“You never have a second chance to make a first impression” | Will Rogers
In an increasingly busy and time poor world we’re having to make quick decisions. Quick decisions about the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the people we do business with. These quick decisions are based on either previous knowledge of a product or supplier, or the first impressions made by a new product or supplier/service provider.
If you’re a new or small business how do you stand out?
3 seconds to make an impact
No matter what service or product your business provides, the way it presents itself to the world is incredibly important. The design of your business logo, website, social pages, brochures and business cards can be the difference between winning more work and turning clients off.
Recent studies at RMIT University indicate that people make a decision within 3 seconds. That’s 3 seconds you have to make an impression. In that 3 second period clients may ask themselves:
- Does this company look professional?
- How trustworthy does this company look?
- Do they care about what they do?
- Do I feel comfortable giving this company my money?
- Does this company look better than the other company I just looked at?
It goes without saying that making a good impression is paramount and is the best ’foot in the door’ a business can get.
Customer Perception
Websites are important. No shit. If your website design is dated, unorganised and isn’t well presented this tells your prospective clients that your business is dated, unorganised and, well, doesn’t really care that much. Yes, visual communication is a thing.
Whilst content is king, design is queen. Having strong calls to action and clear descriptive text is important, no doubt. However, getting prospective clients past that initial 3 second test is the job of design. If your site doesn’t look good then visitors will move on until they find a site that ticks the boxes.
Statistics. Because numbers have feelings to.
Whether we recognise it or not, design is an integral part of our lives. It has been for a long, long time but we’re now bombarded with it. In 2007, pre smart phone no less, the UK Design Council studied the portfolios of a broad range of companies. The headline dot points to come from this study demonstrate just how important design was to business nearly 10 years ago. With the growth in online access and mobile applications since this study these statistics will undoubtably show an even greater emphasis put on design.
- For every $200 spent on design a businesses turnover increases by $450
- Nearly half of all UK businesses believe that between 1997 and 2007 design has become more important in giving them a competitve edge
- Businesses that recognise the importance of design increase their market share by 6.3% through design
- Rapidly growing businesses are 6 times more likely than businesses with static growth to view design as integral
How to improve your businesses presentation
It’s important that your business looks good and projects the right image. Of course you could download some funky fonts to create a logo, sign up to a cheap web building platform for your website and then tell a few friends but the likelihood is that it will look homemade and give prospective clients the wrong impression.
We recommend engaging a professional to manage design for you. Professional web design companies and graphic designers don’t just make things look good. They know the rules of design and help you fully realise your business vision, whether that be through a perfectly designed logo, well presented website or clear visual messaging in brochures – design matters.
Looking to improve your businesses visual and online presence? Contact Start Digital for more information. We’re a Perth web design and Perth based SEO company with over 25 years technology and creative design experience. To learn more about the Start Digital service and to demonstrate our quest to provide a clear, transparent service please visit our article on how much a website costs in Perth.