You probably know that your website, business cards, brochures, and even your product packaging needs to be well designed. But good design is more than just looking pretty. Good design helps your customers identify with your company, understand what you have to offer, and know how to take the next steps to make a purchase.
Quality design is an indicator of credibility. People do judge a book by its cover and judge a company by its website and printed materials. Studies have shown that having professional design is a key part of building customer trust. Poor or unprofessional design will lead customers to assume that your products are also poor quality.
The purpose of design is to communicate something. Good design will help your potential customers quickly grasp information about your company. To do this, the words, images, colors, and general layout must all work together to convey the right tone and personality as well as guide the customer’s eyes to the important information.
Your customers have many options when it comes to making purchasing decisions. They can buy from you, from a local store, from another website, or decide not to buy at all. They use the information you give them – your website, company logo, brochures, etc. – to decide whether or not to buy from you.
Customers don’t take very long to make these decisions and often the decisions are made subconsciously. As people look at websites, flyers, or other materials, it takes only a fraction of a second for them to form an opinion. This first impression will set the tone for the rest of their experience; if the design is unimpressive, the customer will not be impressed with the products or services the company is offering.
People process images much quicker than words and they take in the overall look before they comprehend specific images or messages. This means that as your potential customers are deciding whether or not to buy from you, the first thing they will notice is your design. If it looks professional and is what they are expecting for the type of product they are looking for, they will look close enough to read the content and learn more. If it looks disorganized, unprofessional, or confusing, they will go looking for another company.