If your business is not selling a product or taking enquiries through its website then you may find yourself wondering, ‘is it just a vanity project?’

(spoiler alert, the answer is no!)

Building an effect and functional website is no small task. It requires time, money and consideration for what purpose it will serve. But if you're unsure what this purpose is, do you even need a website?

Admittedly, having a website can allow you to highlight your previous work and provide potential clients with an avenue to contact you, but what does it do beyond that?

So, what’s the point?

Well, despite the hypothetical questions posed in the first section of this article, your website is actually a vitally important tool to your business and, when done right, can have a phenomenal impact on your brand image and the way you're perceived by your customer base.

For one, It gives you the opportunity to set out your stall, give your elevator pitch, and all on your own terms (hold that thought for a minute).

Giving an authentic insight into who you are, what you do and how you do it is a great way to build trust with your current audience and potential clients alike, and not only demonstrates that you exist but also gives an indication of the quality of your work.

Other than your social media accounts, your website will be the first place a user or potential customer will go to find out more about you so making a good first impression here is essential in order to increase your conversion rate (the number of potential customers you convert into actual customers).

Not only will it be the potential first place that users will come to, but a study published in the Taylor & Francis Behaviour & Information Technology Journal discovered that, on average, it takes a user 50 milliseconds to form an opinion on a website.

50 milliseconds. That’s 0.05 seconds or one-twentieth of a second. If that’s how long it takes a user to decide what they think of you and your brand then making a good first impression is more important than ever!

Aside for all this, your website can help you:

• Collect insights and analytics about your userbase

• Build your overall profile

• Connect and engage with your audience

• Generate new business

• Provide customer support

Where does design come into this?

Research done by California’s Stanford University showed that judgements on a company’s credibility are “75% based on the company’s website design”, so if your goal is to build trust, investing in design is certainly a good place to start.

Of course, quality content is vitally important too, but even the best-written content isn't much use if a poor design is dissuading users from reading it.

You can often spot a template website a mile off and today, with the value of your online presence skyrocketing due to the pandemic, simply swapping out the text in a cheap-and-cheerful template can make suggestions to your users about how seriously you take your business.

Is that really how you want to represent yourself?

Investing in good design and a tailored user experience not only highlights the value you place on your work but also the value you place on your customers.

And if they feel loved, they’re more likely to love you back.