Web Design Melbourne

Obviously, you want any new website design to look great, but more important than how it looks is how it functions. Visitors to the website will put up with colours, graphics and images that might not all be to their taste, but when a website does not function for them properly, no matter how good the site looks, they will be gone.

The key point here is that how well a website functions plays a huge role in creating many of the other benefits that can accrue. Conversions, user satisfaction, Google rankings and even your reputation can all be impacted positively or negatively depending on how well your website functions.

For this reason, it is imperative that you use a professional web design agency such as Slinky Web Design to build your website, not only as they have the skilled professionals who can do so, but also because they will have the tools and software that will be able to test the operation of your website properly before it goes live.

These tests will measure many operational aspects of your website such as load times, and whilst these are technical tests, they are essential. Unless your website passes these tests it will not function properly and this can have a detrimental effect, especially with regards to the user experience of visitors to your website.

It is true that not everyone who operates online is honest. This means that every website is a potential target for scammers and hackers and unless your website has the appropriate security features built-in, then it is going to be vulnerable if an attack takes place.

This attack could range from spam comments being left on your blog posts, to the hacking of your database and the theft of private data, including the credit card details, of customers who may have bought something using your website. Whilst what a business owner might experience what can be described as an inconvenience at one end of the scale, it could also lead to them facing legal action at the other end.

You obviously do not want any of these to happen which is why the enhanced security that the bespoke websites that Slinky Web Design build will give you a lot more protection than one built by an amateur using a template.

Within the world of online marketing, the holy grail is often considered by some to be Google rankings. This is the position at which a web page will appear whenever someone enters a search on Google. There are other search engines but often their rankings will be very similar to those on Google and given that Google accounts for over 70% of all searches online, you will understand why its rankings are given prominence.

So, what has all this got to do with website design you might be asking. Well, a whole lot is the answer, as good web design can play a huge role in improving Google rankings. It follows if the pages of your website appear higher in Google search results for a range of relevant search terms, you will have more traffic, and thus more prospects and customers, so we hope you see why this is something to focus on.

Google’s algorithm is kept secret, and although no one outside of Google knows the exact formula, enough research has taken place to ascertain how their ranking system works . Google also help by publishing many of the factors which they take into account although they do not always say which have more importance over others.

Several factors relate directly to how a website looks and functions, and two of the most applicable with respect to website design are ‘bounce rate’, and ‘dwell time’, so let us briefly look at each of these.

Bounce rate is the measure of how quickly a person clicking from Google to a website clicks away again. If they click away quickly it could be due to poor design, insufficient content, or the website is taking too long to load. All of these point to a poor user experience, and as such Google will lower the ranking of such a website.

Dwell time is how long a visitor remains on a website, and obviously, if a website is well designed, has lots of great content and is easy to navigate, for example, the chance of someone staying for longer is improved. Again, the ever-watching Google can measure this and will reward, with improved rankings, websites that have greater dwell times than others.

With the huge growth in the use of mobile devices in recent years, the focus has moved towards ensuring that what can function online when viewed via a PC, can also be done on mobile devices. A prime example of this is making sure a website is compatible with mobile devices as well as PCs.

Every website which is designed professionally by Slinky Web Design is compatible with all mobile device types including mobile phones and tablets. With many people now using their mobile devices to go online to the exclusion of their PC, this ensures that you are not missing out on those potential customers.

We trust that in addition to wanting your website to be the best that it can be, you are also using other elements of online marketing to boost your business. If not, and you would like some advice on how this can be done, then please get in touch with Slinky Web Design and we will be happy to help.

One of the main ones we would talk to you about is email marketing, and although it is one of the oldest forms of online marketing, and one which is often misused, it is also still one of the most effective marketing tools that any business could use. By integrating your email marketing with your website so that visitors have a reason to leave their email address, is just one way in your website can help your online marketing.

Social media is another hugely effective means of marketing online. Whether you use Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or any of the dozens of other popular social media platforms, your website will hamper those efforts if its design is poor. Imagine the difference between sending your followers from your social media pages to a website that looks, and functions well, compared with a website that does not.

