Don’t be tempted to save money by cutting back on your website spend

When difficult financial times strike, the first concern for many businesses is to try and save some money. This is particularly true of smaller companies and firms who, in an effort to cut expenses, might decide to reduce their online spend and, rather than employ a top digital agency in London, develop their own website.

The fact that having a viable online presence is still a relatively recent business requirement (think back just ten years and you’ll realise that many companies back then regarded it as a luxury rather than a necessity),leads to many people underestimating its’ importance. Whilst most businesses, of almost any size, would now accept that they need a website, many still look upon it as being an adjunct to their main business, rather than a vital part of it. This is a common and serious mistake, and often leads to businesses spending the bare minimum on their website and looking upon this as money saved. Working with a digital agency in London, and seeing the amount of time and effort they put into working on every single aspect of your website, will merely serve to underline its’ importance, and bring about the realization that any money spent in this manner is an expense which will ultimately pay for itself many times over.

Ecommerce web developers have vast experience in the field of generating online income, and will bring all of this to bear upon building a website which represents your business in the truest and best ways possible. What smaller companies who may be tempted to cut back on their online spend have to bear in mind is the way in which casual visitors judge the websites they look at. Each and every day, the average person is bombarded with dozens if not hundreds of online images, websites and pages. The vast bulk of these will be operated on behalf of large multi-national companies with worldwide brand recognition and massive amounts of money to spend. As a result, most people take it for granted that the sites they’re going to look at will be slick, smooth, easy to use and attractive to look at. Like it or not, this is the kind of standard against which even the smallest of businesses is going to be judged. It may be subconscious, but any would be customer surfing the web will be pulled up short by a site which looks amateurish, features mistakes in the copy, or has links which are broken or slow to work. That’s why spending whatever it takes to make your website as good as it possibly can be is an absolute imperative. That first impression, when the landing page first opens, will make all the difference. Indeed, even if you’ve managed to put together a page which looks as good as one which a London web designer would build for you, that good first impression will be destroyed if the rest of the site isn’t up to scratch.

Think of it as saving money by doing something as simple as not paying your phone bill: the first month may well bring about a welcome saving but, after that, once the phone line’s been cut off, the cost in lost business will far outweigh any saving you might have made. It may seem like an extreme comparison but, in this interconnected, broadband enabled age your online presence really is as vital as simple communication and access to the most basic utilities.

If you’re tempted to save money on your online presence then think again. Just ask a digital agency in London what they can do for you, and you’ll soon realise that an online investment can be recouped many times over. And if you’re still in any doubt, just ask yourself exactly how you came to be reading these particular words….

Why a good website is more than just an online advert

Despite the widespread use of the internet, and the proliferation of internet only businesses, there is still a tendency amongst some people to think of their website as little more than an online advertisement. Any time spent working with web designers in London or elsewhere will quickly allay this notion and bring home just how vital a well designed and smoothly functioning website actually is.

For many people, customers and businesses alike, the key feature of online commerce is how different it is from traditional forms of shopping but, although it may seem slightly counter intuitive, the key to successful ecommerce often lies in concentrating on the similarities between virtual and real world shopping. After all, in both cases, consumers are often looking for the same things – a wide range of goods conveniently displayed, a clear pricing system and competitive prices, high levels of customer service and an assurance that they’ll be getting exactly what they’re paying for. Web designers in London will know this and will work closely with you to build a site which meets all of these criteria whilst also hitting every technical mark that’s called for. That’s why a strong website is so much more than just a piece of marketing. It’s a vital part of any marketing strategy, yes, particularly bearing in mind the fact that most customers will now reach you via an online search, but it’s also a lot more.

Your website is also your shop floor. Think of the time and trouble which traders spend laying out the goods in their shops. Any reasonably sizeable business will probably employ someone with the specific job of putting out their goods in a way which will attract customers and entice them to spend. The ‘shop floor’ of your website is absolutely no different – a disorganized, badly laid out or difficult to read page will look like a clothes shop in which the goods have been piled in heaps on the floor rather than hung on racks in carefully chosen groupings of colour and style. Whilst finding what you like in a shop is often a question of availing yourself of a helpful shop assistant, finding what you want online is a function of a well built website.

A smooth running search facility and pages which are easy to navigate are the online equivalent of your own personal shopper. A website designer in London will help to build a site which not only works smoothly but also encapsulates the USP and ethos of your business. This is about the look and ‘feel’ of the site, and the way in which a site ‘treats’ visitors. Many businesses, for example, make the mistake of asking customers too many questions before the transaction has even taken place, a form of intrusiveness which can be highly off-putting. Any London ecommerce digital agency will have, at the core of its thinking, the fact that you want to use your online presence to generate business and income. A strong part of that will lie in your sites ability to make the visitor and would be customer feel ‘safe’ – the professionalism of the copy, images and site architecture will lead them to feel safe, assuming that any payment process is similarly professionally organized and thus totally secure. Each facet of your site, from the landing page to the contact details, from the search facility to the stock availability information, is a vital step towards sealing this deal.

When you employ web designers in London to put together your site, you’re paying for a lot more than just a slick online advertisement. You’re investing in the equivalent of opening up a whole new shop, and that’s not something that should be rushed, done casually or treated with anything less than total professionalism.