Web Design 131 White Paper

The Web Design White Paper

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How to create an engaging, effective website for your business

Web Design 131 White Paper
How to create an engaging &
effective website for your business

More Downloads: http://www.cyberoptik.net/downloads.html

November 13 2013 | Version 1.0

1


Congratulations!
You’ve made a smart decision in downloading our Web Design Whitepaper.
Whether you’re looking to redesign your website or get your first one online, this whitepaper will educate you
on what to look for in a web design firm, what WordPress is, and much more.
We want to help your business expand and grow, so if you have any questions as you read through this
document, make a note and feel free to give me a call directly.
We would love to be your resource for anything website-related. Best Regards,
Ron Johnson and the CyberOptik Team
Main: (630) 296-6932
Direct: (630) 533-3752
Email: ron@cyberoptik.net
Website: www.cyberoptik.net
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ronjohnson



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Table of Contents
4.

Why Your Website Is Your Most Important Marketing Tool

7.

8 Benefits of having a Wordpress Site

9.

A Poorly Designed Website WILL Lose You Customers

12. How To Design an Effective Website
14. What You Should Know Before You Hire a Website Designer
16. What Now?



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Why Your Website Is Your Most
Important Marketing Tool
If your business is concerned with marketing in the modern age (and what business
isn’t?), then having a website is the most important step you can take to establish a
presence in today’s technology-centric consumer market.



4


78% of Internet users

40% of smartphone

conduct product research
online.

owners compare businesses
online.

Whether users are searching for a specific service,
checking up on your business, or looking for a phone
number, they're going online before anything else. This is
why your website is so important in today's marketplace.

Do you have a mobile website? If not, you could be losing
out on valuable opportunities.

57% of businesses have

acquired a customer through
their company blog.
If this isn’t a good enough reason to have a website with a
blog, then what is?


Companies with a blog
increase web traffic by
more than

55%

Each time you launch a new blog post Google sees it as
new content on your website, and comes to check it out.
Because of this, having a blog is great for brining relevant
traffic to you.


5


Inbound marketing costs

62% less per lead than

traditional outbound marketing.
Yes, 62% less on average per lead. You can still use traditional marketing to get more leads, but
converting people into customers once they have found your website is much more affordable.

41% of B2B companies and 67% of B2C companies have
acquired a customer via Facebook.
Facebook isn’t just for socializing with your friends. It is also a valuable resource for businesses, and these statistics show
what you can achieve with it. The number of marketers who say Facebook is “critical” or “important” to their business has
increased 83% in just 2 years.

Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/11414/12-Mind-Blowing-Statistics-Every-Marketer-Should-Know.aspx



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8 Benefits of Having a Wordpress Website for your Small Business



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8


A poorly Designed Website WILL lose you customers
No matter how professional your company is or how strong your services are, a poorly designed website could
cost you more than you think. Nowadays, your website may be the first thing that consumers see before
making a purchasing decision. People are turning to the Internet to find products and services now more than
ever. If you’re unsure if your website is up to the standards of consumers, there are several telltale signs…

Subpar Functionality: It’s important to ensure that all your links, videos, and graphics are running
smoothly at all times. In some cases these issues may be unbeknownst to you, but make sure you’re
proactive and get a problem repaired as soon as possible.
User Experience: Consumers want websites that are easy to use yet still provide eye-catching options.
For example, a simple link that directs them to a product isn’t as pleasing a link highlighted in blue, with a
beautiful picture and a product description beside it.



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In addition, service information and products should always be easy to find. Obscure, hard-to-find
information is a disappointment to consumers as they want to find things as quickly and as effortlessly as
possible.
Categories: Your website should be designed with categories for each product and/or service you offer.
This not only helps your site look cleaner, but it also ties into the user experience, making it simpler to find
information.
If your products and service information is scattered sporadically throughout your website with no order, then
your site probably needs an overhaul.
Font Size, Text, and Search Boxes: Outdated text, hard-to-read fonts, and websites without a
prominently placed search box all plays a part in a poorly designed website.
If your website isn’t designed in a user-friendly way, you run the risk of not only losing potential paying
customers, but also current customers as well.



