Today we are going to talk about simple websites for business and finally help you understand if websites with simple designs are better for business. Check out this Google paper and you will be surprised at the findings.
In order to understand this we will need to understand the benefits of simple website designs, especially in the context of business websites.
We will need to understand the purpose of business websites and understand what kind of factors play a key role in the success of business websites.
We will focus on things like website usability and user experience. So, let us start this discussion with the pros of simple websites in the context of business websites.
PROS OF SIMPLE WEBSITES FOR BUSINESS
· USER-FRIENDLINESS
One of the biggest advantages of having a simple website design for your business website is user-friendliness.
You must keep in mind that your business website is not only going to be visited by people who have technical knowledge but by nearly everyone who is a potential customer.
If your eCommerce website has a simple interface then the target audience is very wide which can include anyone from children to older people and people who are not good in technology.
But having a complicated website will mean that you are going to sacrifice your sales just for a more feature-rich website.
Your priority as a business website owner is to have more business. User-friendly websites will make sure that it is accessible to everyone.
· FASTER WEBSITES
The added benefit of having a simple website is that it is going to load very fast. This is directly related to customer satisfaction.
If you can create a simple and clean website layout then you can ensure mobile responsiveness and overall website responsiveness in a browser as well.
This speed will be directly correlated to the satisfaction of the clients. It will even be perceived as the website performance being very good.
Better satisfaction means more business and it will help you achieve your business goals and achieve business success if you have a simple and fast-loading website.
· BETTER CONVERSION RATE
Simple websites will guarantee a better conversion rate. This means that more people are going to get converted from visitors to customers.
This is because if you have a simple website then you can ensure better user engagement and users are going to stay satisfied.
Conversion optimisation is all about user satisfaction. If you have a simple website that means the website is also quite fast which means the users are going to be in contact with more information and marketing opportunities.
All that will mean a simple thing, the visitor will have better user engagement with more brand representation and more advertisement and more products.
This will improve the conversion rate dramatically.
· MORE AFFORDABLE
Building simple websites is more affordable and cost-effective. This is because you do not need a lot of features when it comes to a simple website.
There is just the usual investment and then there are maintenance costs to run the website properly.
And this is very important since the only concern of business websites should be traffic and volume management.
Your website should always be ready to handle a lot of visitors because that is how your business will make a profit and grow.
Other than that, you can keep a minimalistic design and simple features that are just enough for customers to buy services.
· SEO CENTRIC WEBSITE
If you have a simple website that means you are going to have a website that has excellent search engine optimisation(SEO).
This is something that can be taken for granted simply because a simple website means the code is clean and optimised.
This means that the website is not loaded with unnecessary code that slows it down and that means the search engine crawlers will crawl through your website easily.
Simple websites mean SEO-friendly websites. It will not have anything unnecessary and only have what the customers are looking for.
This will mean that the website is very relevant and if a website is relevant to the thing that it is trying to do then it will have an excellent ranking in search results.
· CLEAR BRAND OPTICS
Optics might just be one of the most difficult things to maintain for a brand. It is difficult to be aware of how the brand looks all the time.
If you have an online business then brand optics can play a very important role. That is why you can try out something very complex.
You can try out different kinds of radical marketing by spending a lot of money on it and potentially risking everything.
Or you can play the safe game of having a simple website with a clear brand optic which is to sell whatever you are trying to sell.
No complex marketing technique and no complex call-to-action (CTA) strategies. If you maintain a simple and fast website with a simple and clear call-to-action (CTA) strategy then you are destined for success.
There are other benefits such as a reduced bounce rate as well as a simple updates schedule. And we cannot forget the benefits of accessibility. Let us now look at the cons of simple websites.
CONS OF SIMPLE WEBSITES FOR BUSINESS
· FUNCTIONALITY COMPROMISE
One of the things that you are going to compromise if you have a simple website is functionality. You need to forget all the rich and advanced features and functionalities if you want a simple website.
These features are not just important for the client but also important for you as the admin of the website.
More functionality simply means more control for the visitor as well as the admin. Perhaps a more complex website will have better product filters.
Perhaps a more complex website will have better monitoring of visitor behaviour so that you can optimise the performance of the website.
But if you choose a simple website then you cannot expect complex interactions and other important complex features and functionality.
