Birmingham Alabama Web Design
and Development

How Birmingham Businesses Can Use
Good Web Design to Establish Credibility and Reputation

Good Web Design Leaves a Positive Impression on Prospective Customers

It is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception that a Birmingham business' credibility and reputation is shaped by its online presence – which is usually represented by the company's website.  The reason for this is simple.  The Internet is where more and more consumers are getting their information.  A company's website is often the place where visitors' first impressions about a company are formed and where the first (virtual) handshake takes places with prospective customers.  What happens after that depends on how well the website delivers relevant, valuable information to the visitor..

Good Web Design Puts Your Business on the Customer's "Short List"

When people hear about an interesting company in Birmingham or a new product they often visit the company's website at their first opportunity – sometimes immediately if an iPhone or other web-enabled smartphone is close by.  The quality of the website's design suddenly becomes a critical factor in determining whether your company gets on a buyer's "short list" of potential providers of products or services.

Good Web Design Tells Visitors You're Serious About Serving Them

A poorly designed site that's difficult to read, has too few pictures to illustrate important points, takes too long to load, or has confusing navigation (menu system) tells visitors you're not really serious about communicating with them online. 

Good Web Design Offers Reassurance to Online Visitors

Good web design, on the other hand, offers reassurance to visitors that a company is capable of delivering valuable information to them quickly, efficiently, and reliably.  Credibility is enhanced, a good reputation is cultivated, and traffic steadily builds on the website.

Seven Ways That Good Web Design Can Be Used to
Make a Good First Impression

1.  Make the Website So Easy to Navigate
     "Even a Caveman Can Do It"

People won't use a website if they can't find their way around it.  Menus should be where users expect them to be – and on every page.  Across the top (or just below the main graphic) or down the left side of the page.  A text link menu should also appear at the bottom of every page.  A good web designer will not force a visitor to hunt for the navigation menu.

Links, whether they are used in menu systems or as links to related information elsewhere, should always be descriptive.  Good website design that includes descriptive links adds credibility to the site by giving the user confidence that he or she is going in the right direction in the search for information on the site.  Ultimately, the number of clicks to find information is not as important as whether the user feels comfortable that he or she will eventually be rewarded with the right information.

2.  Provide Useful, Valuable Information That Would Impress
     Even You

The #1 problem with most poorly designed websites is the crappy (and often stolen) information that makes it's way to the page. Visitors are looking for interesting, high quality information about a company or a product – not the usual blah-blah-blah about how great the company happens to be.

Good web design omits needless words that only increase the site's “noise level”. By ruthlessly culling out unnecessary words the web designer enhances the prominence of more useful content on the site. Pages are made shorter and easier to read with a minimum of scrolling down to see all the content.

3. Deliver Information That's Free of Errors

Spelling or obvious grammatical errors on a web page are like a mustard stain on a man's tie. Everyone will see it.  Even worse, it makes your business appear as though it pays no attention to detail and doesn't care if you like it or not.

4.  Include Examples of Your Company's Work -- and How Long You've Been Doing It

Website visitors want to know what you've done for other customers or clients.  Don't hide good work that will reassure prospective customers of your company's expertise or talent.

Most businesses fail within the first five years.  So, if your company has been around for more than five years you should not keep that a secret. Telling website visitors how long you've been in business goes a long way in establishing credibility and staying power.  Our company has been in operation for 20 years and you can bet we crow about it – especially since many of our competitors have come and gone during that time.

5.  Prominently Display Phone Numbers

Our company's policy is to try to include a phone number at the top of every page.  Don't make visitors search endlessly for your phone number because most won't – they'll just click away to a competitor's website.  If your goal is to encourage visitors to call for more information (or to place an order!) make it easy for them.

Often we include an element on the home page commonly referred to as a "click-to-call" button. This is a button that the visitor can click, enter his or her phone number in a pop-up window, and then be instantly connected by phone with a representative from the website.  This eliminates the need for the user to manually dial a phone number to reach the company represented on the website.

6.  Keep Content Fresh and Interesting

Visitors should be given a reason to return to a site – often. The best way to do this is to constantly deliver new, fresh content that visitors will perceive as valuable. Don't make the mistake of having a site built and then forgetting about it.  Click here for more information about the importance of maintaining fresh website content to improve search marketing results.

7.  Tell Visitors What To Do

Yes, you read it right! Good web design subtly guides visitors in the direction that the web designer wants them to go. The designer's objective may be to lead the visitor to make a purchase, fill out a web form, sign-up for a subscription, view an informative video, or download a brochure or report. In any event, visitors should not be left to their own imagination about what to do next when they land on a company's home page. Good website design carefully tells visitors what to do in order to complete a desired task.