An attractive website design and high-quality content are both important to the online success of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). As a small or medium sized business owner, though, you might be wondering which of these services should consume your budget. Some SMBs spend their money on a professional website redesign, while others spend it on content development. While both of these services can help your business succeed, there are a few things you should know to determine which service is best suited for your business.
How a Fresh Website Design Can Benefit SMBs
The design of your website will affect the way in which visitors — as well as prospective customers or clients — perceive your SMB. Some SMBs take the easy route by using a free theme or template for their website’s design. Unfortunately, the end result is a generic-looking website that doesn’t accurately reflect their brand values. By investing in a fresh website design, you’ll create a more attractive website for your SMB that resonates with its audience. Visitors will take notice of your website’s professional design, thereby viewing your SMB as a leading authority in its niche.
Furthermore, a fresh website design can help you achieve higher search rankings in Google, Bing and other search engines. If your website features an outdated design, visitors may encounter compatibility problems when attempting to access it from a mobile device. Statistics show that 63% of all internet traffic now comes from a smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices. Because of this, search engines like Google have updated their ranking algorithm to include mobile compatibility as a ranking signal. To ensure that all visitors can access your SMB’s website and promote higher search rankings in the process, it needs a professional, mobile-friendly design.
How High-Quality Content Can Benefit SMBs
An attractive, professional web design is only useful for your SMB if it’s backed by high-quality content. Without high-quality content, visitors probably won’t stay on your website. Rather, they’ll leave immediately after discovering that it’s nothing more than a bare-bones theme or template. To make your SMB’s website valuable and worth visiting, you must fill it with high-quality content that’s relevant to visitors.
High-quality content can also boost your website’s search rankings. Google hasn’t revealed the exact formula that it uses to rank websites. In 2016, however, the company explained that content is one of the three most influential ranking signals.
Achieve Greater Success By Investing in Both Services
Rather than focusing your budget on either a new website design or content, consider investing in both services. Often businesses feel like they need everything at once – rewrite and redesign a whole site and be done with it. Design should last five years, shouldn’t it? Yes, but…
To build a site that is dynamic, remaining fresh over time and demonstrating to Google that a business is delivering current content built around meaningful key search terms, a hybrid approach is often successful. Start with five pages, and add dynamic elements to your home page that pull your latest content, keeping your site always new. Hire copywriters to tell your story over time instead of all at once. Develop a long-term strategy to engage your customer base and to motivate new visitors.
Green Vine Marketing offers integrated campaigns that include both website development as well as content creation. By investing in these services, you can achieve a stronger online presence for your SMB to attract customers and drives sales.
