360 Web Design

A brand website is usually the first place consumers go to learn more about a company.  While brands have many properties, such as social pages or blogs, a brand website is the most basic, yet complex marketing tool.  Consumers expect brands to have websites and they expect the site to reflect the same brand image as in-store and across other platforms.  Designing a website requires integrating many factors, from color selection to content models.  These days, it takes site visitors less than two-tenths of a second to form a first opinion about a site.  That means brands need to have a visually appealing site that will keep users engaged beyond that initial second. 

In order to build a quality, engaging site, marketers need to make the site visually appealing on the outside and functional on the inside.  Aspects of the site that are consumer facing include colors, fonts, format, images, and content.  Consumers need intuitive design and easy navigation.  They want to visit the site, engage, and leave without feeling frustrated.  When sites are too cluttered or have difficult navigation, it leaves consumers a negative opinion of the brand.

Websites not only have to be appealing to the consumer, but the backend design must be high quality as well.  For example, building a responsive site with SEO in mind is going to increase site visits.  Incorporating SEO at the start of a design will increase performance within search results, enabling more consumers to find the site.  Responsive design is a must as mobile and tablet adoption increases.  Responsive design allows the consumer to view the same content, formatted automatically for the best view across desktop, tablet, and mobile.

                Designing a site while considering both the front-end and back-end components will result in a quality, functional website.  The user experience is extremely important, but needs the back-end to function correctly as well so both parts can work together to deliver the best performance.