A business website is a vitally important investment in your business’ health and future. The fact is your business home online will serve as ambassador for your brand to countless prospective clients or customers giving a first impression that can serve as a lasting one for those who might fuel your brand’s growth….or not.
And even if your website’s design is consistent with web design trends today. Trends are just that, trends. One or two years later and your site could give the feel of a very dated brand. A factor your competition can easily capitalize on and gain an edge on your business. A stylish website that isn’t weighed down by trends and features from years gone by can give your brand a finish that is dull, making customers feel your business is not capable of keeping up with the competition.
For this reason, among others, it’s important to build your site using a platform that offers design flexibility, one that is very easy and inexpensive to overhaul. Websites are like physical structures. A physical brick-and-mortar location has a design that is nearly etched in stone, almost literally. But renovating your business’ design and layout can come at a huge cost. Renovating your website, however shouldn’t be. Digital design trends have about as much staying power as the seasons. And you need to be able to keep up with the website trends to show your business’ online home is current and capable of presenting a contemporary presence. This reinforces the impression that your business is financially healthy and fully capable of providing the product(s) or service(s) customers are looking to find.
Building your site on a platform like WordPress or Wix offers turn-key solutions for redesigning your layouts consistent with current trends, solutions that don’t break the bank. They also offer opportunities to grow your website and its functionality without a structural overhaul. That becomes important if you suddenly find yourself in the positioning of having to increase services online (like, lets say, during a pandemic, for instance).
Finally, as SEO trends and protocols are known to change with greater frequency than a host at the Grammy Awards, it’s important to be able to make necessary changes recommended by Google based on their algorithm updates. This helps to keep a healthy search engine ranking and keep the targeted traffic flowing.
A flexible web design platform helps you to do that seamlessly. For instance, years ago when Google updated its algorithm to rank sites that used home page banners in space “above the fold,” sites struggled to adjust with a creative fix that made visual sense without breaching the new mandates prescribed by Google. Likewise, when Google began ranking sites that use Adobe Flash lower, it was important to be able to get in very quickly and pull elements that use the software and create a solution that provided perhaps animations or other elements that kept sites lively and engaging. Flexible design platforms respond well to the need for quick changes, massive overhauls and SEO retooling alike.
Of course, very custom sites that use incredibly intricate systems including database management and complex interactivity that go well beyond some of the more flexible options out there, require a custom solution that precludes flexible software solutions. But if that’s not your need, if you don’t have to have that level of customization and inflexible architecture, why pigeonhole your brand online with something that massive if its only going to come back to bite you in the back-end in just a matter of time?
If you would like to speak with a designer or consultant about your business website design project, please call Proctor Digital at 773.664.5819. We would love to help design your brand’s home online and give you a platform for the growth your business deserves.