Corporate web design tips for 2014

There are many tools in the digital marketing arsenal for corporations and enterprises, but perhaps none as important as the corporate website.

Websites play a role in lead generation, brand visibility, PR, customer nurturing, sales and sales nurturing, partner communications, internal communications and more.

Websites also play a central role in analyzing and assessing the performance of a marketing campaign through analytics. Websites are often central themes in digital marketing, and the following tips will help strengthen corporate websites in order to generate better results for an enterprise.

48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business

Corporate website design tips

• Design is a critically important trust-factor. Keep the website design simple, fresh, unique and modern. Try to not let anyone (but the designers) micro-manage the design process. Having a contemporary look-and-feel can have a profound effect on how relevant a brand is perceived in the marketplace.
• Consider the entire customer (buyer) lifecycle and don't just focus on first touch. Buyers may visit a corporation's website multiple times throughout the buying process. Consider your marketing message from visibility to retention. Ensure that you have content sections to provide education information, sales and buying processes, press and other trust content and high-level introductions into your brand, service and offerings.
• Keep your calls-to-action clear, accessible and measurable. Provide clear calls-to-action on the website and throughout. Be clear in what actions you want the user to take, and define these actions based on the section of the website or (using marketing automation) based on the lifecycle a customer is in. Don’t assume they know what actions to take. Align calls-to-action with core messaging.
• Mobile is a must. Having a mobile responsive website is a must for corporations today. Using contemporary design and development practices helps keep websites attractive, efficient, trust-worthy, stable and scalable. Many users check corporate websites from their mobile devices and tablets. Consider the experience that these users receive. Enterprise websites should be calibrated for mobile, tablet and desktop--offering an optimized experience for each.
• Story-telling helps demonstrate your brand promise. Your brand has a story to tell. The history of a brand is a big part of it’s story. Causes your corporation supports and the outcomes of your solutions also make for great stories. These stories help buyers, partners, press and the public better understand your brand and encourages them to engage.
• Define your website key performance indicators and then assess your website with an eye on optimizing those KPIs. Key performance indicators could be as simple as increased direct traffic and organic brand keywords, which show greater brand interest. Key performance indicators could also be more lead generation focused, including increased non-brand organic search keyword traffic, increased online engagement behavior, increased leads (web contacts) or website sales. Ensure your corporation has the right tools in place to measure the appropriate keywords. For example, a brand focused heavily on lead generation and sales nurturing, using marketing automation and lifecycle measurement tools would be critical.
• Website performance optimization - Ensure your website is optimized for performance and loads quickly.  Reduce HTTP Requests. Rid your website of duplicate scripts and included files. Keep your stylesheets at the top of the page and your javascript at the bottom. And certainly do not scale images with HTML. These tips will help keep your website loading fast and increases uptime with large numbers of visitors. 40% of people ventured away from a website if it loaded for more than 3 seconds, according to a report by SPYDERWEB in 2013.
• Be careful with SEO tactics from the past. Many SEO practices that strayed a little too far from "white hat" approaches are being punished. Some corporations that experimented briefly with link-building or paid links are getting hit with major penalties years later.  Google has been coming down hard on guest blogging, link buying, link requests and online press releases.

62% of companies which designed their website(s) for mobile platforms increased their sales and 64% of companies that designed their website for tablets increased sales.

SEE ALSO: Branding: Key elements of a online brand strategy, mobile responsive web design

SOURCES:

• SME Website Statistics. February 27 2014. Rareform New Media.
• Stats That Make the Case For Smarter Web Design. August 14 2013. Fifty and Fifty.