· NOT UNIQUE
It is easy to create a simple website and it is more budget-friendly as well and that is why you are going to see that the majority of business websites are simple websites.
They are tried and tested but there is a problem with this. You are not going to stand out among the competition if you have a simple website.
It will be just another website that visitors have seen a hundred times. It will not be visually unique and it will not be something that visitors are going to remember.
You cannot implement complex visual elements and complex features for interaction.
This is not good from the standpoint of creating a unique brand identity and making your business stand out from the rest of the competition.
· BAD FOR COMPETITION
If you have a simple website then you are at a competitive disadvantage and there are several reasons why.
One of the reasons is that you are not going to stand out from the competition. We have already talked about this in the previous point.
The second thing is that you will not be able to create a unique brand identity which is necessary as all your competitors are going to do so.
Your website will just look like a cheap alternative rather than the only alternative when it comes to certain products and services.
Think about the Amazon website, it looks unique and people know exactly when they are on an Amazon website because of its design and features. It stands out from the competition.
Even if competitors try utilising the Amazon philosophy, people will still say that they have copied it from Amazon. That is the power of a complex and unique website.
· LIMITED BRAND EXPRESSION
Brand expression is important if you want to make a permanent impact in the industry. There are two ways to achieve business success.
One of the ways is to provide extremely good products that are just so good that people do not really care about the brand but just the product. However, doing that is difficult.
The second thing to do is to create a brand so unique that it is recognisable throughout the internet whether it is its unique marketing strategy or unique design.
The first option is very difficult and it is only possible if you have a product that is the first in a category or is extremely cheap and good and has external marketing or has gone viral.
The second thing is rather possible if you have a complex website with a unique brand language and marketing strategy.
But when you have a simple website then you have already handicapped that opportunity of a brand expression because you simply do not have the space for it.
· A NEGATIVE PERCEPTION
People who understand how customers think are regarded as business prophets and that is for a reason. If you can unlock the mind of the visitor then you can convert them to a customer.
One of the things a customer notices is how the website looks like. It might be a very traditional way of looking at things but it is just a fact that is still true.
That is you have a very simple website that has no bells and whistles then the customer is going to think that this is a very cheap imitation of an eCommerce website.
The simplicity of the website will be associated with its lack of quality. Your simple website will seem like a lack of professionalism to the visitor.
This is something purely psychological but it can have an impact on your business and even result in reduced engagement. The visitors will have nothing for keeping them engaged.
They won’t have features like videos and interactive elements that promise client interaction. The website will feel like it has no soul.
There are other factors such as insufficient content or insufficient marketing material which is where you might lose an opportunity for better business. There is also the issue of reducing your opportunities for better SEO.
The website is also not going to be very scalable. And there is also the issue of less data with a simple website.
Now that we have told you the pros and cons, it is up to you to decide what kind of website is the best for you.
But if you ask us we are always going to support a simple website because it provides opportunities for everyone and it at least gets you started on your online business.
That is why we believe that is simple website is better. To support this, we are going to talk about all the reasons why a simple website design is better.
REASONS WHY A SIMPLE WEBSITE DESIGN IS ALWAYS BETTER
· BETTER FOR CONVERSIONS
If you have a simple website design then it has more chances of conversion simply because visitor knows what to do when they visit such a website. It is familiar to them.
They can see the call-to-action buttons and they can see the products easily. They do not get puzzled by all the options and they are more likely to become your customers.
· FAMILIARITY FOR USERS
The thing about simple websites is that they are quite common. This means that users have definitely encountered simple websites.
That is why when they visit a simple website they are going to feel familiar and it will not be difficult for them to avail the advantage of the website.
They will know where everything is and they will know how to go and search for products and services and avail them.
· UNIVERSAL AND TIMELESS
Websites are not standardized which means that there is not a set standard that websites follow officially.
But that does not mean that they do not follow any standards because websites can follow unofficial standards. Simplicity is one of the standards.
The other requirement might be something as simple as having the search bar at the top.
This design of simplicity will never become outdated. It is just something that works and it is timeless.
· FASTER LOADING SPEEDS
Feature-rich websites might be cool and they might have a lot of features that seem attractive.
But compare that attraction to the satisfaction of the website actually being quick, you lose points with a complex website.
The primary advantage of a simple website is that it is fast. Visitors like fast websites and it gives them satisfaction.
