Importance of Web Design in 2018 – Key Facts and Statistics

In today’s internet-based business environment – you’re probably already aware how important having a high-quality, well-designed website is for your success. If you’re not – you should be. While businesses might have been able to survive in the past with poor quality, quickly thrown together sites – that simply isn’t the case anymore. Your website says a huge amount about your business and is often the first thing potential customers see when they start to learn about you. That means that the importance of web design is a crucial factor for its success.

Key Facts of the Importance of Web Design

While you probably know about the importance of web design for your business – do you really know why it’s so important? In this article, we’re going to look at a few key facts and statistics to really drill down on the importance of website design.

94% of User’s First Impressions are Design Related

A visitor’s first impression is one of the most important things in determining whether they’re going to engage with your site and potentially convert to a sale (or interact positively with your site), or simply navigate away. You don’t have long – and first impressions count in a big way. That’s why the importance of website design is so high. You could lose countless potential customers if you don’t have the absolute best design for your business.

94% of People Cited Poor Web Design as a Reason to Rejected Business Online

You’re probably used to seeing lots of poor quality websites and simply closing your browser or navigating away. You don’t want to be one of those sites.

It doesn’t matter how good your actual business is – nearly everyone is going to think negatively of what you offer if you don’t have a good quality website. This could mean using a custom web design – but at the very least, you want people to be impressed when they visit your site. If not, you could lose them.

38% of People Stop Engaging with a Site if the Content or Layout is of Poor Quality

While 38% might not sound like a lot to you – that’s nearly two-fifths of your potential customers who are completely turned off by a poorly designed website. That really shows the importance of website design. Could your business really afford to neglect the importance of web design and experience a 38% hit in sales?

Another important thing to remember with this stat is that not only do you need a great quality custom web design – you also need good quality content. A lot of business owners are starting to understand the importance of website design – but simply leave the actual quality of their content as an afterthought. Poor quality content, especially that with a lot of mistakes – can be as much of a turn-off to your visitors as poor quality website design.

Quality content is key. Not only in stopping people being turned away from your site – but even in growing your business. Quality content gets shared more and more on social media platforms, allowing your existing user-base to help grow your business and do your marketing legwork for you with minimal costs. Every time someone “shares” one of your posts or some of your content, they’re telling their existing friends about you – helping your brand grow virally. This sort of marketing reach used to be hard to get – but now it’s much easier (and cheaper) with social media. That’s another reason why quality content is so important.

People Take 0.05 Seconds to Form an Opinion about Your Site

That means you’ve got to make sure things are looking good, right from the start. A quality custom web designer will know what parts of the site to spend the most time on so that people’s first impressions are the best they can possibly be.

If you’re wondering how to design a website, this stat should give you a bit of an idea how important your landing on entry page needs to be. That’s where first impressions are made and how good someone’s first opinion of your site will play a big role in whether they hang around or not.

75% of Users Make Judgments on the Credibility of a Business Based on its Website Design

That’s a huge three-quarter of your visitors. Credibility is important for any business – and especially those who operate online. While things have improved, a lot of people are still reluctant to do business online – especially if it’s with someone who hasn’t got a bricks-and-mortar presence or a business they haven’t heard of before.

Again, this shows the importance of web design. If yours isn’t good enough – you could be losing out. Old or outdated website designs and layouts might make your business seem unprofessional, even if you aren’t. When it comes to credibility – things like security certificates need to be prominently placed on your site. You’ll also want to make sure testimonials are clear and compelling. Point people in the right direction of others who’ve loved your business to help boost your credibility.

48% of People Cited Website Design as the Number One Factor of Business Credibility

That’s half of all your visitors. That means all those businesses that leave their website as an afterthought are making a huge mistake. Don’t be one of them.

59% of Consumers Would Engage with Content that’s Well-Designed and Attractive

You might think that simple website design is more effective – but that’s not necessarily the case. This stat should be treated carefully, though. That’s still potentially 41% who might prefer simple content – but generally, compelling and attractive should be the way to go. This will often come down to the type of business you’re running and the sort of people you’re trying to engage with. For a younger crowd, and especially if you’re trying to promote on social media or grow virally – well-designed custom content is the way to go.

39% of Users Will Stop Engaging with a Website if Images Don’t Load or Load Too Long

This should be self-explanatory. But if you need to move hosts to fix this, then do it. Images not loading properly or the site taking too long to load as a whole is frustrating for any user – and it could also say something negative about your professionalism. You might think people have patience – but online, they have less than you think. While the importance of website design is high – so are things like load speeds.

Mobile Pages that Load 1 Second Faster can Experience a 27% Higher Conversion Rate

Similarly to the last state – caring about the importance of web design make sure your site is fully customized for mobile browsing and that the speeds are top notch. More and more people are browsing on their phone, so a custom web design that works well for that is a must.

What Parts of the Page Draw the Most Interest from Visitors?

Research has shown that your site’s logo actually draws the most attention from visitors, closely followed by the navigation menu. If you really want to get a head start on the competition, spend a bit more on making these the best they can be. If you’ve been sticking with the same logo for years without really knowing if it’s working for your business, you might want to do a bit of further research. You can hire a web designer or try to make it yourself using graphic design tools or logo creators.

How to Create a Site Considering the Importance of Web Design

Hopefully, you’re now totally convinced about the importance of website design for your business. If you weren’t aware before, you now know how it shouldn’t be left as an afterthought and is one of the key factors in the success of your business.

While these tips might help you throw together a site by yourself – unless you’ve got some good experience, you might want to leave it to someone else. Make sure you hire someone who’s aware of all these implications and can build the best custom web presence for you and your business. If you’re unsure, try a few alternative layouts with simple A/B testing – so you really know which designs are working best for your business.