A quality website has many benefits for growing your business or professional activity. This article explores the most important aspects to consider in order to achieve an impactful online presence.
Before embarking on the creation or redesign of your website, it is important to assess the business objectives of the site, in terms of professional image and customer acquisition.
This article is based on my professional experience as a web designer and Google search engine optimization specialist. I come from an academic and writing background. I also taught English for more than ten years, before diving intensely into internet and website technologies in 2012. In 2013, I founded Internet Presence, as a freelancer. This was the starting point of many experiences with clients for whom I created websites and helped them develop their online visibility. I have worked with small organisations, medium-sized companies, freelancers, associations and a theatre group. These experiences have been very diverse. However, there is a series of constants that emerge. A series of advantages. A list of focal points that crystallise the added value of a website for a company or any type of entity seeking to have an impact online.
This article summarises the main benefits of a quality website in seven areas.
Content of the article
A better professional image
Generating interest
From anonymous visitors to potential customers - the concept of conversion
Visibility
Developing your audience
The benefits of an information-rich website
Saving time
- A better professional image
When someone hears about a company, they will look at the website to confirm or deny what they have heard. It's a reflex that has become almost reptilian. As for me, if I have a conversation with someone who tells me about their business, I go and look at their website to see what it's all about.
I breathe from the website from night to morning. In 20 or 30 seconds I can get an idea of when the website was created based on its visual appearance, I can see how well it adapts to mobile screen formats and I can see if the texts are well written, if the business concept has a particular angle that differentiates it.
After 30 seconds, I decide whether to continue exploring the website in question - or whether to leave it forever and go about my digital duties. That 30-second attention credit was earned because a human being told me about his or her activities or business with enthusiasm. If I got there by a click from Google, the time to a first decision (to stay or to go) will probably be less than 10 seconds.
Appearance plays a role. First impressions play an important role, especially in the context of the few seconds your site has to convince a digital passer-by to stop longer and decide to start exploring your pages.
If you want to redesign your website or create your first business website, it makes sense to invest in the work of a professional web designer who knows the web standards of 2018. A web designer (worthy of the name) will be able to adapt (or create from scratch) your visual identity to the versatile context of the web, so that your website will look good on the different media or terminals (large screens, tablets, mobiles) that your visitors will use. This is called responsive design or, in good French, adaptive websites.
- Generate interest
More decisive than the graphic appearance of your website (and its potential wow effect) is the degree of correlation your visitors perceive between what they are looking for and what your website has to offer. If the visitor has arrived from Google, he has most likely just done a search with a concrete intention. In 80% of cases, he is looking for information. He has a question or a problem to solve. When he lands on your site, he will evaluate in a few seconds whether the content of your website corresponds or answers what he is looking for. If they decide that it does, they will stay and begin a more in-depth visit. If they decide that it doesn't, they will go back to Mother Google to follow other links to other possibilities.
A good website is a website that knows how to keep the visitor. This is called (in the language of web marketing) a retention rate, which is the opposite of the bounce rate.
The problem is that it is not enough for your website to contain elements that meet the interests of the visitor. It is also necessary that the visitor realizes this in less than 10 seconds. That is why it is essential that they can quickly find their way around the content and navigation of the site. In this perspective, the role of the home page is fundamental. It must enable a new visitor to understand in a few seconds what the entire website is about and to access, through links integrated into a visual navigation logic, the main sections of your activity or your offer. The essential role of your home page is to make the visitor click on a link to go further into the contents of your website. It is a sort of entrance hall.
Thinking about the spatial organisation of your content, its structuring and its integration into a coherent navigation logic that is easily understood by a new visitor is the heart of what we call semantic ergonomics. The term ergonomics comes etymologically from the ancient Greek ἔργον (work) and νόμος (law). Ergonomics is therefore the law of work, the rules that allow for smoother, more efficient work. Traditionally, ergonomics is a science applied to the work environment. It is a concept that has developed since the era of industrialisation (19th century). In the context of the web, ergonomics refers in particular to the quality of the navigational elements and the actual experience of the website users.
We call it semantic ergonomics because a website is essentially made up of textual and visual content that conveys meaning, a message. If the industrial era was characterised by the efficient production of objects and products, we now live in a different paradigm. For most of us, the core, the essence of our work is about processing, structuring and enriching information. This is the case for the accountant. The lawyer. The secretary. It is the case of the taxman and the engineer. Each one processes information, transforms it, synthesises it, unless he is busy creating new information. We sit in front of our computers from evening to morning (the term comes from the idea of "ordering" and creating order; see the very interesting etymological note on the Wikipedia page). From evening to morning, we click on icons, search for information, write emails...
Knowledge work, on knowledge, around knowledge has become the core of modern work. We have become knowledge workers. To solve business problems, we need answers that we look for on the web. As a company, you have part of the answers that people are already looking for. Therein lies the great opportunity for your business to grow through your website. By answering the questions that thousands of people are already asking.
Let's go back to the first 10 seconds of the new visitor to your website. What is crucial in this context is that they can easily access the information they are looking for. Now, if your website is rich in information (which is very important - we'll talk about it in a moment), you'll have to think seriously about structuring your content according to a logic that allows your website visitors to understand the type of information contained on your website and to find it easily.
Semantic ergonomics is an approach based on the idea that the navigational elements of your website (menus, clickable elements) should be spatially structured according to a semantic logic that the visitor can easily understand. A well thought-out design must serve your content (the semantics of your site) by taking into account the different terminals in which your visitors will access your website (computers, tablets, mobile).
Of course, the wow effect (due to good graphics) has its (marginal) role to play. But the key to keeping visitors on your site is to have a clear and intuitive visual organisation of the navigation elements. The ability of your site to direct the visitor to what they are looking for will play an important role in helping them to find what they are looking for and to convince themselves (in less than 10 seconds, if possible) that your site meets their expectations.
A website with poorly organised content, a jumbled menu and scattered information will discourage your visitors - even if it is sumptuous and its content is very interesting. I personally have a very low tolerance threshold for unnecessary convolutions in the organisation of content (but this is definitely a professional failing).
The second advantage or key to a quality website is to be able to engage your visitors and get them to spend a little more time on your digital property. At a time when traditional marketing channels are over-saturated, this is a huge opportunity.