In the past, websites were nothing more than online brochures, built to look pretty and nothing else. It’s possible a beautiful website alone could have influenced purchase decisions, but the web has evolved to the point where search engine optimization rules the day.
While an effective website must look good, effective B2B website design requires strategy.
Consider Hiring a Professional Designer
Instead of doing it all yourself, leave designing up to the professionals. A web designer’s main job is to design web pages by creating layouts and features. Designers focus their attention on how to display the client’s services in a way that’s appealing to their target audience.
For example, if you need a web design company to appeal to a Philiadephian and/or international audience, contact local, experienced talent like The 215 Guys.
What to Consider When Creating a B2B Website
An effective website is one that generates leads for your business regularly and in a sufficient enough volume that enables you to grow. To do this, you need to have traffic, engagement, and convertibility. Getting your website to do three requires you to complete the following tasks.
1. Research: Your Website, Competition, and Trends
If you already have a website connected to Google Analytics and Search Console (or widgets like these), check which pages have the lowest and highest traffic to find problem areas. From there, take a look at your competition to look for ways you can improve your own site.
If you don’t have a website, be sure to connect both widgets as well as HotJar to check for heat maps and visitor recordings to understand where people are spending most of their time. Your last step is to Google thought leader trends to understand how new websites are built.
2. Strategy: Value Proposition and Keywords
Having a clear value proposition is effective to website design because it builds a connection with visitors. You need to figure out why and how your business benefits customers. Once you know how your solution meets your customer’s needs, you can effectively brand your website.
Your value proposition supports your sales and marketing efforts, ensures brand consistency, helps you attract leads, and improves customer engagement. It also allows you to plan your keyword strategy, including website URL, content, site structure, and page names.
3. Planning: Sitemap, Navigation, Agile Delivery
Your sitemap should include the research you’ve done thus far and contain keyword-focused pages that target your customer base. Less is typically more, so focus on providing content for each stage of the buyer’s journey—for example, homepage, blog, terms, conditions, etc.
Regardless of how many pages you have on your website, always keep navigation in mind. Your visitors don’t have unlimited time to engage with your site, so only present what’s needed. Try to avoid drop-down menus, if possible. Display your pages only in the header or footer.
It’s essential that you cut down on the number of pages on your website for an agile launch. This way, you can improve your website continuously while still offering the “minimum viable product,” which generates the most insights as quickly as possible.
4. Design: Wireframe Copy and Homepage
A wireframe is a way to design a website service at the structural level. It’s an essential aspect of UX design because it keeps the website concept user-focused. Plus, they’re easy to do and can be drawn by hand, or you can create one in PhotoShop and add as you go.
While wireframing, place most of your focus on the homepage because it’s the first page visitors see. If you want to make a good impression, you need to highlight your value proposition immediately. Then, state why you’re the best choice for the user and back it up with evidence.
5. Optimization: Content and Search Engine Optimization
Successful websites convert anonymous visitors into opportunities, leads, or customers. Don’t just stick your conversion buttons on your “contact me” page. Place them throughout your website with a call to action, landing pages, contact forms, and an opt-in email bar.
Once your website is in its final stages, you can start optimizing it for organic search traffic. Be sure to create unique page meta titles, meta descriptions, H1, 2, and 3 tags, target keywords, body copy, hyperlinks, and image alt tags to make sure you’re found on search engines.
