You’ve invested in amazing technology for your small business. You’ve hired the top candidates to fill your offices. You’ve even developed an incredible marketing strategy, and your business is off to a great start.
Still, if you’re honest with yourself, you feel like you’re not growing at the rate you’d like. Sales are slow to happen, and when they do, they’re not at the volume you want.
It seems like people don’t really know about your company. You notice you don’t get many repeat customers.
You know you need to take action — and fast.
So, what’s missing? The truth is that it could be a better graphic design strategy.
But what is graphic design, and how can it help your business?
Keep on reading this post to find out.
What Is Graphic Design?
Many people get graphic design and web design mixed up, but the truth is that they’re quite different.
You can compare here to get a more in-depth discussion of the differences. However, in a nutshell, website design is about creating the website itself, and graphic design is all about communication, branding, and messages to consumers.
In short, web design is more technical, while graphic design is a bit more visually-based and creative. In web design, you write code. In graphic design, you dream up stunning infographics, make sure your pages are well-formatted, and implement elements of branding.
1. Make a Better First Impression
Did you know that over 90% of visitor complaints about a website are directly related to what a user perceives as poor website design?
Be honest. If you look at a company’s website and find it slow to load, outdated, and covered in annoying graphics, will you form a positive impression of that company?
Chances are, the answer is no.
Graphic design is a way to communicate your branding, your message, and even create a connection between your company and your target market online. You need to see it as a part of your entire marketing strategy, not as an afterthought.
Plus, all those people clicking away from your website because of bad graphic design will drag you down in the search engine rankings.
If you can’t (or shouldn’t) go DIY on your own designs, we suggest hiring a graphic designer to help you.
2. Increase Conversions
Sure, things like keyword research, mobile-friendliness, and fast loading times all help your website to allow you to make more sales.
But strong design is just as important.
When your website looks good and is branded and designed to appeal to your market, users will spend more time on it. The more time they spend on your site? The more likely they are to make a purchase.
You can even use graphic design to naturally guide your site visitors through your desired sales funnel.
Additionally, if you’ve used excellent graphic design software to create a compelling layout and look for your website, users will spend more time on it. This increases your “dwell time” — which means that you’ll soar in the search engine rankings.
A higher position in the search engine rankings means more traffic to your site and a shortened buying cycle.
What’s not to love about that?
3. More Customer Interactions
Sure, conversions are the ultimate goal of a sales-based website.
But you also need to think about the other actions you’d like visitors to complete on your website. Maybe you want them to take a survey about your brand. Perhaps you want them to sign up for a mailing list. Maybe you want to gain more followers on social media.
Working with the right graphic designer can help you to make that happen.
By investing in better visuals, engaging infographics, and large, well-formatted buttons for follow and subscribe clicks? You’ll see your customers begin to take more actions than just buying on your website.
This is how you build a loyal customer base, as opposed to just one-time shoppers.
4. It’s an Affordable Form of Marketing
Sure, recording interviews with influencers, hiring professional photographers for social media, and buying spots on TV ads are all great marketing gimmicks.
Of course, they’re also incredibly expensive.
You need to start looking at graphic design as a part of your overall marketing budget and process. Especially if you’re a newer company, or if you’re targeting a younger market, branding will be all about visuals.
You need to create engaging and informative graphics that are filled with highly shareable data. You need to include your logo, your company colors, and your branded font in your graphic design strategy.
This will increase your brand recognition, establish your authority as a brand, and even generate some serious buzz about your business.
Best of all?
You don’t have to shell out as much cash as you would with a more traditional marketing strategy.
Want to Learn More About Graphic Design?
We hope that this post has helped you to understand not only what graphic design is, but also why it’s such a good idea for your business.
Not only will it save you time and money, but it also increases your overall conversions and builds brand recognition.
Above all?
It creates a lasting and consistent impression on your customers. In short, it improves brand engagement and your company’s reputation.
In need of more graphic design tips? Want to read reviews of the top graphic design software and other web-building tools?
We’ve got you covered. Be sure to keep checking back with us to read more about the graphic design, web design, and even site security news you can’t afford to miss.