If you can provide visitors with a fast website that loads very quickly then they are more likely to do business with you and it is a proven fact.
· NO DISTRACTIONS FOR VISITORS
Let us help you understand this with an example. Think of the example where you own an offline physical perfume shop. Helping the visitors smell the perfume is the only way to get them to buy perfumes.
However, you give them free samples of the best coffee thinking that it will make the visitors even more happy. The coffee is aromatic and can make the visitors happy.
But the smell of that same coffee will hide the smell of the perfume and will actually harm your business even if your intentions are client satisfaction.
That is exactly what happens when you have a very feature-packed website that is complex.
That kind of a complex website distracts the visitors from the actual products and services.
There are a lot of other reasons such as a simple website will be easier to scan by the visitor and the simple website is going to be more adaptable if you decide to change your business and much more.
Let us now look at some of the most commonly asked questions about websites. These are some of the most common questions from our social media handles and our blogs that have been asked by our clients and visitors.
COMMON FAQs ABOUT WEBSITES
· What type of website is good for business?
- A simple website is good for business simply because it is easy to operate especially for a business person.
You might not be an expert at website design and development but you can still operate a simple website.
A simple website is also good from the perspective of the visitor because they will not be confused by all the different features of a complex website.
We welcome you to go through the entire blog to understand more about this.
· Do businesses do better with a website?
- In this digital age, having a website is not just a luxury but it is a necessity. A website will help you reach target audiences much further than any physical business.
You can transform your local and small business into a global business with the help of a website and it will also be much more credible if you have an online presence.
Having an online presence will also help you build a community of loyal customers and having an online presence will help you market your products and services even better.
While you can open a physical store for only a few hours but your online store will be open 24/7 ready to accept orders from a global audience. Having a website for your business is better in all aspects and their no negative points about it.
· What are the disadvantages of having a website for your business?
- It is difficult to find any disadvantages of having a website for your business. If we really have to find out any disadvantages then we would have to say that you might get tired of all the new business that you are going to get from a website.
You might get exhausted from all the orders that you have to pack with an online business because your offline business going online will see a boom in business.
Yes, the interface and operation might be unfamiliar to you when you start the website but it is not a steep learning curve.
· What are the 5 advantages of creating a website for your business?
- We can keep on going about the advantages of a website for your business but let us talk about 5 advantages.
- You are going to have excellent online visibility which means that instead of looking for potential customers in your locality you can be looking at potential customers all around the world.
- The second advantage is that having a website is excellent for marketing because it will be like a live 24/7 ad that will keep on playing. Your website is going to display your products even when your offline store is closed and it will be like a 24-hour showroom that also does marketing.
- A website is an excellent tool in order to collect harmless data about your customer preferences so that you can better serve them and create products that better suit their needs. You will be able to monitor what kind of products are being viewed the most so that you can stock them in advance.
- A website will enable you to provide better customer support and you can just have chatbots or email ids or even provide numbers. This is so that customers can contact you anytime without having to physically visit your store.
- Having a website does wonders for credibility because you can show you have an online presence and is good for the legitimacy of your business.
· How effective is a website for a small business?
- A website can be extremely effective for a small business because a small business can grow out of its small physical location and hope to become a global brand.
A small business can finally hope to compete with big brands in order to showcase their products online because online there are no big or small brands just brands that do good marketing.
A website is also great for small businesses because it will help them with expansion all they need to do is to stock more products when they see an increase in business.
· How much does having a website increase business?
- Everyone agrees that having a website is good for business. Let us point you towards this amazing article by Forbes.
While it is difficult to put a percentage or a number behind this claim but it is certainly true. However, just having a website is not enough because you also need to do proper marketing.
You need to understand search engine optimization (SEO). You need to understand how a brand image is created online and much more.
If you can utilize all of these factors then you can expect an increase in business and it can even be a thousandfold increase in business.
We hope this blog has been helpful for you to understand why simple websites are better for business and especially if this is your first business website.
However, if you are new to this then we are here to help you because we are Think To Share IT Solutions Pvt Ltd and we are the fastest growing and the most popular web design and development company in India.
We do everything from website creation to website maintenance and digital marketing and everything else that is needed to help your online business grow.
We are the be-all and end-all IT Solutions company which means we do app development as well as web development and also digital marketing and social media management and much more at Think To Share IT Solutions.