By Martin Holoubek
16.05.2023
Your website as a digital brand presence for high-quality branding and automated customer acquisition.
In the rapid change of the digital age, the importance of a professionally created website significantly increases, as it is about much more than just being present online with a business card. Your brand website is your digital corporate presence, which increases your perceived brand value, positions you as an expert in your market, and emotionally charges your brand, so that your dream customers are magically attracted and perceive you as a true synonym for the solution to their problem. This means, your website contributes to your branding account and polishes up your image. It provides potential customers with valuable information about your offer and converts them into paying customers. It presents you at your best and wins qualified employees for you. And it gives you time for the essentials because it automates your processes and completes tasks for you. Any questions? Plenty of reasons why you should continue reading attentively now to take the best for your business.
Table of Contents
- Your website as a digital brand presence for high-quality branding and automated customer acquisition.
- High-quality design and consistent line
- User- and SEO-friendly page structure
- Powerful and error-free technology
- Trust-building measures
- Smart structure and not too much text
- Content with added value for the visitor
- Professional photos and videos
- Sales-optimized advertising copy
- Security and data privacy
As a web design and branding agency for interactive, sales-strong websites, we divide into two different types of websites, which ideally should complement each other perfectly. On the one hand, there are the well-known corporate websites, also called brand websites, which massively strengthen your branding through high-quality design, a sales-psychologically strong structure, professional content and trust-building measures. On the other hand, there are so-called landing pages or lead pages, which are designed to sell and move the visitor to take action, i.e., to make a request or purchase, as quickly as possible. Landing pages generally rely on direct marketing, are reduced in design, usually completely do without animations and effects, and follow a certain, sales-psychologically relevant structure with advertising texts that generate extraordinary attention from the visitor. We recommend the use of brand websites and landing pages, as they, if properly structured, complement each other optimally and bring the greatest potential. In some cases, hybrid solutions are set up, which we rather consider as an exceptional case. In any case, it is important to observe certain rules and best practices in order to develop a high-quality product that really achieves the best possible and above all long-term results - what it therefore depends on, we will go into in detail in the following section.
High-quality design and consistent line
We are currently in a market maturity where many companies already have at least a web presence, many of which are more bad than good. The website has become old, the design is unaesthetic and outdated, and the entire structure shines at best through confusion and faulty technology. However, as in real life, the first impression is crucial for your success. It's often said "Clothes make the man.", which can be applied just as much to the digital world. Therefore, place extraordinary value on high-quality design and a consistent line in your branding and the entire digital brand presence, produce professional high-gloss business photos/videos with personality, and bring subtle dynamism with style to your digital display window. This way, you stand out from the crowd as an expert in your market and become incomparable. Your brand value will be significantly increased, you create an emotional connection with your audience and convert it into financially strong and appreciative customers for long-term cooperation - and all of this almost like on an assembly line. So remember one thing - beautiful, valuable things attract people with a demand for quality and ambition, this also applies to your website.
User- and SEO-friendly page structure
As a web design agency, we constantly notice how unnecessarily complicated, incomprehensible, and content-overloaded many websites are. Clear communication is missing, which explains who the company actually is, what it stands for, and which problem it solves with which method or what offer it specifically provides. The visitor has to click endlessly often and work through incomprehensibly named pages and a multitude of subpages to maybe find the desired result - if he hasn't already dropped out due to overwhelm. Here too, "simplicity is the key". Ensure that your visitor finds all the important information with real added value, nicely and easily understandable, directly on the homepage, but he can also easily delve deeper into a topic if he wishes and is guided through the subpages via a sleek and well-thought-out design and content model. Also, pay attention to the naming of the respective pages and sections, so that on the one hand the visitor does not lose the thread, on the other hand Google can perfectly understand what it is about and can process your content accordingly. Regularly test your website and try to eliminate all potential errors, ambiguities, or points of friction and provide added value for the user, but also for the search engine, compactly and stylishly prepared.
Powerful and error-free technology
Imagine buying your dream car with the perfect look and your ideal configuration, just as you've always wanted it. You drive proudly and joyfully on the country road and suddenly your car slows down, you might even have engine damage, and incidentally, you notice that your entertainment system is acting up and you find a warped spot in the bodywork of your new car - your perceived value diminishes and the beautiful design loses more and more importance. The same is true for the website - it can be as beautiful as it is, if it is slow or has errors in function and display, this harms your perceived value, potential customers are deterred or annoyed because they can't find what they are looking for and ultimately leave your website again. Therefore, a solid and technically flawless base for your website is important, which was developed according to all standards and Google guidelines and provides you with a worry-free business day with numerous customer inquiries in the long term. However, you get nothing from nothing and the digital world is becoming faster and faster, which is why you need to understand that your website also needs to be regularly maintained - and by that I mean in most cases even weekly - to function smoothly in the long term.
Easier said than done. If you're realizing at this point that you have catching up to do and could really use the support of a professional web design agency, we're happy to extend our helping hand. To do so, click on the following link and sign up for a free consultation online or directly at our web design agency in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt.
Trust-building measures
A website is more than just an information and presentation channel these days. As a company and brand, you need to make yourself more approachable and provide personal insights into your daily business routine and your own successes. Therefore, customers want to get a glimpse into your office, see how you and your team work, who your clients are (and what they say about the collaboration), and which projects you have already successfully implemented with what added value. The same applies to physical products, by showing case studies of how your product has improved a person's life or perhaps even revolutionized an entire market. Set up a blog on your website, where you provide added value in the form of knowledge and expertise, to educate your audience and elevate their mindset and level of knowledge. Show what a collaboration with you looks like, answer frequently asked questions, conduct video interviews with your clients, engage in continuous press work (and integrate it in the form of press articles and interviews on your website), and show your face in social media, social, personal, and approachable. In these ways, you will turn your website into a profitable branding and marketing channel, strengthen the trust in your brand sustainably, and win customers and employees who are also your fans.