In the world of business, trust can most readily be considered akin to bankable currency, such is its importance to buying decisions. For yourself, whether you are purchasing something as an individual, or with your business owner’s hat on, you will almost certainly only do so with a business that you trust. That same principle applies to those considering buying a product or service from your business.

Consider which you would consider more trustworthy, a business with a well -designed website that is easy to navigate, has a detailed ‘About Us’ page and looks as though it has been created by professionals or a business whose website is nothing more than a template with a few bells and whistles which do nothing to tell anyone visiting it about the company.

Another way trust can be enhanced within the design of the website we build for you is with the strategic positioning of trust graphics and imagery. These can include photos of real clients and customers alongside their testimonials, it could be the seal of approval of a professional body, or a ‘Review’ badge from a consumer organisation such as Trustpilot.

Different business types rely on branding in different ways, and there are even some where branding does not really play a big role at all. However, if yours is a business where branding is important then it is essential that your website has everything place to enhance and enforce your strong brand.

Branding is one of the key areas of discussion that Slinky Web Design will have with you when we are planning your website’s design. Whether this revolves around an eye-catching logo, specific colours, certain images, or a font which much your branding uses, then we will be happy to incorporate all of this when we design your website.

That being said, we will use your branding in a strategic manner within your website’s design so that it is clear, but not so overwhelming that it is seen as overkill or spammy by those who visit your website. The other aspect of any website design we produce is that throughout it there will be consistency so that regardless of which page a visitor is on, the branding will be visible.

Many businesses in Melbourne thrive upon the fact that they are based in the city and are therefore proud to be serving the local community. This could be across the whole city, or only within certain suburbs, but whichever it is, if your target audience is within Melbourne then it is key that you are recognised as being a local business.

Residents in Melbourne, just as those in Sydney, New York, Paris, or London, will, for the most part, prefer to deal with a local business, and indeed, there are many business sectors where a local business is the only option. Just some examples include gyms, beauty salons, car mechanics, dentists, and pet groomers, where the idea of travelling hundreds of miles to another city for any of these would seem ridiculous.

Add to that list hundreds of other businesses types in Melbourne where residents are looking for local companies. They will be searching for them and researching them online, and therefore if your website is designed to ensure that there can be no doubt you are a Melbourne-based company and one which is proud of its track record of providing great service to its local customers and clients, that can only be a positive.

There are many ways we can ensure that visitors to your website know you are a Melbourne company. For a start, some of the headline text on the home page can make that clear. Text on other pages can do so as well, with the content on your ‘About Us’ page making the inarguable point that you are a business proud to be based in Melbourne.

Another option for consideration could be images of Melbourne landmarks, especially if you have a product that can be photographed in the foreground. Your address and a local map displayed on the home page can also work, and one of the best is for us to include testimonials from clients and customers who live locally in Melbourne.

One of the most important goals of any website design is that it provides a great user experience for any visitors who land on it. They may have arrived by clicking the link on another website, seen your website’s URL on social media, or best of all, clicked through from Google as your website was one that was at the top of the search results when they typed in a search term.

All of the above and any other way in which you have generated traffic, or visitors, to your website will have been the result of your marketing efforts, and they are to be applauded, but the tragedy is for many business owners, is they do all the hard work getting visitors to their website, but what those visitors find there is underwhelming, and worse, disappoints them enough that they click away immediately.

Whilst this can have a detrimental impact upon your ranking on Google, worse than that is that the opportunity is lost to convert that visitor to a prospect, or best of all, a paying customer. You only get one chance to generate a good first impression, and if it is a poor one, that visitor is likely to be lost forever.

What can cause people to click away might not just be a poor first impression, but as they remain on the website their experience is a poor one. The ways in which this can happen are numerous, but here are some of the most common culprits.

We are sure you will agree if any of these occurred when you were visiting a website you would soon leave, and that is exactly the risk you take if your own business is using a website that has been poorly designed. It should be noted that before Slinky Web Design sings off on website to any client for it to go live, it will have been comprehensively tested to make sure it works as it should.