10


Consumers do research before they make purchasing decisions, whether in-store or online. If your website
isn’t designed with the customer in mind, these consumers can easily move on to a similar business with a
better website.
Word gets around easily online, especially via reviews. If someone has a difficult time on your website, there
is a good chance that this information will be shared with others.
Most people don’t return to a difficult website, including, in some instances, current customers.



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How to Design an Effective Website
You must remember that your business’s website is competing against literally thousands of other websites
that are designed to attract your customers and keep them. In order to gain the competitive edge, your
website has to be good. A good website is effective at getting high search engine rankings, attracting visitors
and converting visitors into customers. The following are some tips for how to design an effective website.
Fill your site with high-quality content.
It's a time-tested fact that the websites with the most

Organize your site’s content in a format
that users can quickly navigate. Internet users

traffic have one thing in common: they provide users with

tend to scan web pages before committing to read them.

well-written, relevant content. The value of quality content

That means they're looking for some key information on your

is so high that users will even put up with pesky

page right off the bat, and if they don’t find it, they'll leave

advertisements and a poor design aesthetic in order to

your site in favor of another. Organize the content on your

access it. If you want to get and keep visitors, provide

site with clear headers that identify the main topics and

them with something great to read.

sections of your content.



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Your website needs to be user-friendly.

Require as little from the user as possible.

That means you need to keep your web design simple

Web surfers are used to getting what they want right away.

and intuitive. Don’t make users guess about anything, or

It’s all about instant gratification. Don’t make them complete

else they will leave your site. Keep the layout clean, the

an interrogation in order to navigate through your site. If you

content concise, and the headers and links conspicuous.

do want your guests to subscribe to your site for complete
access, at least provide something upfront to prove your
worth.

Employ search engine optimization techniques. It's safe to say that a well-designed website absolutely
must be optimized. Why spend the time, money and effort to create a quality website, only to have it go unnoticed by Internet
users? If you don’t utilize SEO, then your site won’t be favorably ranked on search engines and people won’t see it. It’s that
simple.



13


What You Should Know Before You Hire
a Website Designer
These days, it’s not enough to have a business website. Your website must be designed so that it attracts
attention, holds attention, converts visitors into customers, and inspires them to visit again. Web design is
much more than aesthetics. It's a complex undertaking that requires a good deal of specialized knowledge. If
your website is not professionally designed, chances are it's not working for you to its fullest capacity. So who
will you entrust your website design to, and how do you know you’re making the right decision? Here is a
guide to what you need to know before you hire a website designer…
You should be the owner of your domain name. Some web designers take advantage of customers who
know little about how websites work by purchasing the domain names themselves and then charging a fee for their use. They
may even hold the site hostage by increasing their rates and forcing you to pay (or else you lose your domain name). Purchase
your domain name BEFORE you hire a designer, and then have the designer create a site for that domain name.



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Know what you want. Your web designer can help

Experience equals reliability. There are many

bring your vision to fruition, but you must be the one with a

fly-by-night web designers who do their work as a hobby or

vision. What do you need out of your site? For example, will

side job. While they may be able to create great-looking

you be maintaining a blog, creating an online catalog, using

and functional websites, you can’t necessarily count on

a virtual shopping cart, or hosting a forum? These are things

them to stay in the business. That means you could end up

you need to know about your site before you commission

with a website and no back-end support for when you

someone to create it.

decide you need to make some changes. Hire a designer
who has a proven reputation, and who is likely to stick with
your website for the long haul.

Get an outlined and firm price. Depending on your needs, the cost of web design can vary greatly. Before you hire
any web design firm, make sure you know exactly what you're getting into. You don't want any surprise fees or pricing.



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So, what now?
Act!
Hopefully you now understand why a website is vitally important to your business. If you have any questions
please feel free to give us a call at (630) 296-6932. We'd love to get a website online for you. We'll always
put your needs first.
Here’s to your success!
Best Regards,
Ron Johnson and the CyberOptik Team
Main: (630) 296-6932
Direct: (630) 533-3752
Email: ron@cyberoptik.net
www.cyberoptik.net | LinkedIn



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About CyberOptik
CyberOptik is a full-service web design firm based in Elmhurst. We can help you with
your website, social media, web hosting, branding, mobile websites, SEO and much
more.
If you’d like professional help with your website needs, don’t be shy! Contact us today.

To download more free info about marketing
your business online, visit
www.cyberoptik.net/whitepapers



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