Facts don’t lie. Not only are these statistics important but another fact is that 54% of users are now visiting websites on their smartphones. Add those who are browsing the web on their tablets and you quickly see how critical it is to have a fully responsive website design.

Another critical factor in web design is that you now have only six seconds to grab someone’s attention and stay on your site. It seems that many web designers build sites that are more for their own glorification and not for the client. They have all kinds of wonderful features, but they all increase the page load times to the point that no one will stick around waiting.

Many businesses have two fundamental problems. One, they think that creating a Facebook page will drive customers or clients to their door. With some eighty million Facebook pages out there this is totally wrong. Without costly promotion on Facebook your page will never be seen. The other issue is that many businesses don’t really know why they need a website. They think that just because everyone else seems to have a website then they need one. Not true!

First you need to look at your total marketing program to see if having a website fits in with your plans. Next look at what type of business you have and how to attract new clients and to keep the current customers coming back. Your type of business may make use of memberships to reward loyalty by limiting certain content to members only. You might consider a referral reward for current customers if only because referrals are the best way to attract new business. You need to consider adding eCommerce to your site if you are in the hard goods business and can increase your business by making it easy for customers to buy online. You need to decide how customers will contact you and how you will respond. Collecting email addresses will help your marketing but it won’t work if no one answers the emails.

The most important factor in designing your website is to make navigation as easy as possible. People are impatient so you need to make it as easy as possible to buy. Websites that are difficult to navigate and only get the visitor to call you are a total waste. Remember that websites work twenty-four seven without a direct associated staff cost or overhead so make good use of it. Done properly the investment in a great website will reap huge benefits and grow your business.