When you do have a website that works properly it means visitors will remain on it for longer, be more inclined to look at multiple products, services and offers, are more likely to decide to make a purchase, and when they do discuss their time on your website with others, it will be a positive story, not a negative one.

We make the not-so-bold assumption that when a visitor lands on your website you want them to do more than just think to themselves, ‘Nice site’. Whatever action or actions you want them to take, unless your website has been designed and created in the correct way, converting visitors to action-takers is going to be difficult.

One point here is that conversions do not necessarily mean a sale, but they should at least mean that the person taking the action has moved at least one step closer to making the decision to buy. Depending on the type of business the website has been designed for, the action, or conversion, can take many forms as outlined below.

Ok, the last one might not always be possible with your type of business, but we are sure you will agree that many of those actions that came before ‘Buying Something’ will ultimately help lead prospects to that point.

We come now to what we are sure is one of the most coveted benefits that a professionally designed website can offer a business and that is an increase in revenue, and we assume that would also means increased profits for your business too. Any business which is increasing its profits is one that is surely going to grow and accelerate its success.

With many of the other benefits that a great website design can achieve, the increase in revenue will often simply be a result of more visitors to a website being made aware of the products or services your business offers. In other words, it is the number of sales that is increasing, but that is not the only way a website can help revenue grow.

As well as more new customers, an excellently designed website, in conjunction with effective remarketing to those who have already purchased, can bring repeat sales from those existing clients and customers. Not only that, as your website helps to enhance the trust factor for your business, they will likely stay loyal to you as well.

A well-designed website can also help those businesses which offer a range of products and services to convert buyers from, what they might consider your ‘Standard’ offering to your ‘Gold’, Premium’ or ‘Deluxe ‘ offerings, depending on how you promote them. This means that those customers who opt for an upgrade, in whatever form that takes, are spending more with each purchase.

This is achieved by the website first of all functioning well, but more specifically it being able to illustrate and explain your enhanced offerings in a way that truly promotes them. This can mean the use of audio, video, images, and written content which can only serve that purpose if the website they appear on has been professionally designed.

Regardless of what business sector or niche you are in, you will almost certainly have local competition. Assuming you are not a dog groomer who can only groom black poodles called Oscar, there is bound to be another company in Melbourne that competes with you for customers and clients.

Anything which can give you a competitive edge over those other businesses has to be utilised, and the greater the edge it can give you, the better. This is where a professionally designed website from Slinky Web Design has allowed so many of our clients to take a huge stride ahead of many of their competitors, who are then playing catch up.

Just consider all the many benefits that having a website designed and built by a web design agency such as Slinky Web Design can bestow upon your business that we have already outlined. Here is a quick reminder…

As well some practical elements, such as greater security and the fact that the website will function properly, look at all the ways you can take a lead on your competitors. Better user experience, greater trust, a much closer affinity to your local area, increased conversions and revenues can all take your business to the next level, and leave your competitors trailing in your wake.

The first point we would make is that we appreciate that you may already have ideas that you would like to see within your website, and there may also be specific elements that you would like us to include within the design of your website. Wherever these can be incorporated we will do our utmost to accommodate your wishes.

Ultimately we want your new website to be a collaboration between Slinky Web Design and yourself, so that when the website is complete and goes live, you feel you have as much to be proud of, as we will certainly have, and indeed have with every website we create.

Having given you so much detail about how much a well-designed website can benefit your business it stands to reason that the only people who we will have working on your website are skilled and experienced website designers, who are dedicated to making every website they build the very best it can be.

If you were ever in any doubt about the quality of the websites we build for our clients then we invite you to read some of the testimonials on our website from past clients, and indeed many of those clients still employ us for the other services that we can provide you such as:

Whether you employ us for only website design, or you ultimately become a client for any of our other services, our passion for wanting everything we do to be the best experience for all our clients will be evident from the first contact you make with us.

One of the biggest bugbears of any person who buys a service that takes time to complete is a lack of progress reports from the company charged with the work. That is not something you will ever experience with Slinky Web Design. We are only ever a telephone call away if you wish an update, or you have something you would like to discuss.