightforward so that it is easier for users to digest and navigate it. The simpler your layout will be, the better the user journey it will lead to. Moreover, remain consistent when using and reusing elements to prevent frustration and boggling the user.
When pondering on layout, try to keep visual cues and advertisements to a minimum as you don’t want to confuse a user with your layout. Using hamburger menus can be a good option. You can even ask your web designers for suggestions on using a header that makes content location easy.
Lastly, before finalizing the actual layout, You should consider wireframing. By doing this, you can test whether it works or not and easily chop and add more elements.
2 . Branding.
If you are a brand with an established awareness, you should incorporate this in the design. Most companies don’t have a social media presence, so web design is the only way to showcase their brand. By using their brand’s colors, logo, and other visual representations, they can ensure that their brand’s image is well-spread all over the site.
Remember, a website shouldn’t be ad-hoc, and you should communicate all your brand details to the designing agency so that they can incorporate them into the design from day one! If you don’t have a brand identity or logo design, you can build it from scratch by discussing the details with the Houston web design agency. Then, you can flex those creative muscles and convey them to the web designer!.
3 . Formatting
From font to color selection and heading placements, formatting can include a lot of stuff. You can choose popular fonts like Sans serif fonts with high readability or customize fonts as per your preference. There are many free fonts available that your web designer can choose from, or if you have a big budget, you can even buy premium fonts.
The same goes for colors. You can select colors that go well with your brand or play safe with tones of yellow and blue. Moreover, you can even apply color theory depending on your business niche. For example, an eco-friendly housing website can use green color to represent its ‘green’ nature.
5) Content: Creation that Converts:
After all the formatting and graphics are ready, they lead you nicely onto content creation. You cannot just leave your site empty, nor can you fill it with fluff. Remember, a responsive web design does not just have creative content but also content that converts.
Moreover, content isn’t just words but also includes images, videos, and info-graphic. Anything that adds value to your audience’s brain is content. So basically, content is the essence of your website, and it should be able to grasp your user’s attention.
It may not be on top of your list when designing your custom web application, but it plays a crucial role. It shouldn’t be underestimated as, according to a survey, lack of explicit content is a turn-off for many people, and 46% of users leave the site due to it.
To get content that can engage and convert, you need to hire a full-service marketing agency that can provide you with content that conveys your brand’s messages effectively to your audience. The content should also help you from an Search engine marketing point of view (more on it below)
Once you have the words, you can focus on adding images and videos, as visuals are powerful in internet marketing. You can source them yourself, or your marketing agency can provide them. From stock images to self-clicked photographs, you can use anything. However, remember they should be high quality and relevant for your audience to represent your brand in a good light.
Optimized Metadata: More Traffic
As mentioned above, your content should be optimized to drive traffic and conversion. But there are other aspects of the website that you can optimize as well. One such crucial element is metadata.
For better search and visibility, your meta description should have the relevant keywords, google adwords, length, and meta tag to crawl up the search engine. It is not evident how Google ranks your site based on metadata, but it can be helpful in your overall SEO marketing.
8) Mobile Responsive: The Key in Internet Marketing.’
Most internet users are now using mobile devices, so your web design should incorporate mobile-friendly features. If your graphic design and custom web applications are only for desktop browsers, you will lose a huge chunk of the audience who prefer mobile over desktop.
So for a complete package, ensure that everything on your website loads on to all browser sizes and multiple devices. Responsive designs is the key here, meaning that all page elements should load up and adapt themselves on the small screen. The content should arrange itself according to the device in question.
As per statistics, 50% of users visit a website from their mobile device. So, If your site was built over a decade ago, it may not be as friendly for newer generations of smartphones, and you be losing traffic unknowingly. Therefore, contact a Houston web design agency to get it revamped.
8) Speed Sells: Efficiency is the key
Remember, a good website is not just a good-looking one. It should have speed optimization as well. A good website ensures that everything is snappy, and the users don’t have to wait for ages for it to load up.
You must have heard the term speed Kills. However, in website designing, slow speed kills while fast speed Sells. So even if your content and design are 101%, but they take time loading, they are meaningless as users won’t even spare a second for such sites.
So to ensure that the reader spends time on your site, make it more efficient. Ask your web agency to optimize load times. The quicker your site is; the faster it will Sell
Reaching out to Houston Web Design Company
So if you are looking for an affordable web design with custom web applications, you will find numerous Houston web design companies providing web services. Many internet marketing agencies in Houston tx can serve you with excellent mobile app development, social media marketing, and website hosting.
But choosing a digital marketing agency that fully understands your marketing strategies and can give you all the above features can be difficult. So when picking between numerous Houston web design agencies, ensure that whichever marketing agency you choose provides a comprehensive package.
Internet Marketing: Is the future!
Before we say adios and leave you to your internet marketing efforts, we would like to say that web design is not a stagnant process. On the contrary, it requires continuous updating and redesigning to keep up with newer marketing strategies. So all the above information is not just for new websites but also for well-established players.
If you have a beautiful website design that has been working for over a decade doesn’t mean it will work in the next decade too. Therefore you might need a revamp of your website as well.
The Next Step…
Now that you know, how important website designing is for your business – now is the time to take action.
In comes Catdi
Catdi is one of the leading names when it comes to design, printing, and direct mail services. Talking specifically about web designing, we can do everything from website redesigning to landing pages, and SEO – and everything in between.
For quotes, queries, and giving your website a new touch, feel free to contact our 24/7 live support now!
