First impressions of businesses these days are created by a well-designed website and something that exudes exclusivity. Hence, redesigning a website is a task that should not be overlooked and be taken seriously so that the expected turnover is achieved. What goes into making a great web design requires substantial time and energy investment and most importantly financial, but the output is definitely worth it.
Redesigning a website doesn’t necessarily mean you need to give it a complete overhaul, even slight tweaks and alterations to the branding and design elements can bring out the best in your website and make it more functional and help you achieve your marketing goals. After all a sound digital marketing strategy rests its base on a good website. Doesn’t it? In fact it can be justifiably said that the pace at which technology and websites evolve is a great many times higher than other factors around us. Hence, a tech savvy business owner should always be on the lookout for signs that signal that a website redesign is due.
While you may be able to cite a lot of reasons to give your website that fresh, vibrant look such that it attracts potential customers, we have short-listed some of the most important ones.
1. Your Website Is Not Converting
While your website may look aesthetically appealing and incorporate all the functional elements that are required to make a great web design, chances are that you might not be getting the results that you are expecting or have targeted. The sole purpose of building, maintaining and nurturing a website is to build a customer base that can be relied upon to generate leads and help you come closer to your goal. If statistics suggest that, that might not be the case then it’s definitely time to examine your site’s conversion rates and devise a strategy that will specifically target the loopholes that are affecting conversions. Here are a few aspects to consider:
- Is your website content filled with complex jargons and complicated corporate lingo that does not resonate well with the audience
- Are the landing pages conveying value-added messages such that it redirects your visitors to other pages?
- Do you have strong and highly effective call-to-actions that incite actions
- Is the tone of your website consistent with the established voice of the brand?
2. The Website Is Not Running Smoothly
Although it is like stating the obvious, but a website that does not run smoothly across all devices especially those that are dysfunctional on mobile devices are a major turnoff for visitors. 88% of online prospects do not revisit the website if their first experience is not satisfactory. Gone are the days when the desktop was the only way to access a website. Now people research, connect across the globe, order food and do online shopping on their mobile devices. The expectations of a seamless web experience are quite high irrespective of whichever device it is being accessed through. Your website should be compatible and give your visitors the convenience to easily share with their friends and family. In the case of a school or college website, a student looking at the different options at hand might want to share it with his career counsellor, college professor, colleagues or professors. If your website doesn’t support this smooth transition chances are that you might lose the customer to your competitor.
3. It Is Not A True Representation Of Your Latest Marketing Strategy
Making sure that your online presence is in synchrony with your current college marketing strategy is essential to make an everlasting impact. Oftentimes businesses undergo a strategy overhaul but are unable to replicate it on their website which brings a gap between the expectations of customers and what the business has to offer. Having your current strategy and services aligned with your online communication is key to retaining your customers and getting them to come back for more. College marketing agencies need to keep in mind that potential prospects are most likely to first gather information from online channels and then contact you via email or call. Whether it is the ineffective call-to-actions or an outdated content-management system, if your website is not updated they might be misguided and not be able to connect with you for the purpose that they are searching for.
4. Features Are Not Updated And Not Working Properly
While design in an indispensable part of user-friendly web experience, good development also goes into completing the entire look. Imagine your school or college website being very aesthetically appealing only to leave visitors disappointed at the fact that their features are not working right causing your website to lose business.
A common glitch that a digital marketing strategy for higher education should mitigate is that it should timely update its content and not allow it to get obsolete. Professional content is what delivers the right message to the users and it should be complimented with the right resources such as video tutorials, value-added information, how-to instructions and short and crisp text. Having a properly updated and organized content management system is essential to make sure that content stays fresh and is in line with the SEO standards and regulations which we are going to talk about shortly because they are the supporting pillars of your marketing strategy.
5. Where does your website rank on Google
Imagine having invested all the right resources and time in developing and designing a visually appealing website, in-line with your marketing strategy but what if clients can’t find you online? Higher education websites are some of the most commonly searched and visited websites and for your college website to show up on top of the search engines is essential to getting noticed. Web design platforms have the option of integrating Search Engine Optimization (SEO) into a newly developed website.
Now you may ask, what is SEO? Search Engine Optimization are basically marketing efforts to get your website noticed and rank higher on search engines through the implementation of both creative and technical elements. It not only improves rankings but also drives relevant web traffic and increase awareness around your website making it integral for your survival as a business.
Some of the factors that sabotage SEO marketing efforts is a poorly structured web design with outdated technological strategies, hidden text or plagiarized content. A poor site architecture will make it difficult for Google to analyze its credibility and then rank it accordingly.
Conclusion
Now that we know what makes up a good web design and what are the factors that undermine its true potential we can devise a fool-proof and holistic digital marketing strategy for your higher education business and not only build a conspicuous and trust worthy online presence but also assist in strengthening other marketing efforts alongside. At Ingenious Culinary Concepts we not only help you build your brand but also provide efficient school website solutions and deliver results in real-time. Having an intuitive and contemporary website design helps you succeed in the online world and while you don’t need to redesign your website on a regular basis it is always advisable to carry out a comprehensive audit to understand what are the gaps that need to be fixed so that your business bottom-line and ROI do not suffer.
