If you’ve ever read anything or studied in any way the subject of Selling, you’ll most likely have heard the statement that we, as human beings, are always selling something. We’re selling ourselves, our ideas, our needs and wants to others even if we’re not actually trying to get money in exchange for a product or service.
The same can be said for doing business, and if you have a website you are “doing business” on the internet whether for profit, to disseminate ideas, to share, to further a cause, or just for fun.
1.5 BILLION
As of March 2018, there are over 1.5 billion websites on the world wide web. Now to be fair, this includes domain names that are owned but “parked” – no actual website built. But even if we only take into account active websites, we’ve gone from 130 twenty-five years ago to over one billion, eight hundred million as I write this. (Take a look at www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites).
If you just want to drive somewhere, any old car will do. If you want to make sure you get there, a reliable one helps. If you want to be comfortable and safe, you should have a good car. If you want to enjoy yourself on the way and impress when you arrive, a great car is needed.
DIFFERENTIATION
If you’re going on a first date, to a job interview, for a business meeting, or any important interaction with other people would you show up dirty, badly dressed and unkempt? If you’re reading this article, I seriously doubt it. More importantly, if you want a positive outcome from any of these activities it would be a safe bet to say you would go out of your way to impress.
If you have or need a website then you are in business, as I said above, and businesses need to make sure that they’re websites stand out in order to differentiate themselves.
THE FACTORS
Certainly visual design is an important factor. A website should be an extension of your visual identity. That an out of date or poorly designed website rarely seems trustworthy to its visitors is a proven fact. In fact, because they are so important, websites are the subject of a very great deal of fact-based research, and here are the factors that have been discovered to be vital:
1. GOOD VISUAL DESIGN
2. LOADING SPEED
3. NAVIGATION
4. MOBILE-FRIENDLINESS
5. EFFECTIVE AND APPROPRIATE ELEMENTS
I’ll be going into a bit of detail on each of these in my following articles, or you can email us at hello@21thirteen.com or call us at 646 808 0249 to find out more.