Smart structure and not too much text
Ultimately, less is more. Many websites have a structure that has been expanded over the years and have far too much text (and not even valuable text), and their owners wonder why they are not getting any inquiries or are recording insanely high bounce rates. If a user has to click through a huge tree of subpages on your website to potentially find his result, if he is overwhelmed by large blocks of text, or if he doesn't immediately understand what you are offering, then he will leave and inquire with your competition. Of course, it makes sense for SEO to specifically build subpages with more content and more text, but everything should be done in moderation and with a certain level of smartness, so that, for example, the structure is designed in such a way that a lot of text and long content are separated design-wise to create more space and loosen up the design. In general, however, you should come up with a concept that quickly and easily provides all the relevant information to those who are reluctant to read and allows detail lovers to dive deep into the subject and be convinced by your expertise. In summary, therefore, it's important - smart structure with valuable content and only as much text as necessary and sensible.
Content with added value for the visitor
Content is king, and unique content with added value is emperor. Spare your website and its visitors from complex features, endless explanations, and a heap of technical terms that nobody understands and, at the end of the day, nobody wants to read. Build audience understanding, get to know your audience better than they do themselves, and adapt to their communication. Create your own content with added value that addresses, understands, and communicates the appropriate solution to their problem - don't sell the hammer or the nail, but the nail in the wall. Complement your content with services and features, but only if it provides additional value, is understood by your target group, underpins your expertise, and is relevant to Google in terms of keywords.
This requires a special commitment but has an extreme impact. If you find this exciting, but would rather focus on your core business or want to avoid further costly self-attempts without success, then get professional support from a web design agency that has years of experience in the field of website development and is as deep into the topic as you are in your expertise. To do this, click on the following link and sign up for a free consultation online or directly at our web design agency in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt.
Professional photos and videos
Imagine you come to a website with no or really bad, blurry and emotionless photos, not to mention videos. Terrible, right? Correct. Many companies still underestimate the importance of professional photos and videos and rely on semi-professional self-productions or boring, inappropriate stock photos. This deters potential customers, especially in the premium segment, and you lose relevance from the first second, because it is clearly evident that you don't live quality consciousness on all levels and are not able to appear in high quality. So if you already have a running business and want to implement the next lever for more success, then invest in business branding photos and high-gloss image videos with emotional trigger and place them intelligently on your website and other marketing channels to create the WOW and desire effect in the memory of the viewers, emotionally bind them to your brand and thus win customers in a new league for you. With high-quality content, you also save advertising costs, as you generate more qualitative conversions and inquiries with the same ad spend.
Sales-optimized advertising copy
The next point, unfortunately often underestimated by many entrepreneurs. Texts are not just texts that anyone fluent in the respective language can write. Copywriting follows a specific, sales-psychologically strong structure - in our case, it's 7 stages of sales psychology - which not only ensures that texts on your website sound good but also emotionally trigger and sell your products and services. There are different types of advertising copy used for various channels such as brand websites, landing pages, ads, videos, TV/radio spots, posters, etc. However, the basic principle of sales psychology is always applied and must therefore be understood in order to conduct successful marketing. Therefore, invest in professional copywriting as a multiplier for your digital marketing and consequently generate significantly more inquiries through your website or landing page.
Security and data privacy
The topic of security and data privacy has captured our attention since the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and continues to be a concern with ever-evolving requirements. Firstly, you should consider security during the development of your website and plan the technical infrastructure with all necessary technologies to ensure compliance with security standards and the proper functionality, design, performance, and secure transmission and storage of the data being processed. The specific security standards to be implemented depend on the complexity and criticality of your application. Security measures, such as having an SSL certificate, also serve as a branding factor that builds trust with your target audience. The second aspect is data privacy, which goes hand in hand with data security. While a web design agency may have practical knowledge and can professionally and fundamentally set up a website in compliance, they are not allowed to provide legal advice. We always recommend contacting a lawyer specializing in data protection law who can provide advice on the current legal requirements in your specific country and for your specific business model. Therefore, it is advisable to involve a legal expert during the website development process, who can collaborate with the agency and perform an audit of the website according to the current legal framework, provide recommendations, and ensure compliance with privacy policies and terms and conditions. Even after the completion of a website, regular maintenance should be considered to keep the website technically sound, secure, and up to date in terms of design, content, and performance. Likewise, a lawyer should regularly assess the compliance with data privacy regulations and develop new measures if necessary. This way, you can ensure that you remain up to date and compliant, which is another quality indicator.
In reality, there are many more factors that need to be considered and implemented in detail to build a professional website that truly works and achieves outstanding results. However, the measures described in the previous sections are primarily the most important ones, and if you take them into account during the planning of your website, you are already a big step ahead of most companies in the market. If you haven't placed much value on a professional website so far, if you are currently not generating regular inquiries through it, or if you recognize other issues in your digital brand presence that you would like to have resolved and would like to rely on the expertise of a reputable web design agency, then I invite you to a free consultation session. We will take a look at your current situation and develop a tailored concept for your company together. Click on the following link to schedule an appointment for a consultation session, either online or, if you are nearby, at our web design agency in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt.